A FEW THOUGHTS

At 16th of July I was lucky enough to be able to participate at the TEDx conference in Long Beach with the topic “Thriving”. The conference had a great agenda with many interesting speakers and some great artists. I am sure their performances will be posted shortly on ted.com so check there for the videoclips. In the meantime I have found some other clips and links. Here is a listing of those who shared their lives with us this day:

Session 1: Lifelong Learning
Taiko Project, “Transforming Taiko”-musical performance
TAIKOPROJECT was founded in 2000 in Los Angeles, California by a group of young, emerging taiko drummers. They were seeking to create a truly American style of taiko, blending traditional forms in which they were raised, with an innovative and fresh aesthetic approach to the Japanese drum. In just 11 short years, they have garnered critical acclaim from all over the world and amassed an impressive resume.
Such a cool, mind-blowing and great music and dance experience! This  was a great way to start the day!

Kathryn Schultz, “On being wrong” (clip from TED, Long Beach 2011)
A great talk on the difference on being wrong and finding out you were wrong, importance of sometimes being wrong, embracing error blindness with a historical view of what started as good plans…. “but then something else happened”.
“I err therefore I am” (St. Augustine)

Dr. Brian Stecher, “Cultivating Thriving Schools”
Brian Stecher is a senior social scientist and the associate director of RAND Education. Stecher’s research focuses on measuring educational quality and evaluating education reforms, with a particular emphasis on assessment and accountability systems. During his 20 years at RAND, he has directed prominent national and state evaluations of No Child Left Behind, Mathematics and Science Systemic Reforms, and Class Size Reduction. Brian gave a great talk on how to better cultivate for thriving schools and made good arguments that the diagnosing of the systems were based on too few facts.

http://www.rand.org/

Elizabeth Amini, “Top 10 Tips to Keep Your Brain Young”
Elizabeth Amini is a social entrepreneur with a background in science. She learned data analysis while working as a scientist at JPL/NASA. Elizabeth earned a bachelors degree in Cognitive Science (the study of the brain) from Occidental College and an M.B.A. from University of Southern California. Her Anti-AgingGames.com business plan won the USC Business Plan contest as well as the YPO (Young Presidents’ Organization) award for promising new companies.
She have a great inspirational speech, and listed her 10 well proven tips to keep your brain young and reducing memory loss and chances of alzheimers etc. Here they are:
-fast walking, good for both brain&body
- constantly learning new things
-avoid poisons (smoking, led, aluminium, toxics in everyday product)
-being social
-finding your purpose and life direction
-relaxation (reading, yoga, music etc )
-partner with your doctor (someone that understands prevention)
-protect your head (against injuries) ( Seat belt, don text while driving, bike helmet)
-mediterenean diet
-positive outlook (avoid negativity)

http://www.elizabethamini.com/

Daniel Kish, “No Sight, No Limits: the Blind Teach a New Way to See”
Daniel Kish is the lead founder and President of World Access for the Blind – a nonprofit organization which facilitates self directed achievement for blind people.   Daniel has created the first systematic, comprehensive echolocation curriculum for advanced training. Daniel and some of his students have applied FlashSonar combined with other techniques to riding bicycles independently at moderate speeds through unfamiliar environments, and to participate effectively and independently in other complex activities such as skating, ball play, and solo wilderness travel. In this passionate talk he explains his theory on Seeing by hearing, and makes us all understand the huge difference this can have but also in simple examples what it means to be blind.

