gallinvanting

Continually updated post on all the necessary long term travel info and gear.

Websites:
CouchSurfing: See the city from a locals point of view, and their living room from the resourceful CouchSurfing site.
Gmail: Best email! Use this for my domain account and @gmail address.
Google Documents: Don’t ever need to use Word on the road again. Google Documents is offering all the editing you’ll need, online from anywhere.

Gear:
Leica Minilux - Leica’s finest point and shoot camera. Great for pros and anyone looking for great film shots out of their pocket.

Transportation:
Mediterranean Ferries - map and list of carries for ferries in the Mediterranean sea.
Kayak - Great airfare search, haven’t tried other search categories.

Destination Research:
BootsnAll Travel Forums - personal experiences in far off lands.
WWOOF - budget travel and work in the worlds most exotic places.

Google’s attempts to catalog the world’s libraries at first came with resistance, then speculation, and now are slowly being embraced by many major partners. Being all for the access to as much information as possible we’re glad to see you can now also download pdfs of works from Google Book Search.

Google Book Search
Google Blog post with more details

Some downloadable works of interest:
Dante’s Inferno
Shakespeare’s Hamlet
Aesop’s Fables

Every year the small town of Bunyol in Valencia Spain gets ready for it’s population to quadruple when a army of 30,000 converge for La Tomatina. 275,000 pounds worth of tomato battle later a lot of people are really messy.

30 August 2006 (final Wed of every Aug)
11am, Free
Spain
Comunidad Valenciana
Valencia, Bunyol

La Tomatina the Video Guide
Official Tomatina Site

Warm summer nights in New York City are radical. So watch a movie on a roof.

Thursday 24 August 2006
Brooklyn Bridge Park
The Warriors
Underneath the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn
Music starts at 6pm; movie starts at sunset.
Free

Friday, 25 August 2006
Home Movies (selection of short films)
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Live Music by ULI at 8:30pm; film at 9pm.
$8 available at the door or online from Roof Top Films

Saturday, 26 August 2006
Summerscreen
Style Wars
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Events (DJ Spooky, Worange Drexler, Agora II) at 5pm, movie starts at 8pm.
Free

Virtual treasure trove of California history and full res photos.

Calisphere is the University of California’s free public gateway to a world of primary sources. More than 150,000 digitized items — including photographs, documents, newspaper pages, political cartoons, works of art, diaries, transcribed oral histories, advertising, and other unique cultural artifacts — reveal the diverse history and culture of California and its role in national and world history. Calisphere’s content has been selected from the libraries and museums of the UC campuses, and from a variety of cultural heritage organizations.

Calisphere

Some picks:
Frida n’ the boys
Mickey Mao
Waterfall in the mountains of Izu

“One of the hottest music festivals to grace the lakefront, the ¡Viva! Latin Music Festival gets those culos shaking, swinging, and swaying to Latin rhythms from around the globe — from cumbia, merengue, salsa, and charanga to reggaeton, hip-hop, and pop. Featuring salsa legend Johnny Pacheco, pop group Morrison, Xtreme, Son de la Habana, and NY newcomer Anais, among others, ¡Viva! serves up more than music; enjoy a multitude of tasty traditional cuisines, along with Hispanic art, clothing, jewelry, and instruments from international and local vendors.”

Sat 8/26 & Sun 8/27, 10:30am-9:30pm FREE
via Flavorpill Chicago

FreeNYC has a continually updated list of open WiFi spots in the city for those laptop junkies needing a fix on the run. Looks like they’re missing the Apple Store 5th. Ave. though.

I dig my Not for Tourists guide, especially when it’s free:

Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Los Angeles
New York City
Brooklyn
Queens
Philadelphia
San Francisco
Washington D.C.