by Elena on February 8, 2010
Image via: NY Times
The stereotype for hostel life and adventure travel usually entails a large group of fresh-faced kids in their twenties with an oversize backpack peaking over their heads. Backpacker life is changing, however, like Nomadic Matt discusses in his post about backpackers turning into flashpackers. In the past you may have been lucky to have more than one computer available at your hostel, but now more and more hostels are coming equipped with computer rooms and free wifi. The customers at hostels also reflect the change in travel culture. Most people will be carrying around some fancy gadget in order to document their trip and keep in touch with family and friends back home. At your next hostel take a look around you. Yes you will undoubtedly see the bearded American guy in Birkenstocks, and the ridiculously in shape Aussie guy signing up for a biking tour, but you will also see some other people and they won’t be in their twenties. People’s priorities are changing and more and more ‘grownups’ and active seniors are deciding to travel later in life.
There are organizations that are capitalizing on this trend (as smart companies always do) and providing services to older travelers. Exploritas and Overseas Adventure Travel cater to this specific clientele. In the New York Times article Seeing Old Age as a Never-Ending Adventure, they interview people like Tom Lackey who at 89 years old wing walks, where he straps his feet onto the top of a plane’s wings while in flight. How many twenty year olds do you know that do that?
by Elena on February 3, 2010
If you had one day to live, what would you do? Would you climb a mountain? Would you kiss the person of your dreams? Would you tell someone how you really feel? Now, if you had a whole lifetime to live, would you lose that drive? Or would your list just keep getting longer?
The opening credits for MTV’s new show The Buried Life are not what you are accustomed to hearing on the music network. Known more for the kids on The Hills than actual music videos, MTV is taking small steps away from fake tanned adolescents and meaningless hookups (small steps but steps nonetheless). As opposed to previous programing, The Buried Life is about adventure and encouraging others to follow their dreams. It isn’t the true story of seven strangers picked to live in a house, but rather the true story of four friends riding around in a bus they named Penelope. These four friends from Canada (I’ve heard an aboot or two) have made a list, 100 things to do before you die, and they are determined to cross off each item, no matter how difficult. In an effort to achieve some balance, they don’t solely focus on their own crazy list. They are also striving to fulfill other people’s wishes. For every item they cross off their list, they help people accomplish something on theirs.
This project started way before the MTV contract.  If this were a show created solely by MTV it would lose the authenticity. I still can’t help but feel a sting of cynicism while watching the ease with which these guys get into the Playboy Mansion and into movie premieres (maybe with a little help from MTV?) although maybe dressing up as Oompa Loompas and Cristiano Ronaldo are harder than it looks. The encouraging part is that they began their adventure and created their list without the help of a cable network, using corporate sponsors and gaining popularity by posting videos on YouTube. Ultimately it’s the personalities of the guys involved that show the sincerity of their goals, no matter how ridiculous. It’s easy to demean such tasks as sneaking into the Playboy mansion or asking Megan Fox out on a date, but the point is to do whatever it is that you want: the difficult, the easy, the silly, and the just plain stupid, if that’s what you want to do. Ask yourself:
When was the last time you did something that truly scared you, excited you, made you feel alive?
There is no doubt that our objectives would change drastically if we had less time to live. Suddenly all those inconsequential things become much more meaningful. The point of a show like this is that you shouldn’t forget your list just because you have a whole lot of time. It is too easy to get caught up in everyday life and forget what we really want. Of course we can’t all adopt a big purple bus and completely neglect our responsibilities, after all not all of us are freshly graduated guys in our twenties. What we can do however is remember that sometimes those crazy dreams are more important than we think it may be time to revisit them.
Out of complete self indulgence I created my own list that I will continue to add on to when the mood strikes. So what do you want to do before you die??
Image via: theburied.life
You can watch full episodes of The Buried Life on the MTV website.
by Elena on February 2, 2010
The men that guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier are called the Evzones. They used to be a part of the Greek army and today they are an elite ceremonial unit. There are strict requirements, including a height requirement of 1.86 meters, if you want to become a Evzone. The tomb they guard is located in Syntagma Square in Athens, Greece. The tomb honors the anonymous Greek soldiers that have died in combat. Every hour you can watch the change of the guard ceremony and on Sundays the ceremony is much more ornate and elaborate. The skirt, knee garters, and pom poms may seem contradictory of a soldier to some, but the uniforms are very similar to the Bavarian style worn in the past by fighters in the Greek War of Independence.