Ray Ricafort, ”The Power of a Roadtrip and How it Transformed My Story”
Ray’s journey with Roadtrip Nation started when he hit the road in New Zealand to interview Leaders from all walks of life, including: hip hop pioneers, the first double-amputee to climb Mt. Everest, fashion designers, and the co-founder of modern bungy jumping. His experience was featured in Season Six of Roadtrip Nation on public television.
Ray tells a very moving story on his roadtrip with his own father and how this changed him as a person. How to turn challenges to advantages is a key topic.

http://roadtripnation.com/

Tim Carpenter,  ”Thriving As We Age”
Tim Carpenter is the founder of EngAGE and host/producer of the EXPERIENCE TALKS radio show. EngAGE is a nonprofit that transforms aging and the way people think about aging by turning affordable senior apartment communities into vibrant centers of learning, wellness and creativity. EngAGE provides life-enhancing arts, wellness, lifelong learning, community building and intergenerational programs and events to thousands of seniors living in Southern California. Tim spoke with great passion and humour about his experiences with the projects and makes a compelling argument on getting older (instead of the alternative).
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up” (Pablo Picasso) http://www.engagedaging.org/

Adora Svitak,  What adults can learn from kids (clip from TED 2010)
Adora Svitak is 13 years old, and already an internationally published author, teacher and conference speaker. She gives a really humorous though mindpuzzling talk on what adults can learn from kids, the importance of this and  the importance of two way dialogue and sharing in a teaching environment which can only be possible with trust -both ways. Truly inspiring.
Remember the name. She will do great things.

Dr. Judy Rosener, If You Aren’t On the Edge, You’re Taking Up Too Much Space”
Dr. Judy B. Rosener has taught and done research in the areas of men and women at work, cultural diversity, and business and government for 30 years. She has authored two books and published numerous articles in academic journals and the mass media.
Rosener gives a humorous and interesting talk on the importance of acting and thinking differently, standing out from the crowd and daring to speak up.

Session 2: Sustainability
Paul Dateh,  ”Adventures in Mashups” – musical performance
Originally, Paul Dateh was only supposed to be a violinist. Beginning his violin studies at the age of four, it seemed that Dateh’s future in the classical industry was set in stone. But, on his first day at The University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, Dateh suddenly dropped his major in Violin Performance and instead enrolled in the Jazz Studies Vocal program instead. The move shocked his colleagues, as it was hard to understand why anyone would walk away from fourteen years of classical training to begin learning an entirely new musical discipline. But, Dateh knew that he wanted to be more than just a classical instrumentalist; his goal was to become a musician in every possible way.Since first appearing on the music scene three years ago, singer and violinist Paul Dateh has gone on to garner millions of views on the web as well as national exposure on television and in print. Dateh has since released two records: a self-titled record issued in January of 2009, and “The Good Life” – a collaborative EP with guitarist Ken Belcher. In 2010, Dateh scored his first short film (“The LXD: Chapter 10 – I Seen a Man”) distributed by Paramount Digital Entertainment.
Here Paul Dateh together with DJ InkaOne and guitarist Ken Belcher delivers a pure “mashup” of hiphop, classical violin and funky guitar play! Wow! Look out for this guy!

http://www.pauldateh.com

Majora Carter, “Greening the Ghetto” (clip from TED 2006)
In an emotionally charged talk, MacArthur-winning activist Majora Carter details her fight for environmental justice in the South Bronx — and shows how minority neighborhoods suffer most from flawed urban policy. Carter redefined the field of environmental equality, starting in the South Bronx at the turn of the century.  Now she is leading the local economic development movement across the USA.

Charles Gandy,  ”Creating Charismatic Communities”
Charles Gandy is a nationally recognized expert in community design, trail planning and design, and bicycle and pedestrian advocacy. He is a popular consultant, speaker and lecturer on the leading edge of both the active living and livability conversations. As the Mobility Coordinator for Long Beach California’s Bike Long Beach program Gandy is leading the city’s award winning “sharrow” experiment, and the 3rd and Broadway national “protected bike lane” pilot program. Charlie is giving a great speach on how to create charismatic community, based on some of the same principles of what creates a charismatic organization or person. Interesting!
www.charliegandy.com

Rosie Romo,  ”The Cooking is the Easy Part”
Rosie Romo is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu College of Los Angeles (formerly the California School of Culinary Arts). She is a nationally recognized chef, lecturer and innovator in the culinary field. Rosie aspires to be a conscious cook through thoughtful training, creativity and consistency.
Rosie  speaks on importance and difference in creating food that is sustainable rather than wasteful.

