L'Anse-Saint-Jean

I am very lucky to be able to scribble blog posts for Intelligent Travel, the blog wing of National Geographic Traveler. Yesterday, they published a bit that I wrote about one of my favorite villages in Quebec: L'Anse-Saint-Jean (you can read it here). I was there at the end of last summer and was touched by what a sleepy, little place it was. The things I remember the most are the architecture--traditional, Quebecois houses showing strong Breton influence--as well as the food--all of it so fresh and local: trout, blueberries, and lots of local cheese. I spent most of my time there walking in the fields, staring out at the Saguenay fjord and enjoying the town, meeting many of the fascinating people who live there. I always love having a moment in a small town--perhaps because I grew up in a small town. Anyway, I don't know if I'll ever make it back to L'Anse-Saint-Jean but I'm glad that I was there for at least two days of my life.

The Future of Travel Writing

So I've caved in and entered this online contest for a blogging gig to Antarctica. The continent is kind of an obsession for me and thus far, all other attempts have failed. I'm fully aware that this time it's just a big online marketing campaign. I accept that I racking up HUGE Spam Karma by campaigning online, alas here's my first stab at viral video. Watch it and spread it like swine flu.

Andrew's BEST OF 2009

July is that month when all the travel mags start unrolling their red carpets and donning out prizes. Perhaps summer is a slow news month, perhaps people are in the midst of making plans and payments for vacations present and future. Whatever the case, and despite my repulsion of rating travel and making lists, I am compiling my own--for my own sake and for any out there who may be curious. Contrary to real magazines that claim to have surveyed thousands of customers and applied reliable quantitative methods, my list is 100% personal and subjective. I've compiled my judgments based on my own experiences of the past 12 months; "NEW" denotes new for me. So here's my list (Links included where applicable):

DESTINATIONS

• Best New Country: MALDIVES
• Best New City: Valparaiso, CHILE
• Best Small Town: L'Anse St. Jean, QC, CANADA
  
• Best Island: Grimsey, ICELAND
  
• Best Shopping: Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA
• Best Suntan: Kalahari Desert, BOTSWANA
• Best New Art Museum: Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, USA
• Best Guided Tour: Cardiff Castle, Cardiff, WALES
• Best Nightlife: Reykjavik, ICELAND
• Best-looking natives: INDIA & ARGENTINA (impossible tie)
  

TRANSPORTATION

• Best Airport: Schiphol Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS
• Best US Airline: Continental Airlines, USA
  
• Best International Airline: Emirates, UAE
• Best foreign airline: Kingfisher Airlines, INDIA
  
• Best Business Class Lounge: British Airways, Heathrow Terminal 5 (seriously, but I liked it).
  
• Best Business Class Flight: LAN, Santiago, Chile to JFK
  
• Best Railway: SNCF, FRANCE
  
• Best Subway: Kiev Metropolitan, Kiev, UKRAINE
  
• Best Cruise Line: Holland America, NETHERLANDS
  
• Best Car Rental: Hertz, worldwide
  

HOTELS

• Best City Hotel: Fouquet's Barriere, Paris, FRANCE
  
• Best Countryside Hotel: Patagonia Camp, Torres del Paine, CHILE
  
• Best Boutique Hotel: Hotel Nuss, Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA
  
• Best Bed & Breakfast: The Grange, Llangranog, WALES
  
• Best Safari Lodge: Xudum, Okavango Delta, BOTSWANA
  
• Best Design: Le Meridien Bangkok, Bangkok, THAILAND
  
• Best Indoor Swimming Pool: Hotel Remota, Puerto Natales, CHILE
• Best Outdoor Swimming Pool: Aman New Delhi, New Delhi, INDIA
• Best Hotel Gym: Hyatt Regency, Kiev, UKRAINE
  

ROOMS

• Best Room with a view: The Westcliff, SOUTH AFRICA
• Best Bed for sleeping: Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi, INDIA
• Best Pillows: Sofitel, NY, New York, USA
  
• Best Bathrooms: The Westcliff, SOUTH AFRICA
  
• Best interior design/room decor: Pashan Garh, INDIA
  
• Best chocolates left on the pillow: Sofitel, NY, New York, USA

SPA & HEALTH

• Best New Spa: The Spa Retreat, Conrad Rangali, MALDIVES
  
• Best New Resort: Aman New Delhi, New Delhi, INDIA
  
• Best Massage Ever: Mizpe Hayamim, Galilee, ISRAEL
  
• Best New Massage: Royal Cliff Beach Resort, THAILAND
• Best Spa town: Zrece, SLOVENIA
  

CUSTOMER SERVICE

• Best telephone customer service: ZipCar, USA
  
• Best Hotel Staff: &Beyond, worldwide
• Best Waitstaff: CityZen, Washington, DC, USA
  
• Best Wi-Fi: anywhere in DENMARK
  
• Best Border Guards: Canadian Immigration, Trudeau International Airport, Montreal, QC, CANADA
  

