My obsession with round-the-world voyages has prompted me to start a new weblog, Reinvented World. Over there I’ll be talking about all manner of circumnavigating, with pointers to books, websites and other resources. There’s an RSS feed of the posts, and RSS of the discussion as well. Enjoy.

Who Needs a Road? was my introduction to driving around the world. I first read about the book in an review by Al Podell in blue magazine. Originally published in 1967, the book was re-issued in 1999. I bought myself a copy, based on the review, and read it from cover to cover in a couple of days. I was hooked.

The book concerns an expedition, begun in 1965, in a Toyota Land Cruiser, by Harold Stephens and Al Podell and a collection of irregulars. They started from New York City, headed across the Atlantic, across Europe, the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia, Australia, across the Pacific, and up through Panama to New York City. They covered over 40,000 miles, and took almost 3 years. But they did it.

After reading the book, I wanted to know more: the closing scene talked about film that was taken of the expedition crossing over into the USA at El Paso, Texas. “Where was the film?”, I wondered.

So I tracked down the email address of the publisher, and sent off a note. Imagine my surprise when I received a reply shortly thereafter from Harold Stephens himself, now 30 years older and living in Bangkok. We struck up an email correspondence, and, using my Internet search skills, I helped Steve (as he is called by everyone) track down long-lost friend and acquaintances, both from the round-the-world trip and from his adventures afterwards.

And I tried to help Steve find the film. This led me on a wild electronic goose chase through Hollywood, across the US, and into Hot Springs, AR, where I tracked down the son of the man who had shot the film. Frustratingly, I was never able to get in touch with him, and so the film remains out of reach to this day.

After a year or so of working with Steve at a distance, it occured to me that we were presented with the unique opportunity of visiting Thailand with someone knowledgeable “on the ground.” We were a little uneasy about the notion of travelling so far with a nine month old son, but decided to explore the idea: I sent a tentative email to Steve, asking him what he thought of the idea. As he related in this article for the Thai Airways magazine, Steve thought this was a fine idea:

I guess I never expected them to come. This often happens, people make plans and then their boss gets sick and they can’t get the time off or their grandmother ends up in the hospital. But not with Peter and Catherine, and their son Oliver. They were on their way and gave me their arrival information, and now I began to worry. Had I done the right thing? Here was a couple that had made only one trip outside of Canada, and that was to New York, a few hundred miles away. Now they were travelling half way around the world, so far away that if they travelled any farther they’d be on their way back home.

The funniest part of our voyage to Thailand is that both Steve and I realized that, although we’d made plans to rendezvous in the airport in Bangkok, we had no idea what the other looked like. As luck, or fate, would have things, we walked out of the customs line, I spotted Steve immediately, and we were on our way.

Needless to say, our trip to Thailand was phenomenal: there’s nothing like having a “man in Bangkok” to get you grounded and oriented. You can read more about our trip in a series of posts I made at the time:

• Wild Blue Yonder
• Other side of the world…
• Tuk Tuk
• Accessing the Web
• Chatuchak Weekend Market
• Crafty Thailand
• Leaving Chiang Mai
• Phitsanulok
• The Story of the Good Time Girls
• Phitsanulok to Bangkok
• Back in Canada

Our trip to Thailand infected us with the “travel bug” and we’ve been across the US, and then to Spain since, and are eager for more.

If you’re looking to jump start a life of travel, Who Needs a Road? is a good place to start.

I’ve developed a strange obsession with voyages around the world. Ever since I stumbled across Who Needs a Road? three years ago, I’ve been compelled by stories of expeditions — by car, boat, horse-drawn cart, bicycle — that set out to circumnavigate the world.

I can’t say what it is about this that entrances me so, but I could happily spend all my waking hours reading tales of tire changes in the jungles of Burma, of border crossings into Turkey, and of arranging for the transport of horses across the Pacific.

It would seem that the logical conclusion of this obsession would be to actually set out to do it myself, and that is, in fact, a secret plan that I hold in the far back reaches of my mind.

In the meantime, I’ve decided to start this very-focussed little weblog to share my passion with others, with hopes that I will reach into the community of round-the-world groupies and share resources, pointers and ideas.

So while on the main weblog you will read tales of my petty everyday life, here you will read only of loft world-circling books, resources, websites and more.

Described as “a hip, genre-stretching version of Handel’s holiday treasure like you’ve never heard it,” you can listen here to The Downtown Messiah. Stars Marshall Crenshaw, Dar Williams, Jane Siberry, David Johansen, Everett Bradley and Meg Griffin. Recommended.

I now have an office phone again! A jolly Santa Clausian Eastlink installer showed up this afternoon and, presto, I’m back. No voicemail yet (I’ve got grand plans for that), so you either catch me in, or you don’t for the next couple of days.

Here’s an RSS feed of the current moon phase, courtesy of The Old Farmer’s Almanac. We’re just testing this now, so feedback is welcome.

