#the zanzibar market place job

[lawonsie]

Rewatching The Zanzibar Market Place Job, I always adore Parker putting together a bag for Maggie because it's Maggie's first time being a fugitive... it's so sweet. And it's Parker! It speaks volumes how she has decided Maggie is part of the family. Her way of saying we worry about you and we will make sure you're okay. And Maggie just, appreciating it with no actual irritation. Perfect moment!

[grumpygreenwitch]

The Witches and Wizards Job 26-27-28

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TWENTY SIX

"Dresden, you alive?"

The wizard gave Nate a vaguely offended look as the mastermind trotted briskly down the spiral stairs. Harry was freshly showered and shaved, his hair still damp; there were faint shadows under his eyes and he was moving gingerly, but he was up. "Bacon will bring anyone to life," he declared smartly, taking the place that had been reserved for him at the table. There was every sort of breakfast goodie readily available, including fresh coffee from a brand-new French press on the counter.

Eliot finished cleaning up from a bout of stress-cooking, and sat at the table at about the same time Nate did. "How are we doing this?"

"What are we doing?" Hardison added. "I'm still not sure what the con is. Or the mark."

"The mark is the man in black," Nate declared as he sipped on some coffee, grimaced, and began to load it up with sugar until Sophie took the pot away from him. "He's trying to get his hooks in on Fedorov. I'm sure no one here needs to be told why that's a bad idea, after everything we've seen with Dresden."

"You do not want organized crime and magic mingling. You'll never dig them out, and you'll never win a fight against them again," the wizard confirmed.

"So, we need to show the man in black that Fedorov, that Boston, is not up for grabs. That this is a cookie jar that will take his fingers off if he keeps reaching into it. We're gonna do that by hitting him where it hurts - his public image as an unbeatable force of magic, a master manipulator. We're taking the portrait back."

"In front of a dozen supernatural creatures?!"

"Unless you can invite a few more," the mastermind suggested casually, leaving the wizard gaping at him. "Now, the fact he had an invitation on him means this is not his party, he's a guest at it. So this is probably a variation of a Zanzibar Market, with multiple items being sold. The sheer amount of information we can't access hints that this involves mostly, er, Dresden's sort of people. I would like to know who all the players are, but I'll take whatever we can get. Dresden, can those invitations be reasonably counterfeited?"

Harry shrugged. "Yeah. Other than the tracker it's just fancy paper and ink. Pretty writing. The guest list is the problem."

"The list is the least of our problems," Nate corrected him. "Do you know why there was a crumpled envelope matching one of those invitations in his pocket?" Nate pointed a piece of buttered toast at the bank of screens. "The Christie's man threw it at him."

"He was less than thrilled to be so openly invited to bid on stolen goods," Sophie pointed out with the most delicate undertone of scorn. "The British will buy such items, of course, but they don't like to be reminded of how they've been acquired to begin with. It tarnishes the image of rightful ownership."

"Now, the man in black knows Parker, Eliot, you, Dresden, and me. That means we only have two people for this con. Sophie's going with Fedorov. Get a feel for the guests, see if you can pull a Kennedy Half-Dollar on them."

"Ooo, I do so love a good Half-Dollar game," the grifter declared giddily.

"No unnecessary risks, Sophie." She pouted at him and hid behind her coffee cup. "Parker, Hardison." Nate laced his hands before his face. "The portrait." The table exploded into exclamations, everyone demanding information. "Stop!" the mastermind all but shouted. "Yes, it's probably going to be very publicly displayed. That's the point. It has to disappear in front of everyone there."

Parker suddenly brightened up. "You want us to play his own trick back on him."

"Mm," Nate nodded, and the thief's expression filled with wicked glee. "Hardison, he knows Parker, so you're going in as the new Christie's representative, you'll be Parker's inside man. Dresden."

The wizard looked startled. "Me?"

"Yes. Aside from helping Sophie pass as one of the guests, you're going too."

"I'm - You -" The wizard nearly choked on his orange juice. "You want me, me, to walk into this thing without an invitation."

"Yes."

"They'll recognize me."

"That's the point." Nate pointed a finger. "Eliot's going with you."

"I am?" The hitter sounded dubious.

The mastermind nodded. "He already knows you work with Dresden. And you, you keep bungling whatever it is the man in black's doing, Dresden. I don't need you to do anything, though I do want you to try a few things. I just need you to be there."

Harry paused. "You want his eyes on me," he said slowly as the mastermind's plan came together in his own mind. "Away from what's actually going to be happening. I'm the decoy. You're playing to his paranoia."

"He does seem to be very paranoid, from all Fedorov told us last night."

"And Eliot?"

"You keep getting hurt," Nate said firmly. "That needs to stop."

"Oh, that's been tried," the wizard said wryly. "But alright, give it your best shot." Hesitantly, he added, " Can I suggest a couple of things?"

"Go."

"The ladies from yesterday morning are coming by today to pick up their coats. If their friend's coming with them, you might want to hire him as extra muscle for the auction."

"An outsider?" Sophie protested.

"He won't care what you're doing. You - He's not - You keep thinking of these people as human. They're not. In some cases, like the vampire, like the imp, their motivations run kinda parallel, yes. In this case, if I'm right, they don't. He'll only care that you helped a friend. He'll absolutely care that you're chasing the man in black out of Boston. And he will very much care if you promise him a good chance at a fight."