Josh Tickell, “Redesigning Society – From Scratch”
In 1997, Tickell set out on the road with a biodiesel powered “Veggie Van” and a video camera to begin filming what would eventually become known as FUEL, the 2008 Sundance Audience Award winning documentary film that investigates the possible replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy.
Tickell’s Veggie Van Organization was selected by President Bill Clinton as an inaugural part of his Global Initiative on Climate Change. The organization serves to educate people about sustainable energy and provide pathways for integrating sustainable energy into homes, communities, cities, states and ultimately nations.
Wow!!! Josh delivers a jaw-dropping presentation actually explaining the background for some of our worst environmental nightmares. I hope the presentation Josh did get shared on ted.com but if not check out

Hayley Hoverter,  ”Revolutionizing the Sugar Industry”
Hayley started Sweet SerenDipItTea, a business that manufactures sugar packets encased in soluble rice paper, to sell to local, ecologically-conscious cafes. Her inspiration for her business comes from the detrimental environmental impact of paper sugar packets, which are compulsively and mindlessly thrown out by coffee drinkers. She feels that is ironic that today, in the middle of this wave of innovation affecting consumerism, people still have to waste so much paper on something as trivial as sweetening their hot beverages. Inspirational talk by young and inspirational inventor, environment fighter and entrepreneur.

Darren Saravis, “The Art of Solar Power”
Darren Saravis is the founder and CEO of Nectar Design, a Long Beach-based engineering and product design consultancy dedicated to innovation and sustainability. For 19 years, Nectar has been known for design that pushes to the edge of art and function. The firm has worked successfully in numerous fields including medicine, high tech, green tech, and general consumer products.
Darren gives a moving apresentation about the background and the potential future for his newest innovation with Nectar, the Solarflora™. Suggestive of a tree or a giant flower, the sculptural device can hold as many as four solar panels and supplies up to 1.2 kilowatt-hours of electricity per day. Saravis envisions the Solarflora as a means of mainstreaming the use of solar energy into the contemporary urban landscape, contributing to a more ecologically balanced, and more prosperous, nation and world.
check out http://www.solarflora.com

Rebecca Harrell Tickell, “Unite!”
Rebecca Harrell Tickell, wife of Josh Tickell, dedicates herself to the advancement of women and the environment.p She produced the award winning documentary, FUEL. She is currently Co-Directing and Producing a documentary called ‘The Big Fix’ which is an ‘Official Selection’ of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. Rebecca gives a fantastic performace as she speaks on thriving sustainability in rime! Powerful !

Dr. Sylvia Earle, ”Sustainable Seas, The Vision, The Reality”
Sylvia A. Earle, called “Her Deepness” by the New Yorker and the New York Times, “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress, and first “Hero for the Planet” by Time Magazine, is an oceanographer, explorer, author and lecturer with experience as a field research scientist, government official, and director for corporate and non-profit organizations.  She has a B.S. degree from Florida State University, M.S. and PhD. from Duke University, 19 honorary degrees, has lectured in more than 80 countries, appeared in hundreds of radio and television productions and has authored more than 175 scientific, technical and popular publications. Earle has led more than 100 expeditions and logged nearly 7000 hours underwater with a record solo dive to 1000 meters. Her research concerns marine algae and deep water ecosystems. She has been awarded more than 100 national and international honors.
There is no doubt about the significant work this lady has brought and is still bringing to the world in her aid in saving the ocean. Sylvia holds a truly gripping and fantastic speech on the vision of sustainable seas, the importance of the wildlife and the potential consequences. at the end we get to see the trailer for the movie on the “Mission blue” project. Watch out for that one.
www.sylviaearlealliance.org
www.tedprize.org/sylvia-earle

WIFE, “The Grey Ones” – dance performance
WIFE is live, contemporary, dance, interacting with original, projected, animations and music and is the creation of Nina McNeely, Kristen Leahy, and Jasmine Albuquerque. The three members are dancers, choreographers, teachers, editors, animators, and performers thriving in the underbelly of L.A subculture.
An interesting contemporary, bold  dance performance combining dance, sounds and animtions.

