Flexible Planet Blog

2009 Los Angeles Times Travel & Adventure Show

Sorry for the short notice, but if any of you happen to be in the LA area this weekend, check out the 2009 Los Angeles Times Travel & Adventure Show. As always, there will be exhibitors aplenty, prizes to be won, and discounted travel-related items.

But the reason I go is to attend the panels and fawn over travel writers old and new (not a remark on age but merely a comment on people I have or haven’t met). In attendance this year will be:

• Jen Leo and Rolf Potts, the first two travel writers I met when I decided to enter the field (haven’t seen them at the same time since we met)

• Pauline Frommer, who I’ve met several times before, and her father Arthur (one of those guys who started it all), who I haven’t yet but am excited to

• Rick Steves, a guy and a travel empire who I hope to corner at some point

• Samantha Brown, a Travel Channel veteran with numerous shows under her belt who might offer tips on getting one’s own show

• Catherine Hamm, travel editor for the LA Times (took a class with her—very nice woman)

and several others as well. There will be several panels to attend, and I’m looking forward to picking some brains, getting free stuff, and blowing money on travel books I don’t need. Old habits die hard. If you go, look for the loud obnoxious guy asking all the questions. That will most likely be me.

Further Proof that the World is Tiny

Before I delve into exactly why this, except for perhaps three or four people. And now anyone reading this blog. So…three or four people know about my Morocco plans.

The idea was prompted by my friend and travel addict Alma who, after several attempts to get me to travel somewhere cool and exotic with her, got me to commit to an extended weekend in Marrakech. The more we talked, the more we planned, and the more I actually grew to accept that I could (and should) pull this off. I don’t have my ticket yet, but I’m planning to buy it by the end of next month. (I’m going to sell my kidneys for travel money, but I understand they do grow back rather quickly. Cha-ching!)

Writing about Travel, Winning Books on Blogs

Alrighty…Since I somewhat committed myself to getting back into travel writing, I suppose there are worse ways to get back into the swing of things and getting my name out there than by winning a book from the Perceptive Travel blog.

I think this makes my 3^rd travel book won via a random online contest. (And my 17^th return to travel writing.)At this rate, I may not ever be famous, but at least I’ll have an impressive library.

In any case, I’m back!

(Thanks to Sheepstone for the kick in the ass.)

Back in travel mode...

Hi Fellow Travelers,

Just a quick note to say howdy. I've been off doing some non-travel-related tasks, but I'm back in the travel mindset and, more to the point, back in the writing mindset. I'll be posting regularly again shortly, but I wanted to post a quick hello to get the writing/posting/blogging muscles back in action.

Whew! I need a nap. And a cigarette. Wait, I don't smoke. I'll take two naps then.

OK, more in a wee bit. Hope all is well on the travel front. But then again, we shall soon find out, eh?

~dave

LA Times Festival of Books This Weekend (4/26 & 4/27)

Once again, the LA Times Festival of Books invades UCLA campus. This annual event offers books, panels, book signings, staged performances and readings, and thousands of books. Hundreds of publishers will be selling books on every subject, including travel and languages. The panels range from fiction to poetry to science and then some.

Sadly, there doesn’t seem to be a travel panel this year. The only recognizable travel writer on the list is Pico Iyer, and he’ll be on the panel entitled “Nonfiction: Blurring Boundaries.” Whether or not this will have much to do with travel is unknown, but I’m sure Pico will have something informative and engaging to say. That’s what he does. That's how he rolls. (Did I sound hip right there? No?)

Airport Security Presents: Whole Body Imaging—Millimeter Wave of the Future (or, The TSA Wants To See More of You)

Our friends at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have a new device to help better detect dangerous objects passengers might sneak on flights. Using “millimeter wave” body imaging, the TSA can see what’s under any passenger’s clothes. Luckily, the machine being used is large enough that the traveler has to step inside it. (I fear the day technology reduces it to the size of those creepy x-ray specs you see on the backs of comic books.)

According to this CNN article, this type of security is secondary to the usual metal detectors we’re so fond of. Only after the initial screening process will randomly selected people be subject to the wave machine (that name makes it sound relaxing, no?). Anyone reluctant to try the machine can opt for a pat down instead.

When Authors Go Bad--Lonely Planet Author Lied About Book

When it rains, it pours…

This morning, I was searching for new and soon-to-be-released travel books on Amazon in order to present timely book reviews on this blog, and I came across Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?: A Swashbuckling Tale of High Adventures, Questionable Ethics, and Professional Hedonism by Thomas Kohnstamm. Perfect, I thought, not released yet. I can be one of the first to get it and review it. So I added it to my cart. I even clicked on the author’s name to see what else he had written. Several books, including some Lonely Planet guidebooks. OK, a credible writer, I suppose.

Pico Iyer 2-fer at UCSB

Veteran travel writer and part-time Santa Barbarian Pico Iyer makes his rounds in May for UCSB’s Arts & Lectures series with two events:

#1 Salman Rushdie in conversation with Pico Iyer

May 4th 4 p.m. at Campbell Hall

$25 / $15 for UCSB students

Not so much a travel writing event, but Iyer fans will enjoy the discussion between the two authors. Surely they’ll be discussing Salman (The Satanic Verses) Rushdie’s recent release, Shalimar the Clown as well as his forthcoming novel The Enchantress of Florence, and perhaps some of Pico’s works as well. If you’re looking for intelligent, well-thought-out conversation, make sure to be there.

Book Review: The Masked Rider by Neil Peart

[A version of this review was posted on the now-defunct http://blogs.bootsnall.com/flexible/ on December 13, 2005 and has been revised and posted here in a gratuitous attempt to add some quick content]

After almost seven years, I finally got a chance recently to sit down and re-read the first travel narrative I ever read. Perhaps my favorite travel book (by one of my favorite writers), The Masked Rider chronicles Peart's month-long bicycle tour through Cameroon, West Africa, as part of a five-person group. Being a fan of both Peart’s band RUSH (Peart is the drummer and lyricist) and Peart's various essays, I was very excited to grab a copy at one of their shows (much better choice than a $25 shirt). With a friendly conversational tone, Peart describes in colorful detail the numerous local characters and modern inconveniences his group encounters along the way.

Welcome to the Flexible Planet Blog!

Hi Everyone. We've finally got the Flexible Planet Blog up and running! In the upcoming days (and weeks and months), we'll be posting various travel-related items as well as adding functionality to the site. We'll also be adding info to the Contents section in the next few days.