Here’s what I’m thankful for this holiday season.

My beautiful partner of 14 years, Catherine, who delights me every day.

My son Oliver, now 3 years old (although he claims to be 2 if you question him), for making me a more patient man, and for allowing me to see the world through his gentle eyes.

My parents, Norm and Frances, who only grow more interesting as they age. They are the headwaters of most of what’s good about my life. They have accepted Catherine as the daughter they never had, and are wonderful grandparents for Oliver.

My three brothers, Mike, Johnny and Steve, who are a constant source of inspiration, guidance, and humour.

My sister-in-law Jodi, a big part of Johnny’s life and soon to be a bigger part of ours (we can’t wait).

My in-laws, Marina and Grant. For bringing Catherine into the world, and raising her well, for welcoming me into their family and accepting me as I am, and for loving Oliver as much as anyone can.

My grandparents, Louise, Ross, Nettie and Dan, now all gone. I think of each of you often and am amazed by your lives.

Oliver’s babysitter, and our friend, Emily, for giving Oliver better care than anyone could hope for, and for boundless enthusiasm and energy.

My colleagues at Elections PEI, Norma, Lowell and Merrill, for giving me the project of a lifetime, and for being beacons of patience, propriety and candour.

Carol and my other former co-workers in the Provincial Government, who gave me eight years worth of challenging work, and their patience and friendship to boot.

My friends at Yankee in Dublin, Boston and Seattle: you keep me challenged every day with new projects, and your kindness, sarcasm, eagerness to innovate, and willingness to treat Johnny and I, hundreds of miles away and in another country, as one of the family.

Our neighbour Kelsey and our friend Carol, for both always being there when we need them.

Our neighbour and confidant Catherine for her ideas, her iconoclasm, her eccentricities, her strong cups of tea, and her devotion to the community we share. And her weird little dog. And not-too-weird sisters. And Claude.

Our friend Gary, for his eccentricities, his conversation, his gardening, and for being a good friend to Oliver.

My friend Oliver, who, despite his protests to the contrary, is the bellwether inquisitive in my life.

My new landlords, colleagues and friends at silverorange for accepting me into their coven, giving me a place to work, and constantly prodding my mind.

My old friends the Stephens — Southall, Good, Badhwar, Regoczei. I see you each far too seldom, but you are often in my thoughts.

My old, old friends Jill, Colin, and George, for forgiving past transgressions and inviting me back into your lives.

Friends Ann and David for the good food and fellowship.

All of our new friends on the Island (although “new” is a relative term, as we’re about to enter our eleventh year here): you’ve bucked all the “they’re hard, cold and insular and will never talk to you” rhetoric we heard from our Upper Canadian friends before moving here, and have welcomed us into your homes and your lives.

My fellow directors at the L.M. Montgomery Land Trust for your devotion to our project, for your ideas, and for showing me more about how the Island works than I ever thought possible.

My new friend Harold, for unapologetically living the life of a modern day adventurer, and for letting me play a tiny supporting role.

Dr. Fleming, nurses and staff for removing my gallbladder and making life liveable again. And Dr. Salamoun for his kind touch and deft hands.

The owners of the Formosa Tea House, for giving me an almost-perfect place to hang out and today, when I was in the middle of a blue funk, for giving me an unexpected Christmas gift at an unexpected time.

And to Campbell Webster, for finally remembering who I am.

I am irreligious person, not given to lofty contemplation nor existential angst. But I realize that I am blessed to be surrounded by a community of amazing, talented, inpiring and kind people. For that I am truly thankful.

The best of the holiday season to all.

Jeff Pulver, voice-over-IP impressario, has announced free computer-to-telephone calling to numbers in the US and Canada (and, it appears, also to Israel and the U.K.) for the holidays. To take advantage of this, you need to sign up for sign up for FreeWorld Dialup (free) and install an IP telephony application like X-Lite (also free).

I’ve gotten this to the point where I can dial out, but using the Mac version of X-Lite, my voice sounds “robotic” to the person I’m calling (however their voice sounds fine to me). Brother Johnny called me from the Windows version of X-Lite and things worked well (although because he was using a simple microphone and PC speakers, there was an annoying echo).

If you want to dip your toes in the water of VOIP, this is a good way to start.

If you’ve been going along thinking that Revenue Canada’s deadline of the 15th of the month for the previous month’s payroll is just a “guideline,” witness the $133 penalty we were assessed for a payment that was 5 days late.

Somehow the Google ‘Related’ search had escaped my attention until now. To use it, simply search Google for the word related, following by a colon, followed by the address of a website. For example, if you search for related:www.reinvented.net, you will get a list of websites related to this one. Google describes this as:

The query [related:] will list web pages that are “similar” to a specified web page. For instance, [related:www.google.com] will list web pages that are similar to the Google homepage.