I must admit I’m torn between two worlds right now. I’ll explain later. Nike+ Human Race is attempting, and will in all likelihood succeed in creating the largest race in the world. Around the world, runners will be racing a 10K. You can participate by either registering and running in one of their select cities, I believe there are 4 in the states and numerous others in countries around the world, or you can use your nike+ ipod to run your own 10K then upload your time to their site.

Now, getting back to my issue of being torn. It is very very difficult to find fault with giving people a reason to go outside and exercise with enthusiasm, and I feel Nike has done that. Here’s the issue I have. I really don’t like the fact you have to have an ipod, computer, internet connection, and a trendy consumer sense to participate. Using a cliche, I suppose it’s just the world we live in. But something just doesn’t seem right to me when I picture myself running past a poor neighborhood (vision: children stop their street soccer game to stare at me) with my $150 ipod and $100 Nike shoes on. Maybe I should ignore what those children don’t have, and ‘just do it.’

WorldClockProject.org is an internet project that (briefly summarizing) takes pictures of clocks at different times of the day from around the world. Users upload their pictures on FlickR….they post them on the site…and you end up with a lot of pictures of clocks.

From them: “Because it’s great fun to look at pictures of clocks from around the world. And aside from telling us the time, these pictures of unfamiliar clocks take us to a different place and remind us of the vastness of the world.”

Kind of found this one a bit boring…like the thought of world clocks, but the majority of the pictures just aren’t that special. Either way, felt I should post about it.

DeuterUSA.com has a lot of good outdoor backpacking products. I am always fascinated by the way marketing attempts to come up with something new. Well this time it is an “Air Comfort” system. Basically it cycles air as the graphics point out. All I know, is when I’m traveling, my back can get hot from a long haul sure… but I’m more worried about the pain of the load than back heat personally.

The Me No Speak Travel Guide for China is going on year 4 I believe, but they have just recently introduced Japan and Thailand. These guides are pocket sized and full of pictures. Just turn to the color coded page for what you are trying to get (food…transportation….sex?) and point.

I like the fact that most Americans attempt to blend in while visiting Europe and such, but when we go to the East…it’s like…well screw it, I don’t even look the part so I don’t feel nearly as dumb pointing to elementary school pictures to find a toilet.  (And for the record…I’m not sure there is a section on sex)

Wow….June 23rd was my last update…what the hell is wrong with me. Anyways, I saw this and was really excited to post it. It’s practical, useful, and I feel an all around positive. Go to their site pedaleadas.com for full information, but the wrap up is, it’s a self powered mobile telephone booth. Besides being able to provide long distance calling in all lesser developed areas, the real genius is in the design. The creators wanted to be sure that the material used for construction is readily available where these bike driven units will be operating, in order to keep the startup costs low. And since I’m anti-cell phone, this to me is one of the best inventions I’ve seen in a while. And yes, I’m a hypocrite…I sadly own a cell phone.

I just saw this tonight on ABC News.  Yotel.com is the booking site for what I will call the smallest hotels ever.  But what they lack in size they make up for in location, as they are located in and around the airports of London Heathrow and London Gatwick.  They are quickly expanding and have plans to go into Amsterdam’s Schiphol next. They start at £25 for 4 hours, which is the minimum booking time.  I must say, I like the idea.  It’s clever and I see a lot of people taking advantage of these.  Whether or not they are profitable is another thing.  I would think airport space has a premium price.  Although for backpackers like me…it’s still a luxury…I’ve gotten use to using my pack as a pillow and finding an uncrowded span of three airport chairs.

I apologize for the lack of new and quality posts lately.  My time has been going to another site currently getting ready to launch.  But, that doesn’t mean I don’t have plans for izunotravel.com.  I hope everyone is liking the new layout.  It’s a step down, design-wise, from version 2.0, but now you can leave comments and actually get more involved, plus the RSS feed is finally working if you subscribe to that.  Remember our mass post day is coming up August 8th, 2008.  Also, be on the lookout for new buttons, a calendar, and a lot of new travel destinations.  Plenty to come, so if you haven’t already, set your bookmarks.

If you’ve ever searched the web for budget backpacking guides and articles, I’m sure you’ve come across travoholic.com.  Kirsty, owns and operates a few travel sites and this is a good one.  It’s good solid budget backpacking content with articles about working abroad and packing and just general budget travel. She covers working/travel in Europe, Canada, New Zealand and Austrailia on this particular site.  What I like best…ORIGINAL CONTENT!  You don’t see that much sadly, but this is an exception.  So Cheers!

A new travel social network is getting ready to launch.  TripWolf.com.  From their site:

-Our new facebook integration allows you to log in and import your profile and social
graph (eliminating social profile fatigue)
-Our content partner who provides professional content
-Professional and user-generated content
-Portable data - downloadable PDF content
-wiki-approach – users can add/update information
-‘trip gurus’ offering knowledgeable local advice
-Site is available English and German language
-Personalized recommendations among users
-Covers the whole world with over 200,000 points of interest

I’m looking forward to seeing how it turns out.  I think the ‘portable data’ in PDF form is a great marketing phrase, and seeing original content is always a plus.  I’ll keep you updated on this project as they are still in beta.  You can visit their blog and stay up to date as well.

I’ve been wanting to do this post for a long time.  Lately, many states (and countries for that matter), are creating logos for their tourism pages.  Some states are really well done, I particularly like this Wyoming logo and tagline “Forever West”.  Backpackers and travelers are finding it more difficult to travel abroad with the weak U.S. dollar…I know…old news.  So maybe the timing of these modern logos are right on.  Look out for more to come.