NATURE

• Best Beach: Horseshoe Bay, BERMUDA
• Best Coastline: Pembrokeshire, WALES
  
• Best Mountains: Andes, Patagonia, CHILE
  
• Best Hiking: Landmannalaugar Nature Reserve, ICELAND
• Best Diving: Rangali Reef (Conrad Rangali), MALDIVES
• Best Fishing, Odyssey Boreale, QUEBEC
  
• Best New National Park: Parc National des Monts Valin, Saguenay, QUEBEC
  
• Best Wildlife Experience: Chobe-Under-Canvas, BOTSWANA
  
• Best Guides: &Beyond
  
• Best Zoo: Zoo Sauvage de St. Felicien, Saguenay, QUEBEC
  

FOOD & DINING

• Best All Around City for Eating: Bangkok, THAILAND
• Best Restaurant Reviewed: CityZen, Washington, DC, USA
• Best Local Cuisine: Manolo Caracol, Panama City, PANAMA
• Best Italian Food: Centro Vinoteca, NY, New York
  
• Best design for a restaurant: Adour, Washington, DC, USA
  
• Best Airline Food: Korean Air, KOREA
• Best Pastry: Ladurée, Paris, FRANCE
  
• Best Doughnuts: Apple House, Front Royal, VA, USA
  
• Best New Cheese: Stori Dimon, ICELAND
• Best Cheese: Spenwood, ENGLAND
  
• Best Hamburger: Redwood, Bethesda, MD, USA
• Best Steak: Pinnacle Grill, MS Oosterdam, Holland America Cruise Line, MEXICO
• Best Seafood: Boat Shed Cafe, Nelson, NEW ZEALAND
  
• Best Chef: Executive Chef at Breeze, Le Bua Hotel, Bangkok, THAILAND
  

MEDIA & BOOKS

• Best Guidebook EVER Used: Rough Guide Morocco
  
• Best New Guidebook Used: Botswana Safari Guide, Chris McIntyre, Bradt Travel Guides
  
• Best New Travel Literature: Irreverent Curiosity, David Farley (Penguin)
• Best City Guides: Blackbook (and not just because I write for them)
• Best Travel Blog: Intelligent Travel
  
• Best In-Flight Magazine: IN (LAN)
  
• Best travel photos taken by friends: Brian Gratwicke (India); Sasha Vasiljev (Italy)
  

TRAVEL RECORDS 2009

• Longest nonstop flight: Johannesburg, South Africa to Washington, DC, USA (18 hours)
• Most expensive manicure: $60
  
• Longest wait for baggage claim: London Heathrow Terminal 4 (1 hour 20 minutes).
  
• Longest layover: Dubai, UAE (8 hours)
  
• Most lost luggage: American Airlines, USA
  
• Closest near death experience: zip-lining, Argentine Military Base, Igauzu, ARGENTINA

Antarctica or BUST!

I could write a book about all my failed attempts at getting to Antarctica. Let's just say that I've made more attempts than Shackleton. After grant applications, trying to talk myself onto science boats, applying for odd jobs on remote US bases and the like, I'm making an eager attempt to be sent as an official blogger for Quark Expeditions.

The contest is simple: he who gets the most online votes wins. Vote for me here:

VOTE FOR ANDREW

You must register first, which takes a minute. Also, due to the viral nature of this marketing ploy, I invite you to send out and/or repost my entry far and wide. I'm gonna need thousands of votes to win this thing.

Thanks to all of you who helped me kick off this first day of voting. I look forward to making this dream come true in the next two months.

Place of Birth

I'm from Texas. It's where I was born and where half of my family lives today. I also spent most of my life elsewhere--in Ohio, in Utah, Washington, DC and nearly a decade in Europe. American identities are generally so fluid but something about Texas is different. Perhaps it seems I spend all my time traveling outside America and focusing on the exotic elsewhere, but for me, Texas is always an adventure. This past week I've been home, catching up with family from Houston to Tyler and trying to stay alive in the 103 degree heat. I had some darn good Tex-Mex, counted about 50 barns painted with the Texas flag and enjoyed the still beauty of the green pin oaks. I even saw a longhorn steer in a scrubby suburban field and on the plane home, I sat next to two card-carrying members of the DaRT (Daughters of the Republic of Texas) who invited me to come help them paint the Alamo next month.

Having just finished a big project on Wales and my Welsh heritage, it was nice to go back to the land of my birth certificate and reconnect with a different side of the self. I don't know how qualified I am to be counted as a Texan--being born there, having a driver's license and voting there off and on is probably not enough--but regardless, I do wave the Texas flag alongside all the others that I love and claim it as one of my homes. I like the kind people there, the open space, the mighty sense of frontier in the midst of frightful post-modern sprawl and that cocksure superiority complex thing they have going on. Could I ever live there again? It's too big to say. I've been snowbound in Amarillo and sunburned in Corpus Christi in the same month of the year--I think that's my answer. Still, no matter where I roam, every border guard and hotel receptionist should see those two great letters--TX--and know what it means. Don't mess . . .