This Week in Offbeat Travel – June 2, 2007

Happy June everyone! May’s come and gone. And that means one month closer to sexy summer weather. And a month closer to my RTW trip next year. Does it get any more exciting than that?

A Map for Saturday is making its way ’round the travel blogosphere. If you haven’t checked out their trailer, it’s worth a look.

MSNBC is reporting that “a naked American tourist raised eyebrows when he went for a walk through a German city and told police he thought this was acceptable behavior in Germany.” Tell me again why the rest of the world thinks Americans are clueless? (Hat tip: justwandering.org)

As part of my complete and unhealthy transformation into a full-time Montreal groupie, I’ve become hooked on Midnight Poutine – a constantly updated blog of all things Montreal. Blogger Robyn recently waved au revoir to her faux wood paneled TV via the unofficial Montreal “recycling” program.

Jessica at Hedgehogs Without Borders insists “There’s not a word yet for old friends who’ve just met.” A lovely post on lifelong friendships borne of long-term travel.

“If you wanna get down, down on the ground …” Well Erin and Brad clearly felt that when in Peru, one must do as Peruvians do. That includes succumbing to the pressure of being surrounded daily by all things coca – yes, that lovely key ingredient in cocaine. Their latest post dispels a few myths about same. But it got me wondering: what’s the real deal with chewing South American coca? Erowid has the answers.

Tim Ferriss suggests the best way to maintain fluency in a foreign language is to forget it, once you’re back home that is. Don’t bother trying to maintain it, else you’ll just pick up bad habits. “Don’t fear losing languages if you’ve attained real fluency. They’re just in temporary storage with the covers pulled over them.” Full post at vagablogging here.

JustWandering.org asks What’s Your Travel Gnome? Something about the idea of traveling with a ridiculous, inanimate travel idol sounds cool to me. I’m still trying to decide what mine will be …

Under the heading, “Things to Do in Finland When You’re Dead”, I think we can safely list “Bake in sauna.” RoadJunky has the details on an odd competition that would never see the light of day in the sue-happy U.S. of A.

Last and certainly not least, Conor gets the “Most Moving Blog Post of the Week” Award with his Searching for families in Nuwakot. It’s a real heartfelt and emotional post about his tireless work in Nepal, trying to reunite trafficked orphan children with their families. Truly a must-read. Oh, and bring the Kleenex.

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