"You're vouching for someone sight unseen, Dresden," Nate examined the wizard very levelly.

Harry struggled with himself momentarily. "I guess I am."

The mastermind mulled on that for a long moment. "Alright. You and Eliot sort that out. Anything else?"

"Yes. The spider's coming by later to drop off payment. I want to tack a couple of his wife's dresses on it." He glanced at Sophie, then at Parker. "No one's going to be wearing anything that comes even close at that party. Just in case Parker has to join us on the floor, you know?"

Parker gasped in delight. "Is it a magic dress?" When Dresden wouldn't commit to a yes-or-no answer, she snapped at him. "Harry!"

"It's made with magic. It's not magic itself."

She pondered that. "I'll take it."

"And what can you do for me, Harry?" Sophie asked with a smile.

The wizard flustered. "I don't know. I've been wracking my brains for it. Obviously a Veil's the answer, but you're going to be surrounded by some very powerful creatures. The pins would go up in smoke if they so much as breathe in your direction. I can't think of any thing that would hold up under the kind of Veil I'd have to craft for you. It's a lot of energy, it's like Hardison's screens. I'd need something old, something that won't break under the strain."

The table was silent for a long moment, until Sophie spoke once again. "What about a crystal?" she purred. "A crystal with flawless lines. Completely natural, as old as the world. Without a single fracture, without a single imperfection. Unbreakable under pressure."

"I… guess that might work?"

Parker gasped suddenly.

"Parker, can I borrow it?" Sophie asked eagerly.

"Are you going to make my diamond magic?!" she asked Harry with far too much enthusiasm.

"…. Yes?" he offered tentatively.

"Finally!" she cried out, slamming her hands on the table and launching herself away.

TWENTY SEVEN

There was a lot to do before we even got around to the auction. For starters, there was the security around the house, which was purely physical, very modern, and apparently well able to function even with so many magical heavy-hitters around. Hardison and Parker had gone on about it, but as far as I could tell they weren't speaking English. It sounded like it; it just wasn't.

"It's alright," Eliot had assured me quietly while we snuck away to wait for the selkies. "It makes sense to them. That's what matters."

"I still don't know what you people do."

The hitter chuckled low and tipped his chin to the door of the pub. "Get things back for people."

The two selkies came escorted by their friend. As soon as I saw them, I knew I'd been right.

Eliot rose automatically to his feet, his expression hard. "Why'd I just get goosebumps, Harry?"

"Because he's not human," I reminded him. The man was shorter that nearly everyone there but the daughter, his skin copper and indigo ink under a t-shirt and bermuda shorts that barely fit. He wore thin beach flip-flops and was built like the proverbial brickhouse under a layer of comfortable insulation. His eyes were black, and he had a permanent grin that only widened when Sannah snatched her coat from Eliot's hands with a strangled little cry, clinging to it with a white-knuckled grip.

Her mother was far more contained, maybe because she'd probably not believed us when we'd send word that we had both skins. Her fingers plucked gently at the dappled coat and she murmured something rigidly self-controlled in her own language.

Eliot replied in the same tongue, translating for my sake. "It's no problem, ma'am. We're just glad you're gonna be alright, both of you." He dipped his head at both of them, but his smile was brief and didn't show teeth. He was a very quick learner.

She nodded to that, moving to her feet carefully, her daughter by her side. "We go now." Without another word she turned away.

The daughter looked us both up and down. "Guess not all of you suck," she muttered. She shoulder-bumped the man who'd brought them there, who bumped her back amicably, staggering her, and both women walked away.

"What now, Harry?" Eliot asked quietly.

"They'll walk down to the sea and leave." It was the man who replied, a barely perceivable accent to his English. "It's a long time coming." He eyed us both, though he at least did me the courtesy not to linger. "You've done a good thing here. I'm not used to humans doing that."

"You're exceptionally… settled," I pointed out.

To my utter surprise, he laughed. "I like it up here!" he declared cheerfully, grinning at us. His teeth were very white. "It's warm most of the time. The food's good, even when it's bad. No competition. Them, well." He shrugged, glancing at the door. "Some things are just wrong, wizard. If I could have smelled it, I would have hunted down her coat for her a long time ago."

"They're not the only wrong thing in the city right now."

His whole face scrunched up in a grimace. "No. The stink of that one is everywhere, like poison in the water. Maybe I should go home, too. At least for a while. Unless…" He looked at both of us, and his grin turned lopsided and mischievous. "Tell me, wizard. Are you and the human doing something about that, too?"

"We might be," Eliot admitted. "What's it to you?"

The man squared off with him, his face mere inches from Eliot's. I saw the hitter frown minutely, sniffing. I suspected I knew what he was smelling. Salt. Depth. Blood. He didn't budge an inch, but neither did he so much as tense a muscle.

The man laughed in delight and stepped back. "I would wish you luck! It's bound to be a wild ride."

"Ride might have a ticket with your name on it," I suggested when Eliot blinked, confused into speechlessness.

His brows shot up. "Mine? Who told you my name, wizard?"

"Your smell. Your eyes." I considered. "Your lack of shoes."

He groaned and looked down. "Does this ticket require shoes?"

"Yes. But," I assured him, "it's bound to be one hell of a fight."

