Eugene, Oregon
Dylan is a freelance software engineer, world traveler, and aspiring vagabond. . .[more]
About Me
Dylan is a freelance software engineer, world traveler, and aspiring vagabond. . .[more]
Current Location
Posted: 06/22/2011 - 17:27
Location: Vancouver, British Colombia
The Drop — Vancouver, BC Waterfront
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A couple of weekends ago, I traveled to Vancouver, BC for the Travel Bloggers Exchange (TBEX) conference—a place for travel bloggers to meet and talk shop, as well as meet people in the travel industry. I was looking forward to this because I wanted to get some inspiration, and to meet some of the bloggers, and podcasters I regularly follow.
While there, I stayed at the Samesun Backpackers Hostel. The Samesun is located in the heart of downtown, and features dorm and private rooms, as well as a restaurant/bar downstairs with cheap beer and food. I chose to stay in a four person dorm, and the room was clean, the lockers solid and secure, and the bed was actually comfortable—so much nicer than what I was used to overseas. I shared the room with a British guy who was in town looking for work, and a young Eastern Canadian couple out touring the West. Of course, it is a hostel, and I had the misfortune of being woken up several times during my stay by the young couple "gettin' busy" in the bunk above me. Note: earplugs don't help when the whole damned bed is shaking.... Other than that, I did enjoy my stay at the Samesun.
TBEX
The conference was interesting; it took place at the Vancouver Convention Center, and involved speakers and workshops during the days, and then a LOT of partying and socializing during the nights. There were parties, then after-parties, then after-after-parties. Actually, it became clear that the event was more about meeting people than what was going on during the daytime. That said, I did get some good ideas for the site, and learned a lot about blogging—mostly about stuff I need to work on to improve my writing. Oh well, I'm still learning.
The highlight was being able to talk to some of the podcasters and bloggers I follow. I met the hosts of one of my favorite travel podcasts, This Week in Travel: Jen Leo, who is also the lead blogger at the LA Times Travel Blog, Chris Christensen, who also hosts Amateur Traveler—another of my favorite travel podcasts, and Gary Arndt of Everything-Everywhere.com, which was named one of Time's 20 best blogs of 2010. In fact, I was able to attend a live episode of the show while I was there. I also met a bunch of cool people who write interesting blogs I'd not heard of before, including Jodi Ettenberg of Legal Nomads, and Benny Lewis of Fluent in 3 Months, to name a couple.
Hockey
One thing I was not expecting on the trip was hockey mania. Turns out that game five of the Stanley Cup was being played in Vancouver that same weekend. I'm not really a hockey fan, but I figured this would be a great chance to watch a game and throw back a few Molson Canadians with some actual Canadian hockey fans. On game day, the hostel was planning to show it on the big screen in the bar. However, upon returning to the hostel after the recording of This Week in Travel, I found the bar already filled to capacity, and that I would not be able to watch the game there. In fact, I discovered I wouldn't be able to watch the game anywhere downtown—there were lines out the door of every club, pub, and restaurant in the downtown area. The streets were blocked off, and there was a steady flow of hockey fans in Canucks gear streaming into the city.
While the game was being played, I was at a TBEX party, but afterwards, I had a chance to wander the streets after the Canucks victory over Boston. The whole downtown area was overrun with celebrating fans. It was a wild scene full of people in blue Canucks gear, screaming, singing, dancing, and waving Canadian & Canucks flags. Below is a bit of video I took while wandering about.
Vancouver BC after game 5 of the Stanley Cup 2011 from dylan e on Vimeo.
Posted: 06/09/2011 - 07:37
Location: Eugene, Oregon, USA
Here's an article I wrote about riding a motorcycle in Nepal published on the Matador Network! I've recently started a travel writing course through MatadorU, and this was my first assignment. I hope you enjoy.
Posted: 06/08/2011 - 22:00
Location: Northern California
Stars and Headlamps—Memorial Meltdown 2011. 30 minute exposure.
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This is my favorite time of year in the States—the beginning of the outdoor party season. Last weekend I made a road-trip down to California for Goa Gil's Memorial Meltdown—the party I look forward to most every year. The Gil party is the kickoff to the outdoor psytrance party campout season, for me anyway. This year it took place on Indian reservation land near Clear Lake, California, and was a long drive from where I live in Oregon—about 9 hours—but the Meltdown is worth the long hours of driving.
For those who don't know, Goa Gil is a DJ who plays psychedelic trance, or, more specifically, what many consider to be dark psychedelic trance). He's originally from San Francisco, but in 1969 he left for India, where he studied yoga. Eventually he started playing parties on the beaches of Goa, in an attempt to combine yoga and dance (I'm still not sure how that works...). Today, he plays all over the world; I've seen him play many times in California, and I've also traveled to see him play in Mexico and India. He plays twice a year in California—Memorial Meltdown, over the Memorial Day weekend, and then his Birthday Bash in October. At these parties he'll typically do a non-stop music set lasting about 24 hours, and the dance floor never stops for that time. It's a biannual ritual I always look forward to—the beginning and ending of the season.
Gil starting his set at Memorial Meltdown 2010
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As is sometimes the case in Northern California this time of year, it had been raining in recent days, leaving the grassy land where the event took place slick and muddy, which in turn caused cars to get stuck, and forced people to park far from the camping areas surrounding the dance floor. That meant most people had to haul their gear a long distance before setting up camp. Another result of the recent rains is that there was poison oak in the area, though I didn't hear of anyone actually getting into it.
Gil started his set at around 10pm, and I prepared myself mentally for the long night ahead (the temperature would be cold, and the music dark). The best way to keep warm is to keep moving on the dance floor, though it pays to pace yourself because the music will be playing until the next night. The hours passed and the temperature dropped. I had come prepared with a fleece hoodie and down jacket, so I fared pretty well throughout the night. Of course, maybe the beer helped too.
After an intense, and bitterly cold night, the light of the coming sunrise lit up the eastern sky. Gil continued on, and everyone was along for the ride. Finally, the sun broke through the trees and the temperature began to rise. By mid-day it was warm and sunny. The music played on through afternoon, evening, nightfall, and eventually ended sometime around 10 pm. I was so tired by this time, I could hardly stand up, so I made my way back to my tent and collapsed.
Another successful Meltdown. Thank you to Gil, and all who came out to the party. I look forward to the Birthday Bash!
Check out the pictures and videos of Memorial Meltdown 2011 that Goa Gil took while he was playing.
Also check out my pictures from Memorial Meltdown 2010
