Travel

Travel-related posts before they get moved to travel.lonelocust.com

It’s a big world out there…

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Darn it, I never get to do Internet memes! So I’m just going to do one on my own: This is where I’ve been in the world, and when you put on a map, there’s a whole lot of world left to see: visited 7 states (3.11%) Create your own visited map of The World … Read more

Fun with traffic – Taiwan

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Here’s an amusing little video from Taiwan (fortunately, I don’t think anyone was too badly hurt.) In Taiwan, scooters are supposed to drive on the right, and when they want to make a left turn they are supposed to cross straight across the intersection, then stop, reposition their scooter and continue to the left when … Read more

Flickr Find – Kewe

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I’ve been waiting for just the right moment to blog this one for a couple of months now. I think in keeping with my earlier post about the Out-Of-Office notice, that we should be reminded that it isn’t just the English and the Welsh that don’t always get their translations sorted out. This photo, from … Read more

Where to go in the UK?

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So, the world’s in financial turmoil, and things are likely to get a lot worse before they get better. My employer (and technically speaking, my wife’s, too) is $1 billion over budget this year. People are worried about their jobs. Prices are up. Sales are down. Fuel Prices/Airfare are outrageous. The UK is one of the most expensive places to visit.

But, dammit, I promised my daughter a cricket match and a trip to the British Museum of Natural History for her birthday, and I aim to keep that promise. At least it is still 8 months away.

(Video after the jump…)

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The Ultimate Taiwanese Restaurant Photo

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Hat tip to Michael Turton over at View From Taiwan blog for this picture. (Posted to flickr) Many, many times I’ve wanted to capture the very essence of the nearly ubiquitous Taiwanese open-front restaurant, with it’s little plastic stools, fold up tables, metal work area, that strange metal box thing in the back and the … Read more

Fast Passport

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How often do I get the chance to compliment someone on a job well done? It seems all I’m ever doing is pointing out the flaws. Well, today is different. Kudos and thanks to (of all people) the US Government, passport office! I submitted my expired passport, by snail mail, Friday June 6th. My replacement … Read more

Alishan trip, then and now

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It wasn’t intentional (at least not on my part), but I managed to get several similar pictures on this trip as I did on my original trip to Alishan in 1998. In this one I’m demonstrating on the train, traveling in style in 2007. These purple flowers are all over at Alishan. I’m quite certain … Read more

…and sometimes green makes sense

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So that it doesn’t seem like I’m constantly down on Taiwan’s dubious implementations to be more “green”, here’s one that makes perfect sense at every level. Taiwan’s Bureau of Energy, under the MOEA, said Taiwan now has 350,000 traffic lights using LEDs as a lighting source, with the remaining 420,000 traffic lights to also use … Read more

Jetlag!

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Why is jetlag sometimes so difficult to overcome and other times easy? I can’t seem to shake it this time. I thought I’d won out against it yesterday. I’d managed to sleep (with a couple interruptions – Michelle has conjunctivitis and a cold) almost all Friday night, Saturday, I was awake all day. I thought … Read more