He got the bright, beaming look of a kid being told he's going to Disneyland. We were told to call him Nick. It fit him about as well as the t-shirt, but I wasn't about to argue with my good luck. He promised to come back when it was time to get ready for the auction and he didn't ask a single question, leaving Eliot even more befuddled.

"Harry, that one," he looked at me levelly while we were going back to the loft. "He eats people, doesn't he."

"And seals, too."

Eliot's mouth worked around too many words, none of which he wanted to put out into the world, not really. "He's… Should I be worried?"

"No. The instruction manual on this one's pretty simple: if there's a fight, get out of his way."

The meeting with the spider went quicker. He came in with his suitcases trailing behind him, and he looked as anxious to be done with us as we were to be done with him. He handed Hardison a brand-new smartphone. "Standard setup, it should be able to do all the things a human phone does." He handed me the two hangers, covered in plain black bags. "I picked two she should not miss. They are not her best, but I hope they are sufficient."

I peeked past the neckline of one of the bags and saw a flash of delicate pink, the color of fresh salmon. "They'll do."

"A pleasure doing business with you," Hardison was doing that thing, where he sounded vaguely British, friendly and threatening at the same time. I had no idea how he was pulling it off, and I would have loved to get him to teach me the trick. The hacker offered his hand.

The spider hesitated, but eventually took it. "Please excuse me. Humans, when I am not in control, they make me nervous."

"Entirely understandable," Hardison replied, and that was wholly Ford he was channeling at that moment, so mild, so potentially lethal. The spider couldn't get out of the pub fast enough.

"You did that on purpose," I told him.

"Hell yeah I did," he agreed with a grin that I couldn't help but return. "I ain't nobody's burger."

I lost track of time while I worked after that. Parker came to get me at the safehouse. Both the window and the garden door had been replaced, and she had some dry-cleaning and a paper bag for me. "Can I see it?" she asked before I could even say 'hello'.

"It's not gonna look any different, you realize."

She scoffed at me and, honestly, what did I know. If someone had told me one day I'd be holding a cut pink diamond the size of one of my knuckles, let alone working a spell into it, I'd have laughed at them while I looked for a quick exit, which is what you should always do when confronted with crazy.

But the Rosalind diamond was exactly that. I know crap-all about gemstones, let's begin there, but I didn't need a formal education to recognize the absolute beauty of the stone. Hell, I didn't need an informal one to know it was one of a kind. Even when I'd looked at it with true sight I'd found no imperfections, no flaws, nothing that might snag or leak or botch the spell I meant to embed into it. Old as the world and completely without fault.

I didn't ask how Parker had gotten it. I may not be a quick learner, but I do learn. Parker offered me the paper bag; it smelled like roasted turkey. "Trade you."

I dismissed my circle and brought the piece of raw silk to the workbench. To be fair, if not because I also had access to some ingredients I would've never been able to afford on my own, I'm not sure I would have attempted the Veil. I uncovered the diamond. In the light of the candles it shone like a fallen star, filling the basement with light.

"You changed it!" Parker exclaimed at once.

I nearly dropped the sandwich she'd brought me. "I did?"

"Yes." She picked it up, silk and all. "It's brighter. It's…" She frowned in puzzlement at the gem. "It's more alive. It speaks louder."

"Uh…"

"It's a thing," she assured me distractedly. "Are you done?"

I pointed out my sandwich.

"Oh, right." She pulled a can out of a pocket and set it next to me.

"Are you nothing but pockets?" I asked her teasingly.

"No. I'm also lockpicks and a taser," she shot right back with that wicked grin, and I nearly choked on the drink. "Is the magic gonna stay in the diamond?"

"Uh, yes and no. It's a nice Veil, probably the best, the strongest I've ever made. And the diamond can hold a lot of energy, much more than I expected. But, the more you use it…"

"The quicker the battery's gonna run out." She sighed, her disappointment obvious.

"You really… You don't care if it's dangerous, or nice, or random, you just like it, don't you? Magic."

"Well, yeah. It makes things make sense."

"It's… Wh- I'm - What?"

"Yeah. Even if you don't understand what's going on, even if it's bad, there's a reason. There's a why. It may be a bad why, but it's a why, you know." She stared at her hands. "Sometimes if you're a kid even a bad reason is worth having. It's better than no reason at all."

"Not everything in the world can be fixed by magic, Parker."

"No, obviously not, or you wouldn't be all beat up," she replied tartly.

"Hey!" I worked on my sandwich some more. "You know, there's a piece of magic you do get to keep forever." Seeing her face light up made everything absolutely worth it. "The dress."

"The dress?"

"The dress."

TWENTY EIGHT

The night of the auction fell warm and breezy, the scent of the Bay a mantle over the city, the Charles lending a kiss of coolness to the river's vicinity. It almost felt like summer in Chicago, except for the salt in the wind and the constant buzz of magic drip-drip-dripping into me. I'd run myself empty preparing everything for the job, and it hadn't made a lick of difference in the long run. I couldn't imagine being a wizard and living permanently in Boston; the city could burn you alive without even trying with its siren's song of unending power.