Derek Sivers, “How to make a movement”
Derek is giving a funny presentation with video example on leadership and how to make a movement on the way from lone nut to leader and the importance of the followers. Funny and true!

Session 3: Well Being
Robert Nagourney MD, “The Future of Cancer Research Lies Behind Us”
Robert Nagourney is Medical and Laboratory Director at Rational Therapeutics,  teaches Pharmacology at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. He is board certified in internal medicine, medical oncology, and hematology.He has pioneered the development of “personalized cancer therapy” applying a laboratory platform to match patients to therapies based on their unique response profiles.
Dr. Nagourney  delivers a facinating talk (and makes the audience understand) on cancer research, the angle of this and argues that the focus needs to shifted to pure biology rather than the current DNA focus. “Cancer cells do not grow Too much, but die Too little”.

Justin Rudd,  ”Life is Good, and Getting Better”
Justin Rudd has dedicated his life for the good of the city. For several years he juggled a part-time public relations job, was a substitute school teacher, cleaned offices and restrooms, mowed lawns, taught group fitness classes at gyms, taught weekend beach bootcamp classes, coached pageant contestants and organized and coordinated one successful community event after another. In 2001, Rudd ended his PR job and started his  nonprofit organization called the Community Action Team (CAT). He now devotes his time to CAT and continues to coach pageant contestants.
Justin delivers a fun speech based on own experience arguing that the secret to peace in own life is to define how you can make a difference. Both Past, present and future is what defines you as person. Ask yourself the questions of Why do you do what you do, and Why choose you?

Diana Hendel – “Childhood Obesity – Local Solutions to a Global Problem”
A long-time leader in the MemorialCare health care system, Diana Hendel, PharmD and chief executive officer of Long Beach Memorial and Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach.
Diana really highlighted the severity of childhood obesity in the US with statistics not looking very good. An increase from 1990 to today of 40%! Kids using an average of 7,5 hours on “entertainment systems” (tv, pc etc) per day! Big part of the problem lies with marketing of food, junkfood and sweets, the supersize approach and the change in what food we eat. Scary facts! Hendel argues that man often tend to try to solve big problems by big changes, and maybe too big because often it just fades out. Instead we should try small improvements that in the end will lead to big change – one day at a time. here are some of  her tips on small steps  everybody can make today:
donate to community gardens, know your numbers (weight, blood pressure etc), do  walking meetings, 10000 steps per day, always eat breakfast, an apple a day (and vegetables), reduce tv, more hours of sleep (go to bed 1 hour earlier).

Anja Garcia,  ”No Excuses. Make it Happen”
Anja is a certified group exercise Instructor, a former division 1 gymnast, and registered nurse. While saving lives is a love of hers, her true passion is teaching others how to take care of themselves to live their healthiest, happiest life!
I was actually prepared to take notes from this but it turned out to be a really cool sesion of energetic aerobic for the whole audience! Great fun!

Lalo Alcaraz, “A Cartoonist’s Guide to Life”
Lalo Alcaraz is the creator of the nationally syndicated and politically charged Latino comic strip La Cucaracha, featured daily in about 80 major newspapers. Lalo is a one-of-a-kind cartoonist, satirist and writer who captures the essence of the country’s changing cultural and political landscape like no other. Bringing a young fearless Latino sensibility to his political and social commentary, his is a fresh voice  and shows the need for a multicultural visibility in the media is long overdue.
Lalo gave a great talk filled with humour which he toppex at the end with some of his cartoon drawings. He presented his ideas on how to succeed as a cartoonist, which I guess also applies to a lot of other professions:
-practice
-give your art away
- use best material
-take others material (steal)
-Listen to others
-write to amuse yourself
-coffee, not wine
-Deadlines, respect them
-No hatemail reading
-no unfair attacks
-Work hard
-Self promote
-Add cartoons at end of presentations;))

