The Great Solar Eclipse of 2017 crossed the continent, from Oregon to South Carolina, and gave millions of people the chance to witness one of the most awe-inspiring events in the natural world.

But you had to be within the "path of totality", a narrow band across the earth's surface several thousand miles long but only about 70 miles wide. Outside that band you would only see a partial eclipse, not a total eclipse.

And there is no such thing as a "partial total eclipse", despite the impression blogs and the news media might give. I honestly think that's why so many people misunderstand the utter beauty of the spectacle; they may have seen a partial eclipse in the past that was total somewhere else, and even though they weren't in the path the news kept gushing about it being a total eclipse, so they assume they must have seen a total eclipse and just didn't find it all that impressive.


Posted by Dan 08/29/2017, revised 09/06/2017

"They cancelled the NBA," Brad said, glancing up from his phone as we stood beneath a digital sign reading "Cancun," awaiting our boarding group. Brad had been warning me ominously about the inevitable cancellation of my upcoming race for over three weeks now, and yet each time I checked, the Ironman website still showed all races proceeding as planned. The pandemic had already seeped into nearly every country across the globe by now, but Mexico was thus far untouched. Maybe Mexico was actually the best place to be headed?

This was a trip I had been planning for a year now, our first international travel in almost a decade, and I had spent the last nine months diligently consuming podcasts, books and online courses in Spanish, determined to be a fluent speaker by the time we arrived. The Ironman 70.3 Campeche race was an excuse to explore a new country and immerse ourselves in a different culture, and I was eager for the opportunity to learn, and to experience a new place.

But that excitement had given way to unease. Doubts clung to us as we boarded the plane. Bundled appropriately for the Denver chill, we endured the entire flight with faces covered and gloves on, too nervous to eat or drink, tensing each time we heard a passenger cough or sneeze.

Once in the customs line in Cancun, the 85 degree heat forced us to shed our extra layers of protection. It was clear we were the only people there with contagion on our minds. People crowded close together in long lines while impatient children darted back and forth, anxious to start their tropical vacations.

We were relieved that the second leg of our trip was in the safety and privacy of a rental car, a six hour drive across the Yucatan Peninsula, bringing us to our destination on the Gulf of Mexico, just before midnight.


Posted by Kimberly 03/30/2020

After only two days in Indonesia I am in love.

Shanks ponies into the jungle

Indonesia was apparently a very popular destination for tourists before Thailand took over and began drawing people to Southeast Asia. Because of this the tourist infrastructure is there but the islands are blissfully devoid of other tourists. From Malaysia we took a local ferry and made our way overnight by bus to Bukittinggi. For whatever reason it was decided that everyone on the bus should feel like it would be a white Christmas after all and the AC was on full blast all night. Quite ironically we crossed the equator on this stretch making the equator officially the coldest part of my trip. At one point Bukittinggi may have been overrun with tourists using it as a jump off for various treks and tours or just visiting the scenic town, but these days it has settled back into its own quiet existence.

Posted by nik 12/27/2008, revised 02/08/2009

Last Sunday, 3 friends and I went on a road trip to Bowen, a coast town about 3 hours south of Townsville. The drive was exactly what a road trip should be: having a great time on a sunny day with the windows rolled down, listening to fun music, and stopping along the road at anyplace that looks worth stopping for (polo-cross game, fresh produce stand...). It was the type of drive where you don't even really want to get to your destination because you're having such a great time on the road.

We got to Bowen, which doesn't have much to offer except for fruit farms, sugar cane fields, and a cemetary that greets you as you enter the town. But it's got beautiful beaches with nobody on them, and great boulders to climb around on. And that's what makes it a great place - it's a beach town that is not considered a "beach town."

My friends Ben, Hamish, and Rachel and I loaded up on fresh produce at a roadside stand on the way to Bowen, to last us the whole day. So we spend a glorious day on the beach, eating the juiciest, tastiest melons, manderins, oranges, green beans, and avacados, without proper cutlery, just letting the juices run down our faces and arms. It was wonderful. The food-highlight of my day, however, was the fresh-off-the-tree coconut that we enjoyed whilst sitting on the horizontally orientated coconut tree than hung over the sand, overlooking the clear blue water. It was picture perfect. We managed to bore a hole in the coconut and pass the goblet of milk around - so wonderfully sweet and smooth! Incredible! We then cracked our empty goblet open to scrape the delicious gooey flesh off the inside with our teeth. It was the perfect experience for a lazy beach day.

There's not much else to say about the day - just picture your perfect tropical beach day, and that was it.

But take a look at the pictures!
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.543431242468.2132448.19700757&l=1bdca056dd

Ben, Rachel, Hamish, and me, enjoying our beautiful day

Posted by Whitney 06/25/2008