The auction was taking place in Charlestown, in a gracious manor house tucked out of sight and out of mind among the many newer luxury apartment blocks springing up like mushrooms all over one of the oldest, and wealthiest, of Boston's neighborhoods. The owner, from what any of us had been able to find out, was human. I figured he might be a thrall, either vampiric or fey, but no, the man was just plain ol' human, wealthy and oblivious, like so many could be. In under fifteen minutes Hardison had lined up the family's sins, and while his son had pinged Leverage's radar by dint of being associated with pelt-collecting lawyers, his daughter had hit mine. Or rather, the company she kept while she peddled the family's properties like some sort of supernatural AirB'n'B. While my own field of expertise was limited to the Red Court, and my overall knowledge of the Jade Court was nonexistent, Amethyst Roughan's boyfriend was a known quantity: he was White Court.

"Does she know what she's doing?" Nate had asked.

"Yes and no." I explained. "She knows it's sketchy. She knows it's weird. But depending on how long the vamp's had contact with her, and how much toxin he's doled out, she doesn't care anymore. He's had years with her. At this point all she wants is him. In a biblical fashion."

The mastermind's brows shot up at that. "So she'll side with him."

"Yes. But she's also easy to take out of the game. Hell, you stuff her in a closet and lock the door, and there you have it."

Nate snorted laughter at that. "You sound almost thrilled, Dresden. Glad to have a problem with an easy solution?"

"You have no idea."

And then we had to sort ourselves out according to Ford's plan. Parker took off early. Hardison was doing something to the U-Haul van, I wasn't sure what. Eliot went down to deal with Nick when our improvised bodyguard arrived, and Ford was doing something with Fedorov, -

It crashed into me then, the realization that I had really agreed to do this. That I was going to crash into a party full of deadly monsters. Again. That a counterfeit invitation was going to be involved. Again. That good people were going to be on the line, again.

And all at once I couldn't breathe, no matter how hard I tried. I splashed cold water on my face, for all the good it did. The aftershave was still burning on the nicks the leshy's claws had left on my cheeks, but the rest of me felt colder than ice. I curled my hands into fists and they were still shaking, I couldn't get them to stop, I couldn't -

"Harry." Sophie's hands were warm on mine.

"I can't do this." I sounded like a dying cat, and not the funny cartoon kind.

She made me look at her. Not long enough to trigger a Soulgaze, but I felt it there, lurking far too close. "This isn't just nerves, is it?"

"I've walked into worse traps." I still couldn't catch my breath, it was rattling around in my chest, making funny noises. "I've lost people who walked in with me, expecting me to keep them safe. I don't - I'm not worried about me -"

"Harry," she repeated, her tone a little harder. "We are worried about you. Don't you get it? We aren't walking in with you; you're walking in with us."

"That doesn't change anything."

"It changes everything. You may be going in as Harry Dresden, Professional Wizard, but you aren't the shield and the sword, Harry. You're the pretty princess. The distraction. Listen to me: you wouldn't even have to be a wizard for this, it's just very useful to the con that you are, do you understand?"

God, I wanted to believe her, I did. And the funniest part of it all is that some part of me did believe her. She took the little decorative pin I was supposed to put on my shirt from my hands. They were still shaking, but it wasn't as bad, at least, and I focused on them, on trying to get them to stop.

"We're none of us alone tonight, Harry. Not us, not you. I know you're used to being alone, I was a solo operator for a very long time. It takes time to get used to being part of a team, and time's the one thing we haven't been able to give you. But if you have our backs, and I know you do, we will have yours."

"How do you know I will?"

"Harry, it's you," she replied dryly. "I don't think you know how not to have someone's back.

I did laugh at that. It wasn't much, it sounded terribly rusty even to my own ears, but she'd caught me by surprise and the truth doesn't always hurt. Sometimes it just tickles your funny bone.

And then I made the mistake of looking up, thinking she'd have looked to make sure she didn't stab me with the pin thing.

The darkness was warm and velvety, and it was full of mirrors.

Some were big, the size of a person. Some were slivers, no bigger than one of my fingers. Some stuck close at hand to one another, piece by piece assembling a larger whole. Sophie was there, at the center of it all, but I couldn't see her, couldn't see the truth of her, mirrors whirling sedately between her and me, obscuring the truth of her. She directed them all with little gestures and grand sweeps of her hand, as if they were books she were organizing into a vast, endless library. Some parts of her were reflective, as if she'd once been nothing but a mirror herself. But for the most part she was real, solid, as confident and beautiful as the woman in the loft with me.

Then the image of her gasped and flicked her fingers at me, and she broke the Soulgaze before I could.

I staggered back, more out of shock that she'd done that than anything else. I could still feel the warmth of her, the sheer and enveloping caring. Sophie Deveraux had a thousand faces at her disposal, and a thousand more ready to be created, and in the midst of it all she still knew herself, knew who she was with the sort of awareness even some immortals couldn't manage.

And who she was truly cared. Cared for her family, her friends. Me.

"Oh, Harry." Before I could even begin to feel guilt or shame about what she might have seen in me, she'd hugged me tight. Not gonna lie, I've fantasized a time or three over a gorgeous woman getting so close to me. At the moment, that fantasy was the last thing in my mind. Then she pulled away and said the words I least expected. "You're a good man, Harry Dresden."

She couldn't have taken the breath out of me any more thoroughly if she'd punched me. "I'm glad…" My throat felt funny, my voice didn't want to work. I cleared it up so I could sound as manly as I damn well was. "I'm glad one of us believes that."

