Where's Andrew?

Ever since I returned from Antarctica, all my wonderful readers have been demanding to know when I would be heading out again. Well, the time has come. Starting next month, I will be out on the road for National Geographic Traveler, darting from one location to the next, exploring openly and sending back a steady stream of photos, video, tweets, and blog posts for all of you. Find me on Twitter, and stay tuned for more at National Geographic. Thanks for all your support and get ready to have some fun!

Counterintuitive

I am not a photographer. I am a writer who takes pictures now and then. That said, I find that in this day in age, if you work in media at all--even writing books--publishers and editors keep requesting photos of me, the writer. Over the past year, I've found myself having to take more and more pictures for higher-standard publications--Frankly, I find it all a very daunting challenge but also kind of fun.

Travel photography is tricky stuff and only now am I appreciating the real sense of work that goes on behind it. In an attempt to improve my photo skills, I took a 4-day course with National Geographic Expeditions. The entire experience was rich and educational, not to mention extremely tough and fun. I learned a lot in a very short time and feel an iota more confidence behind the camera then I did before. A lifetime of practice awaits.

Of the few thousand pictures that I shot, I was able to stomach about 10 of the images. Here's one of my favorites--a self portrait snapped in the bathroom/utility closet of a Capitol Hill used bookstore (it looks better bigger, so click on it if you want).

National Geographic Radio Interview

For the few and far between who actually read this blog. Here's my latest interview w/ National Geographic's wonderful adventurer and wild man Boyd Matson. I talk a bit about my bus trip to Antarctica, then hint at my next project, which will put me out on the road later on this year. Stay tuned to find out more!

Green Land

September has been a busy month, both for traveling and writing. I saw the dawn of September 1st from the window of a jet somewhere over the North Sea on my way to Copenhagen. I then spent a glorious week in Greenland, which is a country that has fascinated me ever since I could read a map. Finally getting to Greenland was a dream come true--and I also got goose-pimply over the fact that I have crossed both the Arctic and Antarctic circles this year.

Anyway, you can watch/read/listen to all my Greenland coverage over at Gadling, including the following video clips:



That's my attempt at speaking Greenlandic, which is a curious Inuit tongue. I have no idea if this is comprehensible, but I tried. Anyway, this is what traveling in Greenland is like:



I felt very fortunate to visit the village of Tasiusaq, a miniature dot of a settlement on the very southern tip of Greenland. During the hour I was there, the school kids came outside for recess, where they were playing baseball, so I thought:



I also ate whale (!):



And went swimming outdoors:

How I Travel

The kind folks over at BootsnAll asked me to participate in their "How I Travel" series. You can read the resulting piece HERE. Many thanks to Steve for taking an interest & for all their good questions & for caring enough to ask.

Honestly, I never really considered how I traveled until I got their questionnaire. I could tell you all the ways I don't travel, but not really anything beyond that. Can't say if it's right or wrong, better or worse. How I travel is that I travel, anyway, anyhow.

Undisclosed Location

This week I'm in another country. Normally I get to talk openly about where I am and what I'm doing, but this time it's different. Like some secret agent, I'm under strict legal obligation NOT to tell people where I'm at. And so I shot this video on the beach, giving all my readers a few clues as to where I am but not getting too specific. After a summer of sitting still it feels great to be out in one of the more exotic corners of the globe. I love re-discovering how much energy I get from traveling and this week is no exception.

Bus2Antarctica Feature Released

So, exactly one year after I actually pitched my crazy idea to National Geographic Traveler (to take buses from National Geographic headquarters all the way to Antarctica), the magazine has printed my story. If you don't have a subscription, then feel free to can rush out and buy four or five copies from the newsstand. Or you can read it online HERE. Or, you can be among the very first humans to get National Geographic Traveler on the iPad, the first issue of which includes my story with all of its multi-media layers.

I'd like to thank the many hands and minds that went into the final product, including (but not limited to) Janelle Nanos, Marilyn Terrell, Keith Bellows, Scott Stuckey, Jayne Wise, Krista Rossow, Jeannette Kimmel, and Suzanne Hackett. Thanks so much to all of you for helping me take an idea and make it a very real and fun adventure.