The Great Solar Eclipse of 2017 crossed the continent, from Oregon to South Carolina, and gave millions of people the chance to witness one of the most awe-inspiring events in the natural world.

But you had to be within the "path of totality", a narrow band across the earth's surface several thousand miles long but only about 70 miles wide. Outside that band you would only see a partial eclipse, not a total eclipse.

And there is no such thing as a "partial total eclipse", despite the impression blogs and the news media might give. I honestly think that's why so many people misunderstand the utter beauty of the spectacle; they may have seen a partial eclipse in the past that was total somewhere else, and even though they weren't in the path the news kept gushing about it being a total eclipse, so they assume they must have seen a total eclipse and just didn't find it all that impressive.


Posted by Dan 08/29/2017, revised 09/06/2017

I write this with Janice in mind, although it likely applies to nearly every endurance athlete I coach, train with, or compete against. We all start with some type of lofty goal; completing an Ironman, or cycling around Lake Michigan, or maybe trying to break some specific record (our own or someone else's). In Janice's case, she's swimming across Lake Mendota, as part of the Gills for Gilda's charity event. Lake Mendota is 6 miles across, so a swim of this magnitude is something very few of us will ever dare to confront.

Once the goal is set, the training plan is put in place, and the work begins, we usually feel a pleasing sense of determination and courage at the start of the journey. There are good training days, and there are bad training days, but inevitably, at some point in the weeks leading up to the Big Day (for me it usually happens the morning of), you suddenly find yourself anxiously wondering, "Wait ... Do I actually have to go through with this?"


Posted by Kimberly 08/18/2014

After only two days in Indonesia I am in love.

Shanks ponies into the jungle

Indonesia was apparently a very popular destination for tourists before Thailand took over and began drawing people to Southeast Asia. Because of this the tourist infrastructure is there but the islands are blissfully devoid of other tourists. From Malaysia we took a local ferry and made our way overnight by bus to Bukittinggi. For whatever reason it was decided that everyone on the bus should feel like it would be a white Christmas after all and the AC was on full blast all night. Quite ironically we crossed the equator on this stretch making the equator officially the coldest part of my trip. At one point Bukittinggi may have been overrun with tourists using it as a jump off for various treks and tours or just visiting the scenic town, but these days it has settled back into its own quiet existence.

Posted by nik 12/27/2008, revised 02/08/2009

After tearing ourselves away from the glorious life on Koh Tao, Nik and I made our way up the country to the green hills of northern Thailand. We spent close to a week in the busy-but-friendly city of Chiang Mai, where we met up with the Chiang Mai Hash House Harriers. H3 is a worldwide network of people who like to run and drink beer. I'm not gonna bother trying to explain, because I can't really. But it's a group of fun people, and everyone "chases the hare," running a marked route that has false trails and intersections at which you must find the correct path. And you drink beer. Fun people, running, beer. Yeah, that's a simple little nutshell. So we got to join in on 2 hashes while we were in Chiang Mai, both of them out of town in the beautiful region surrounding the city. Quite an enjoyable way to see that part of Thailand :)

Nik and me, stopping for a quick photo whilst chasing the hare through the hills around Chiang Mai.

After our stint in Chiang Mai, we voyaged further north into the hills to the wonderful, happy little town of Pai. Pai had been previously recommended to us by numerous friends and acquaintances along our journey, by travelers whose opinions we trusted. Sure enough, we found our kind of atmosphere in Pai! It's a small community tucked away in the hills, where the locals are smiley,friendly, helpful, and happy, and the travelers in the community are good travelers - they are travelists.

Posted by Whitney 10/31/2008, revised 11/09/2008