"One of us absolutely does," she told me, perfectly balanced between stern and playful, and put her hand out. I gave her the ear clip, though my hands weren't shaking anymore, thank goodness. "Let's work on the other, shall we."

[darkfinch]

SERIOUSLY WITHOUT DENISE AND ELIOTS WEIRD SEXUAL TENSION I PROBABLY WOULDVE LIKED THE BEST SELLER JOB!!! THE ZOMBIE FLASHMOB WAS FUN!!!! I LIKED THEM SPEED WRITING A BOOK!!!! THERES SO MANY INTERESTING AND FUN PLOT POINTS BUT THE CHARACTERIZATION WAS SO BADDDD ITS DEPRESSING -cricketchaology

BIG AGREE oh my goodness it was....so rough. SO rough. bestseller job u had SO MUCH POTENTIAL.....

I was enjoying it when it was like....eliot feels obligated to take this job because it's to do with his recently deceased friend, who saved his life once, and he's upset because he missed the memorial and OH COOL SO HES NOW HAVING SOME OUT-OF-LEFT-FIELD SEXUAL TENSION WITH HIS DEAD BUDDY'S GIRLFRIEND, SIX (6) MONTHS AFTER HE DIED. BRUH.

she's like....inviting him upstairs after he walks her home from their Memorial Dinner For Her Boyfriend Who Died Six Months Ago and he's like "no she's grieving and vulnerable so i shouldnt do that" and im like "why is this a recurring issue that you want me to read about every 10 pages i am suffering and i do not care"

the zombie flash mob sparked joy!! the con at the end sparked joy!! the speed-writing of a novel broken down into the crew's specialties was SO CHOICE and YET i could not enjoy it bc every 30 seconds it was like *bad eliot impersonation* "DENISE,,,,"

also, eliot being really clumsy at hostage negotiation like the zanzibar market place job isn't RIGHT there. criminal. the disrespect

[yoshidas-girl-forever]

Freddie Mercury 

The Great Showman

Our paper will be about the flamboyant frontman, songwriter, and singer for Queen, Freddie Mercury. He was born as Farrokh Bulsara on September 5th, 1946 in Stone Town, Zanzibar which is now in Tanzania. Freddie was born with four hyperdontia  incisors which Mercury attributed to his vocal range and why he never got them fixed later in life.

Mercury was born to Parsi parents, Jer and Bomi Bulsara who were originally from India but they immigrated to Zanzibar because of Bomi’s job with the British Colonial Service. Freddie has a younger sister named Kashmira Bulsara who was born around the time he started his boarding school. The family practiced Zoroastrianism which Freddie never held a strong belief in.

Freddie spent most of his childhood in India and took piano lessons at age seven while living with family and at the age of eight he was sent off to study at St. Peter’s School in Panchgani. It was at St. Peter’s that Freddie started to call himself “Freddie”. At the age of twelve, he started a band called “The Hectics”. A friend recalled that Freddie had "an uncanny ability to listen to the radio and replay what he heard on piano". In 1963 he moved back in with his parents and the following year in 1964 they fled to England from the Zanzibar Revolution.

Mercury studied art and graphic design at Ealing Art College he most likely graduated with a diploma in  the year 1969 but it could be possible 1968 as well. With his skills Freddie would later go on to design his band, Queen’s, logo. Following graduation he would join a series of bands as he worked in Kensington Market selling second hand Edwardian clothes and scarfs alongside future band mate Roger Taylor. 

In early 1970, Tim Staffell would leave Roger Taylor and Brian May’s band Smile and in April of that same year Freddie would join Smile and become their lead singer. A year later in 1971 bassist John Deacon would join the band completing it. Mercury chose the name “Queen” for the band ignoring the warnings from his band mates and studio. Freddie later said about the name Queen, 

“"It's very regal obviously, and it sounds splendid. It's a strong name, very universal and immediate. “I was certainly aware of the gay connotations, but that was just one facet of it."” (Mercury, Freddie, 1970)

Also around this time Freddie Bulsara legally changed his name to Freddie Mercury. 

So Freddie’s speaking tone was in the baritone range which means it's between bass and tenor, most of his songs were in the tenor range. Mercury’s range extended from bass low F to soprano high F, also could belt up to tenor high F.

A quote from Donna Soto-Morettini book “Popular Singing: A Practical Guide To: Pop, Jazz, Blues, Rock, Country and Gospel, A & C Black” says this about Freddie’s vocals, 

“His technique was astonishing. No problem of tempo, he sang with an incisive sense of rhythm, his vocal placement was very good and he was able to glide effortlessly from one register to another. He also had a great musicality. His phrasing was subtle, delicate and sweet or energetic and slamming. He was able to find the right colouring or expressive nuance for each word.” (Soto-Morettini, Donna, book not available for preview)

In 2003 Mercury was posthumously put into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and in 05 all four Queen members were awarded a Ivor Novello Award and that was for Outstanding Song Collection from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors.

Now while Queen is a classic rock band they didn’t just write rock they wrote a wide variety of music genres including but not limited to: rockabilly, gospel, disco, heavy metal, and progressive rock. 