http://www.pocho.com/

Nick Pugh, artist, designer and teacher , “The Future of Painting”
Nick’s innovative work has been featured in numerous publications including Wired, the Los Angeles Times, Vogue, Intersection and GQ. He is the author of Luminair, Techniques Of Digital Painting From Life (Design Studio Press, 2006) and is a featured artist in the seminal books Concept Design 1 and 2.
Nick is both inspirational and energetic in his speeche where he through many good examples shows the audience the possibilities, the quality and the versatility of digital painting as another medium than your usual photography or oil/canvas paintings. He also shows what he calls “digital impressionism”, work that really can stand out together with the “old masters”.He explains on just the right level the process this has been from the earliest computer graphics until what we can se today. At the end Nick also surprises by showing the work of 10 artists that has been in the audience during the conference and their different approach and interpretation of the event.  This was a speech thst really opened my mind for this as a medium.

http://www.nickpugh.com

Chip Conley, ”Toward a Psychology of Business”
Chip Conley is the founder and executive chairman of Joie de Vivre, California’s largest boutique hotel company consisting of over 40 award-winning hotels, spas and restaurants. Chip and his company’s time-tested techniques and transformational leadership practices have been featured in Fast Company, Fortune and the Wall Street Journal. Also a best-selling author, Chip illustrates the theory that transformed his business and shares his unique prescription for success (even in turbulent times) in his latest book PEAK: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow (Jossey-Bass 2007). A popular speaker and innovative lea
der,  honored by the San Francisco Business Times as the “Most Innovative CEO” in the Bay Area,
In this facinating and exciting talk Chip shares very personal stories from his personal life and how this has affected him as a person. He argues the importance of understanding emotions and how it affects us both in challenges in personal life and business. With the basis from Maslow, Viktor Frankl and others he elaborates on the equations to our emotions; what creates and is the bacground for our different feelings. I.e.; Despair = suffering-meaning, Curiosity= Wonder+awe etc.To the part of business life he empasizes that emotions a contagious and that we lose about 10-15 in IQ when emotinal. This affects decions taken during this time. he proposes the new title CEO as Chief Emotions Officer as that is really the role of a CEO.
Last equation; Curiousity+meaning = good life?

Until this talk is published you can see his last speech from TEDx Berkely

This easter I needed some “R&R” for myself and headed to Amsterdam. This was a city I had never been to before and many friends recommended it. And so can I from now on. A great city with lots of great spots for both fun, sightseeing and relaxation.

First of all, I got truly lucky with the weather. During the whole stay I had about 25 degrees Celsius and sunny every day. Wonderful! Basically what I did during my 5 day stay was to stroll the town. Some people may have suspected me for doing a “walk slow protest” as I strolled through the city at my lowest gear. But I enjoyed it a lot. I din´t rent a bike. I didn´t even take the canal boats (which I maybe should have but it will have to be next time). I did buy a pass for the trams and buses but used it surprisingly little. Amsterdam is a great city to walk in. No steep hills or freeways going through the city centre.

I know some people go to this place just to visit the coffeeshops or the red light district. After passing a couple of hundred coffeeshops during my stay I probably got a free trip just from that but I am more into having a beer at a pub. The red light district is ok to walk through in daytime as it also holds some sites that can bee cool check out. At nighttime it is more chaos and mayhem and not necessarily what you want.  If you want to go out for a few drinks it is better to take the tram to Leidseplein or Rembrandtplein (plein meaning square).

During day you should check out Nieuwmarkt, the fleamarket at Waterlooplein close to city hall, some of the beautiful churces ( i went to Westerkerk), the rijksmuseum and maybe the planetarium. Visiting Vondelpark is also a must. A great park for relaxing, exercising or having your lunch. My favourite places in Amsterdam was probably around Jordaan and the Western Canal Belt. Areas with wonderful peaceful streets, canals, small shops and cafes.

