Wow, so my first month as a blogger has officially come to a close.  At the end of every month I am going to try and recap everything that I have discussed, as well as give you an idea of what to look for in the future.
I have been surprised at how much I really do enjoy writing and working on this blog.  I have met a ton of great people through the process, and I continue to meet more every day.  Obviously this whole project is still a work …

This is part two of three in a series of guest posts from Ryan Martin.  In this post he will discuss his first few days adjusting to island life. If you haven’t read part one, you can find it here.
Flying fish, humpback whales, spinner dolphins, shipwrecks…this definitely ain’t (insert the state you currently reside in here) anymore! This is how I spent my first full day in Hawaii. I am quickly learning that on Maui, it is not what you know, but WHO you know. Fortunately for me, my roommate …

 Bartleby: You could spend eighty thousand dollars or I could make eighty thousand dollars.
Dad: So you’re saying you don’t want to go to college?
Bartleby: No, I am saying it would be fiscally irresponsible for me to go to college.
This is a quote from the movie Accepted, in which a high school graduate sets out to create his own college education.  Sparked by his inability to be accepted to a real school, he ends up starting his own.  He develops a place where students can learn about whatever it is they …

While I usually try not to feature bigger chain restaurants, the happy hour at McCormick and Schmicks is too good to pass up.  McCormick and Schmicks isn’t your typical chain restaurant though, as there are multiple locations around Portland, each with a different feel, and in some cases a different name.
Whether it is patio seating on the banks of the Willamette River at McCormick and Schmick’s “Harborside  at the Marina” or relaxing at Jake’s Grill, one of the most historical restaurants in town, you won’t see the happy hour menu …

This is part 3 of 6 in Gringo-izing Brazil: An American’s Guide to Carnival.  In this post we will talk about the Carnival parade itself.
One of the biggest draws of Carnival in Rio is obviously the parade.  There are two ways to go about experiencing this.  The first of which is to watch the parade.  It occurs on the Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights of Carnival.  Each night the parade begins at about 8pm and goes to 6 the next morning.  That is A LOT of parade.  You really only …

This is the first in a series of guest posts from Steve Ogle’s journal during a 2008 trip to Zambia to film The Ultimate Ride: African Rush.
Day 1
Portland to Amsterdam to Frankfurt to Johannesburg to Livingston, Zambia. 3 stops. 4 Flights. 39 hours. Not the longest travel itinerary in the history of the world I’m sure, but by the middle of the flight from Frankfurt to Livingston it was certainly starting to seem like it. Those “painful” 5 ½ hour coast to coast trips all of a sudden seemed like …

  As an ode to the beautiful weather we have been experiencing in Portland over the past few days (with the exception of Tuesday), I wanted to come up with a happy hour this week that has some outdoor seating.  Enter Bartini.  Located right off the corner of NW 21st and Glisan, Bartini is a great place to take a date or people watch.  Before I go too much further I do want to mention that this place isn’t perfect.  The service usually sucks, and it isn’t very …

Now that I have finally figured out my RSS feed problem, its time to actually start posting all of these articles I have written.  With that in mind, I feel like now is an appropriate time to outline some of the goals for the site.  
It seems like on every blogger’s list of “steps to a successful blog” one of the first is to have clearly outlined your niche and goals for the site.  This is the one big area where I will admit, I haven’t followed their advice.  This …

Welcome to Gringo-izing Brazil, my in depth look at Carnival in Rio from the eyes of an American.  This is part two in the series, in which we will set expectations for your arrival.
Alright, so you are near the tail end of your 9+ hour flight.  You are a little disoriented from the combination of anticipation, a sleepless night next to Chatty Cathy, and having an entire drink cart spilt all over you after a bout of turbulance.
Sidenote: Yes, this really happend.  While it was actually on our Aerolineas Argentinas …

This is a guest post from Ryan Martin, a good friend of mine that has done what many have dreamed of doing: move to an island paradise.  In this short series of posts he will document his thoughts on leaving, arriving and living the island lifestyle.

As I sat on Hawaiian Airlines flight 39 bound for Maui, I pondered, how did I get to this point? How on Earth did I gather the courage to pack up shop and buy a one way flight to literally one of the most …