In a 1986 interview Mercury said, “I hate doing the same thing again and again and again. I like to see what's happening now in music, film and theatre and incorporate all of those things.” (Mercury, Freddie, 1986)

And Mercury did extravagant performances on stage for his audience; he even got them to join in vocal warmups with him. It was like a different personality came out on stage and he was this energetic guy who lit up the whole room. Mercury performed an estimated 700 concerts with Queen. Mercury's final live performance with Queen took place on August 9th, 1986 at Knebworth Park in England which drew an attendance estimated as high as 200,000. With the British national anthem  playing at the end of the concert, Freddie’s final act on stage saw him draped in a robe, holding a golden crown above his head, as he bid farewell to the crowd one last time.

Besides Queen, Freddie did have a small solo career.  He had two full solo albums, “Mr. Bad Guy” released in 1985  and “Barcelona” released in 1988.

In the early 70s, he dated Mary Austin but the relationship grew cold when Freddie had an affair with David Minns in the mid-70s. Mary remained close with Mercury until he passed. In the 80s, Freddie settled down with hairdresser Jim Hutton and the two got “married” even if same sex marriage wasn’t legalized until the 2000s in England. He wore the ring Jim gave him forever, it was even cremated with him. 

In either 1985 or 1987,  Freddie was diagnosed with AIDS which was a death sentence back then, proper medications and treatment for it wasn’t really there yet. A few years later Jim was diagnosed with HIV in 1990. On November 24th, 1991 Mercury passed away from bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS, he was just 45. He died with his husband at his bedside. Funeral services were held on the 27th and he was cremated shortly after. His ashes whereabouts are unknown and never to be told. There is a memorial plaque with his birth name on it at Kensal Green Cemetery in London England.

Even though Freddie never fathered children he was the godfather to Mary’s oldest son Richard. And he fathered many cats in his lifetime, having somewhat over a dozen cats in his life. Even a black cat showed up at his funeral. This concludes the short long lived life of Freddie Mercury

I ADORE THIS!!!!!!! The writing was perfect,the wording amazing and it was just a great essay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That teacher damn sure should've gave you a 100/100!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I loved it,thank you very much Bestie for sharing this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <33333333333

[leverage-ot3]

notable moments from The Zanzibar Marketplace Job

leverage 2.12

Hardison: Two weeks in Tokyo. We'd have a great time.

Parker: What are we stealing?

Hardison: We don't steal anything. We'd be tourists.

Parker: Not following you

hardison: BE DOMESTIC WITH ME PLS

- - - - -

Waitress (puts down beer): There you go.

Eliot: Ahh. Thank you, sweetheart.

Waitress: Anytime.

(Nate kicks Eliot under the table)

Eliot: What? Really? What, I can't have a friend?

Nate: Join a softball team

me whenever eliot flirts with someone other than parker or hardison

- - - - -

Tara: You know he's drinking again.

Eliot: I'm not an idiot, Tara.

Tara: I was told this was a problem.

Eliot: The drinking is not a problem. It's a symptom

this!!!

also eliot’s hair braids are adorable

- - - - -

(Sterling walks into the bar behind Eliot, approaches table)

Nate: Eliot, I'm gonna ask you not to do anything violent.

Eliot: What? What are you talking about? I only use violence As a - as a - as an appropriate response.

Sterling: Hello, Nate.

(Eliot’s face turns murderous and he turns to punch Sterling in the face, then proceeds to throw him down on a table and continue punching him. The bartender moves to call the police, but Hardison stops him by passing him money, Parker watches enthusiastically)

Tara: And this is?

Nate: James sterling. We used to work together. Insurance.

Tara: He seems to rub Eliot the wrong way.

Nate: You think?

(Nate walks over to where Eliot is still beating Sterling, and now has him by the throat)

parker and hardison literally have heart eyes for eliot in this scene ??? ot3 ???

hardison bribing the bartender not to call the police? parker watching like she’s being turned on or something? eliot’s face right before he hears sterling’s voice? sterling hitting eliot with a stick? CHAOTIC

- - - - -

Tara: Okay. Is there any chance she took the egg?

Parker: No. Maggie's the most honest person we know. But besides that, she's okay.

parker adores maggie

- - - - -

Sterling: You live and work here?

Nate: Yeah.

Sterling: I like the old place better.

Hardison: Do not mention the old offices.

people that have no rights: sterling

- - - - -

they had a legit P I L E of passports ready ??? SO MANY

- - - - -

Tara: Okay, you cannot out-bureaucrat a former Soviet Union bureaucrat. These guys gamed the most corrupt system on earth for 50 years. Paperwork's not gonna cut it. They're used to trading favors, not forms.

- - - - -

Nate: I just need some proof.

Parker: It was an inside job. Average keypad hack time is 1 minute, 9.3 seconds. Inner door access card takes at least 30 seconds for anybody but Hardison, and then the vault was an old Mark II Remington. In and out average - 7 minutes, 40 seconds. But these thieves, they did it in 5 minutes, 12 seconds. Maggie had the best access, so the real thieves only had to get her codes and badge. Yeah, only way they could pull it off that fast.

Sterling: How long has she been sitting..

sterling being utterly BAFFLED by parker is my aesthetic

+ she’s wearing a leather jacket AND a cute red flannel,,, the bi energy is strong

- - - - -

Parker: It's your first time being a fugitive, so I made you a bag..