Other recommendations;Jazz cafe Alto at Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 115, Whiskycafe L&B at Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 82-84 (both close to Leidseplein), The Pancake Bakery at Prinsengracht 191 and breakfast at Cafe Luxembourg at Spui 24.

Enjoy!

Changes

I guess we all compare changes and the impact of those to our individual everyday life. For me the last 7-8 months has been a mixture of breakup, sorrow, dog passing, mourning, moving to new apartment, establishing myself in new environment (physically and mentally) and now finally feeling at the right track in a certain way.

 

It is interesting to see how many phases one can go through after a breakup. This is of course different from person to person and relationship to relationship. But I believe some of the phases can be universal. The immedate anger, the sorrow, disbelief, mourning, attempts to get back, more anger, mistrust and sorrow, and hopefully after not too many rounds of this – some sort of settlement.

 

I don´t believe a breakup is necessarily for the best. I believe it is a loss – and a change of direction. You will not know for sure whether it was for the better or worse and you dont need to. As soon as you make that change you need to be prepared for a change of direction in your life. And unless you are striving for a specific goal within a certain deadline you cannot say the time was a waste.

 

When out of the tunnel you will likely feel somewhat confused, not remembering what this stage in life was like, feeling something has changed since you were here the last time. But the truth is that you haven´t been there before. Sure, your marital status is the same as a previous phase, but you are at a different stage in life with more experience and maybe also some insight in yourself, your goals and desires. In lack of something else; at least embrace that and embrace the new environment, not necessarily as a milestone but as «home» for what is to become a new phase.

 

Now – let´s hope for a great summer to come

 

My dear Jack Russel Terrier “Buddy” had to be put to sleep this week, 9 years old. Unfortunately way to early for a dog, but still he had a good run. The last few years his vision weakened and the last period it became worse and he became afraid and nervous. After consulting with veterinary and eye specialist I came to the heavy but inevitable decision. 

Buddy was a JRT in all his way; wilfull, cheeky and tough - but also so friendly, cuddly and your best friend! Buddy will be missed!

This christmas I finally managed to arrange a trip for Thailand. My first trip in that direction, so really a stepping stone for me. And I am glad to say that it gave me a taste for more. Planning this trip I was first of all thinking of all the different countries in Asia aI want to go to, but having just 2 weeks available this time I figured I would have problem enough covering Thailand. So true! I need to book more time for that amazing country, but having been there once I am confident that I managed to learn a few things about what to do next time and what not to do.

First of all; we started with an open agenda. Our flight was to Phuket and back so we had that as a base for start and return. We had also booked hotel for the first two nights. Having been there now, I know that next time I will probably go directly to Bangkok next time, as I thought Phuket was a bit too touristlike. I must say I did not go to Thailand and expect to find an island for myself, but I did not aim for experiences like Tenerife and so on. So something with less tourists but still with sufficent infrastructure, restaurants, hotels etc.  After we spent 3 days in Phuket area (first city and then Karon) we decided to leave for Bangkok. We took a taxi to the airport and booked us on the first flight. Arriving in Bangkok we sat down in an airport cafe and found an hotel. Arriving at the hotel 30 minutes later we got upgraded to junior suites. Pleasant experience!

We spent 3 days in Bangkok, strolling the city and using both taxis, tuk-tuks, ferry and skytrain for transportation. I think Bangkok is a great city that I definately want to spend more time in, but 3 days is enough to start with. The traffic there is so overwhelming so if you have a hotel located a bit inconvienient like ours you will spend a bit too much time in traffic jam. That being said, when you discover how to use the ferries and the skytrain that really helps out. We managed to see a couple of the sights (still a few left that I want to see next time I go), have some good food and good drinks, almost got scammed big time in one of the best organised scams I have ever witnessed (not experienced many though), but managed to get out of there in one piece.  This was just before new years eve and our original plan was to go to Koh Samui. But we had nothing booked so we soon found out that it wasn’t a single flight ticket left. Bad planning. We asked around and got recommended a couple of places, one was the island Koh Chang being 4 hours away by car plus a 25 min ferry trip (just by the border to Cambodia). We went for it, booked hotel for 3 nights and booked a  car with driver at the hotel.

