Where's Waldo?

I loved those Where's Waldo books when I was younger. I recall with some detail holing up in my Grandparent's back room searching for hours for Waldo until my eyes would ache and my vision would blur. As a side note, does anyone start seeing those weird prism's out of the corner of their eyes when they haven't blinked in like an hour? I'm weird I know, but seriously, give me a Where's Waldo book, or an endless Excel document and it's only a matter of time before those prism's appear..... Bizarre. Anyhow, back to Waldo - For any of you not familiar, as you can see in the picture, Waldo was this guy in a candy cane-esque shirt who would travel to everyday places, or countries, and you'd have to find him in a dizzying array of people, objects, and distractions. Think of 5,000 similar looking people in a chaotic beach scene with dogs, lifeguards and just about any other thing you can imagine, all drawn into the span of a page and you'll get some idea of what the book was about. Great stuff. I mention this because we have started this feature in our monthly newsletter that is sort of along the same lines and it has become quite popular: Guess the Photo. It's really pretty simple, and we figured we'd add a version to the blog as well, so here are the ground-rules:

1. If you guess the location of the mystery photo below, first, you win.
2. The first person to write the correct answer in the comments section will be the winner.
3. The prize is a $25 gift certificate to Adventure 16.

Good luck!
P.S. As we have learned that our readers are better at this than we had anticipated, I have posted a tougher photo for this first blog installment!

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vacation locations where the dollar does not suck

The weak dollar is felt not only here in the US, but also for those travelers abroad. Europe is a perfect example of a location where American travelers can easily spend more than anticipated. However, there still are plenty of places where the dollar is still thriving and your vacation funds will not run out on your first day.

1. Argentina- imagine relocating the French Rivera a bit further south and presto! you have Argentina. With its wide variation of chic hotels, great dining and nightlife, this is the perfect getaway for those looking to embrace the good life. Since the collapse of the Argentine peso in 2001, the price are still extremely reasonable for such a swanky location.

2. Latin America- smaller and lesser developed countries such as Panama, Costa Rica, Belize, Nicaragua are luring American tourists with excellent deals taking advantage of their immature currency and national debts. These countries maintain much of their original pristine beauty and many resorts offer great all inclusive stays on their breathtaking beaches.

3. Go Down Under for a real Australian experience. The dollar still fairs well in Australia and if you can afford the flight over, prices are quite reasonable upon arrival. Australia offers such a wide array of vacation opportunities for travelers, it really suits any one's needs. Read more...

43 Places

There is a great Web site named 43 Places that I found awhile back that allows users to pick the 43 places they'd like to see in the world, read reviews about the places, and even add new ones. The Web site uses Flickr for their photos, and describes thousands of locales around the world. In addition to countries, cities, streets, and hangouts, you can even find tags such as "Hogwarts" and "Pirates of the Caribbean," for those of us that liken travel to a state of mind from time to time. Once you choose one of your 43 places you can read reviews from folks that have been there, see suggested destinations that are identified as similar, or places that are on the lists of people that also chose your particular destination. For instance, one of my 43 are the temples and pagodas of Bagan (in Burma). Similar tagged locations would be Mandalay, Ko Chang and Red Rock Canyon. The Web site is a great way to bring out the wanderlust in all of us, and even find new vacation destinations. For any curious readers out there who want to know which places in this world pique my interest most, I've listed my 43 places below:

Ko Pha-Ngan
The Tiger's Nest
Whitsunday Islands
Denali National Park
Teotihuacán
Chichen Itza
The Great Blue Hole
Copán
Palmyra
Mount Kilimanjaro
Tracking the Mountain Gorilla
Wat Phou
Mount Everest
Bagan
Cappadocia
Gonder
Namib Desert
Museum of Qin Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses
Varanasi
Machu Picchu
Galapagos Island
Borobudur Stupa
Patagonia
Palawan
Diocletian's Palace
Salar de Uyuni
African Safari
Tierra del Fuego
Kokoda Trail
Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park
Babylon
Istanbul
Villages with Fortified Churches in Transylvania
Thessaloniki
Ha Long Bay
Abu Simbel
Badlands National Park
Lhasa
Nosy Boraha
Ice Hotel
Cage diving with a great white shark
Jodhpur Read more...

Travel 'mis-adventures'

Here at Pangaea we love to hear about some of the funny things that happen when you are abroad. Of course, with any trip some experiences which are annoying at the time, become HILARIOUS when you come home and recount the story. I seem to make lots of people laugh with my 'labrador ate my passport' story, although as my friends can attest, there were lots of tears when I could not make it to Peru! Here are a few funny stories which happened to some of our clients:

1. One couple attempting to navigate the Italian freeway system in a tiny european car were clearly not doing a very good job as numerous drivers honked, cursed in Italian and made lewd hand gestures. When the couple's young daughter asked why everyone was so mad at daddy, the couple told her everyone was just excited they were visiting.

2. After a very long flight to Australia a young woman was waiting at the airport for a friend who lived there to pick her up. In a mixture of exhaustion and excitement to be in Sydney she inadvertently left her bag on the sidewalk. Needless to say, by the time she realized her mistake the Sydney police had blown up her bag on the sidewalk!

3. On a trip to Japan, a businessman was surprised to find 50 people in nylon jumpsuits doing jumping jacks outside an office building for a pre-morning office workout.

4. Mis-translated signs are always funny!

Tell us about funny things that have happened on your vacation! Read more...