Maggie: Thank you, Parker. It's not that I don't appreciate getting out of jail, I just can't live my life a fugitive.

Nate: But you're not a fugitive.

Parker: Passports, money, lock picks.

Nate: You were released, not broken out.

Parker: Toothpaste, explosives. Do not mix these up.

Maggie: Thank you, Parker.

+

Parker: This looks like gum. Not gum. Diamond-edged file blade.

Nate: Yeah, yeah. That's great.

Parker: She needs this stuff.

maggie is such a Mom™ rolling with parker’s antics and we love her for that

also PARKER IS TRYING SO HARD TO BE NICE BECAUSE SHE LIKES AND CARES ABOUT MAGGIE AND WE LOVE TO SEE IT

- - - - -

Parker: So, I took your advice and did the whole touristy thing. Went to the museum, and it was amazing.

Hardison: You see?

Parker: Yeah. They have a guardian T-840 security system. I've only seen those things in books. And the motion detectors - ooh, gorgeous! Six digital receptors. Six!

Hardison: What about the paintings?

Parker: What about the paintings?

she reads about security systems in books? omg I love it

- - - - -

Parker: We meet on internet.

hi I’m sorry but the way she said it was hilarious

- - - - -

Hardison: Alexander's got a travel visa to the United Arab Emirates. He's also setting up accounts in the Caymans, Macau, and Switzerland.

Nate: Yes, countries with no extradition treaty, tax havens

- - - - -

Tara: I got this one.

Eliot: Really? What are you gonna say to him? 'cause we got no cover story. We got no background on this cat.

Tara: Okay. That's it, then. I won't say anything. Really. Not one word. Just when he turns around and looks at you, do that thing with your eyes that scares people.

Eliot: I don't... know what you're talking about.

Tara: Oh, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Eliot: Pffff.

(Tara sits down next to Chernov and grabs his lunch, taking a bite)

Chernov: What the... Who the hell are you? Do I know you? Did Samuels send you?

(Tara moves a little, still chewing Chernov’s lunch)

Chernov: I paid them off. I took care of it.

(Tara looks over her shoulder at Eliot, who is scowling)

Chernov: Oh, god. Please. Is this about the item?

(Tara throws up her hands)

Chernov: I didn't know. No one told me.

(Tara checks her watch and stands up)

Chernov: Wait! Here. This is all I have. (hands her envelope) I'll back out. I'm sorry.

(Tara gives Chernov back his lunch)

Chernov: Sorry! (walks away)

Tara (rejoins Eliot and gives him the envelope): What we imagine is always so much better than the reality.

Eliot: Like love?

this whole scene was iconic

- - - - -

Sophie: Well, the prospective buyers are invited by their black-market contacts. They show up, they verify the merchandise, and they make a sealed bid. Hey, um, shine an ultraviolet light on that card.

(Hardison pulls a light from a bag and shines in on the card)

Eliot: Seriously? You have one just laying around?

he had one on his keychain in The Ice Man Job and boy do I love continuity

- - - - -

Tara: Parker, double reverse on three.

(Tara places envelope on tray, Parker takes envelope and passes it to Eliot)

we LIVE for smooth hand-offs

+ eliot did the flip thing with the envelope

- - - - -

Sterling: You're welcome. I don't know how you people ever manage – (flinches at feedback on com)

[Interior Van]

Hardison: Oh, I'm sorry, man. That just happens sometimes with the ear buds - You know, feedback.

[Embassy Hallway]

Sterling: As I was saying, the method - (flinches at feedback on com)

[Interior Van]

Hardison: Sorry.

[Embassy Hallway]

Sterling: This isn't gonna stop until I - (flinches at feedback on com)

[Interior Van]

Hardison: Stop talking. Shh. Please

PARKER’S SMILE AT HARDISON FUCKING WITH STERLING? AMAZING

- - - - -

parker is wearing a flannel now :)

+ the leather jacket she wears over it a little later

- - - - -

(Sterling pulls phone from his pocket)

Eliot: What are you doing?

Sterling (dialing): Calling the police. They don't get to dictate to -

Eliot (grabs phone): We're not calling the cops. Two hostages means they can kill one to make a point. (throws phone down on table) All right, listen. There's three types of calls we can get next. One - amateur. Cash and a dump site. Number two - professional. That's wire transfers and multiple-location drop-offs. (glances at Sterling) And three - targeted.

Hardison: Targeted toward us?

Eliot: No. Towards a specific ransom demand - Not cash. (looks at Faberge Egg case)

Sterling: You're not risking a $9 million artifact...

Eliot: It might be the only chance.

Sterling: ...on a hunch! Let me run this. We track the calls, find out whoever it is, have the police surround -

Eliot (walks around table to stand with team): Sterling, I'm the retrieval specialist. That's my job.

Sterling: Your friends' lives hang in the balance, and you're gonna take your cues off a punch-up artist instead of me? (closes case and takes phone from table) Call me when you need me. 'cause you will need me. (leaves with case)

eliot being the focused, determined retrieval specialist that’s hell bent on getting everyone back safe? we love to see it

+ parker, hardison, and tara having 100% faith in him standing beside him

- - - - -

Eliot: He's angry. We took his payday. (phone rings) All right, all right. (pulls phone toward him and hits button for intercom) Go.