The trip down there went fine and arriving at the island we found something that more met our expectations than what we have seen in Phuket. Koh Chang is quite a large island and very green. Lots of trees and vegetation. It is mainly one road going simply around the island and it is operated by taxi-buses (with room for approx 8 people) going frequently around the island. You just hop on, pay a fare and hop off. We stayed at an ok hotel for the 3 nights we had booked and then booked another one a bit closer to the centre of the island, which was also a small upgrade in standards.  Koh Chang was definately a place I can recommend for people out to relax, lay on the beach or by the pool, have some good food and the occassional party. We stayed there for a full week before we had to start going back to Phuket.  That was arranged with flight from Trat (on the mainland) to Bangkok and from there to Phuket where we found a good hotel just by the airport for the night.  That trip was of course a bit more hazzle than if we had booked our flights from Oslo to Bangkok, and to make the matters worse I got real sick on the airport in Trat and that kind of lasted the whole day

Anyway: This trip was for me a test of a couple of things:

1. How I like Thailand – I must say Thailand passed the test and I want to go back. Next time I probably want a couple of days in Bangkok again, also visiting some of the sights and ancient cities outside of Bangkok, maybe visiting Koh Samui, but likely also going to places like Chiang Mai a bit further up north.
2. How I like Asia – Yes, after this I have a long list of countries I want to look more at; Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan and maybe China.
3. How was it to travel with only your carry-on  bag – and this was really liberating and easy. It of course limited the shopping options a bit, but not having to wait for luggage when you do mutiple domestic flights and not having to worry about a 20kg suitcase but instead a 5-6kg backpack was really nice. I will definately try to follow this on future trips when possible.

All in all – this trip was a great way to spend christmas vacation, a very nice introduction to new cultures, new environments and a nice first meeting with a pleasant people.  More experiences to come !

On my very first trip to Bangkok, Thailand I (together with my pal) ALMOST fell for the best organised tailor scam I have ever seen. That does not necessarily say much as I haven’t experienced any before. But this was organised in a way that almost could have put the best CIA operation in the shadow. I was very surprised of course when I found out this was common knowledge on some travel websites, but that was also what saved us from losing a lot of money. Here is How NOT to get scammed in Bangkok:

DO NOT:

1. believe the guy in front of the Grand Palace telling you that the palace is closed. It is not.
2. believe the tourist-policeman that very helpful tells you about Expo-centers, best tailoring in Thailand and how he can arrange this for you together with a visit to some great sights with a Tuk-tuk where we will not be scammed but pay the proper 40 baht for a couple of hours of driving (any Tuk Tuk driver in Bangkok will charge you a minimum of 100 baht for approx 15-30 min drive)
3. believe he writes notes for you on your map to be helpful
4. get in that Tuk-tuk with the innocent looking tuk-tuk driver
5. believe, on the first sightseeing place they fooled you to go, that well-spoken (fluent english) and well behaved man that asks you wehere you are going, asks to see your map, tells you this is your lucky day, and informs you about the best tailors in town and how you can do the best deal ever.
6. go back to the tuk-tuk which of course is waiting for you
7. go in to the tailor shop (called Glorious, Voglee or other.. They change their names frequently)
8. believe the tailor even though he tells you a celebrity from your country is a customer. Rememeber you told the tourist police where you were from..
9. be impressed by the measuring session and the quality of the fabric they show you. You will never get to wear it.
10. believe that you will get your suits
11. pay them any money or deposit (in advance or later for that matter)

DO:

 

1. insist that you need to go back to the hotel to transfer money
2. on the way back with the tailor employee in the front seat of the taxi, take out your iphone and google “tailor bangkok glorious” etc.
3. find out from various travel forums how many people have been scammed by the EXACT same approach as you fell for
4. feel happy that you are discovering this now before you pay anyone
5. think about your safety and do anything drastic
6. make up a story on why you couldnt transfer money
7. tell this to the tailor employee while standing in public in the reception at your hotel
8. agree to meet them next day around noon to pay
9. get out out of Dodge before then !
10. feel a bit stupid afterwards but not too much

I really wanted to call this “end of the year statement” for “So long and thanks for all the fish…” referring to the book by Douglas Adams ( the message left by the dolphins when they departed Planet Earth just before it was demolished to make way for a hyperspatial express route, as described in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” ) but it sounded partly a bit nerdy and partly a bit depressing

What I really want to say is thank you, to everybody I have had dialogue with the last year, for making this year as good as it could. For me it has certainly been a year with its challenges. It has both had its ups and downs, and certainly at the end of the year it is often the challenges you feel weighing down your shoulders. But having people around you definitely makes the difference and makes the world go forward. And having people around you also, unconsciously, makes the tough situations easier to deal with.

I hope all my acquaintances, colleagues, friends and family have a great christmas and new years celebration!   I will be heading for two weeks of (hopefully) sun and joy in Thailand tomorrow. For me that will be a new experience, both going to Asia but also travelling light with just a small backpack. I know that two weeks is not enough to cover Thailand, and I also know there are several other countries in Asia that offer just as much, but this is a start. If I enjoy it I’ll probably go back for more.  I might just post a few sentences about the trip here as well..

Merry christmas and a happy new year!

For some time I have been looking into location apps like Gowalla and Foursquare. I have personally tested both, and now given them up again.  The times the apps actually gave any meaning was on travel to larger cities, but in my home town Oslo it is really not much happening with these apps.  I definately see the potential for these apps, both in terms as a social media tool and also a potential marketing tool for the businesses to promote themselves and attract customers. However in Norway I think the conclusion is that we are just not there yet.

As a social media tool it can of course be fun to “check in” to the different locations, see who else is there, what they are doing and so on. It can also mean you will meet some new people. As a marketing tool I think it was said in the early beginning that these tools would be an excellent spot for  businesses to promote themselves by adding “give-aways” to their location spots, so that for example the 5th time you checked into a coffee bar, you got a free cup.. or something like that:) I have actually only experience that once. It might be that location apps are the way to go, and that we will see more services around that in the future, but for now I take a step back and the next time I visit a place focus on my business rather than the “check in button” ..

This week I bought a scanner, as promised. I did not buy a Canon P-150 as I said. The Canon promises a lot of features and quality but I think it is a bit expensive (around 2500 NOK), so for the moment I am testing out a Plustek OpticSlim M12. So far it seems to cover all my needs as I may scan a couple of documents per week to send my accountant. It is not very fast but scans a couple of documents per minute. The selling point is the size. It is the size of a long remote control with the length of just over A4 size. It is powered only through the USB cable and works with pressing one of two buttons. It comes with a neat pouch and also a docking to place on the table. The price; just around 1000-1250 NOK.

Yes, I gave in. Last week I bought the iPad – imported from the US ( of course only 3 months after I was there myself). The feeling is great! It is a great toy/tool/machine that really catches the eye as soon as you get it. Even though I am more of a Windows and PC guy I think that Apple do know how to make good user interfaces and user friendly designs. That is what they do best. The iPad works in most ways as the iPhone (without the phone) which I have had for about a year, only with a bigger and better screen. This of course improves everything. The typing is a lot easier due to bigger on-screen keyboard and the applications has of course a better interface by just being bigger and more clear and easy.

By now also signing up for Apple’s MobileMe service I also change certain details in how I work. All e-mails (accounts and archives), contacts, calendars and bookmarks are now available from, and synchronized between, both iphone, ipad, pc’s, servers and web interface. In addition I will use the MobileMe iDisk for sharing of more public files. For private files and files I need to transport with me I can use Evernote.

I have no problem seeing the iPad working as “travel laptop” from now on, and I look forward to discovering new areas of “tech-joy” with it…  Sometimes I can be such a geek…