Distorted Voice: If you follow our instructions, your friends will be returned unharmed.

Eliot: We agree. Tell us what you want.

Distorted Voice: You owe me

(Hardison uses computer to remove distortion)

Alex: $9 million.

Hardison: It's Alex. It's Alexander.

[Embassy Hallway]

Alex: I still have a buyer for the egg. Return it, and I return your friends.

[I.Y.S. Insurance Offices]

Eliot: I want proof of life now.

Alex: Agreed

it’s cool to see how Retrieval Specialist™ eliot spencer actually works

- - - - -

Nate: Yeah. Yeah, I was lying to you for your own good.

Maggie: Quick little hint for your next marriage - that excuse does not fly with any woman on earth.

Nate: Oh, go- next marriage? That's really nice to say.

Maggie (hitting Nate with spray can): You know what? I've heard that one before.

Nate: Heard what before? What are you talking about?

Sam: Are you actually having this argument now?!

Nate: She started it.

Maggie: He started it

chaotic ex spouses

- - - - -

Eliot: Listen, listen - we know who's behind this, all right? We know what they want. We have the upper hand here. We do.

COMPETENCY!!! HE KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT HES TALKING ABOUT AND WE LOVE TO SEE IT

- - - - -

they made a taser out of two ends of a live wire and a flamethrower with a match and an aerosol I love it

- - - - -

Sam: Give me that. The thing everyone screws up when they fake their own death - no body. Well, that can work, but it leaves no suspect for the police to chase.

Alex: You won't get away with this.

Sam: No, you will. Of course, I've left an evidence trail a mile wide, Visa applications, accounts in offshore banks.

Alex: You were my friend!

Sam: I was your employee. And thanks to your screw-ups, I was an employee with no pension, no savings, no nothing. That was really, really unacceptable to me.

Nate: Well, it's a good plan. What? I- I - listen, I spent 20 years chasing, you know, guys that faked their own death. I mean, this one - it's pretty well thought-out.

Sam: Exactly. Alexander Lundy, desperate for cash, turns to violence. And his poor assistant, Sam, loyal to the last, caught in the cross fire at a ransom drop gone bad.

that’s actually really smart

- - - - -

eliot’s sly grin right before the flashback revealing how they got away with it

- - - - -

(Alex vomiting into a barrel)

Parker (handing him a cloth): It's okay. First bomb's always the hardest (cringes)

- - - - -

Eliot: Was it because they wanted us to hear Sam's performance? It's 101, man. After that, (looks hardison up and down) you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out.

Maggie: You know, people underestimate you, Eliot.

Nate: That's kind of the point

HE CONSIDERES HARDISON TO BE AKIN TO A ROCKET SCIENTIST

- - - - -

Reporter (on television): And that's not all. Today, based on his work recovering the priceless artifact, James Sterling was invited to join Interpol. He's a real-life Sherlock Holmes.

Parker: Interpol? Seriously?

Hardison: Sterling's career gets another boost off of our hard work.

Tara: We didn't even get paid.

Hardison: Nope.

Tara: I hate this guy.

Eliot (taps his beer bottle on Tara's): Now you're part of the team. (walks away)

THAT is what it takes lmfao

also eliot was wearing a flannel in that scene

[bike42]

Saturday September 18, 2021

We slept very hard, even though we couldn’t figure out the A/C in our room. Around 5 am, I awoke to the sound of what I think was a Muslim chant from a nearby mosque. It was beautiful! Beyond that, there were sounds of the city: sirens and horns, but nothing to keep me awake. I awoke again about 8:30 am, and Jeff was up trying to figure out the shower.

I showered quick, and we dressed and went out to meet the gang on the patio for breakfast, which was a continental breakfast with made to order eggs and good coffee - really hit the spot. What I liked the best were the little “Pam Cakes” which were like rolled up crepes.

Freddy joined us and discussed our options for the day. We really liked Freddy, but we’d understood that he was to be our lead guide, however he’s actually the lead guy on the ground for Embark … so won’t be hiking with us. His story is amazing - he’s the 7th of 9 children, and grew up in the foothills of the mountain - not exactly on a farm, but he described goats and chickens living in their house. As a teenager he started working as a porter, and then went to school to learn English and work his way up to be a guide. He said there really aren’t other jobs for men here. He has 4 grown children and 4 grandchildren. He told us about a sister that moved to the Boston area to help care for a cousin’s children, and he took in her 3 children … a familiar story in the African culture I think!

Being Saturday, we opted to do a walking tour of the market, have lunch and do some shopping. Our other option was to tour caves and hike to a waterfall, but we decided we could do that on Sunday.

Freddy came back in a bit with Augustine, a man who will be a guide on our trip, and also two others who will part of a 4 person trip that will climb with Embark at the same time, but as a separate group. Tam had met them airport last night and already got to know them a bit. Both run veteran-related nonprofits. The woman, Maggie, lives in Houston. She’s a former C-130 Load Master (USAF), and has started an organization focusing on women veteran issues (of which there are plenty)! The guy, Dan, lives south of Tousan and works for the Warrior

Project, which I believe supports veterans in doing things like climbing Kilimanjaro. They were supposed to be a group of 17, but it dwindled down to 4, and the other 2 are arriving today.

Moshi is a town of around 200,000 people. We didn’t see much of it last night, though so we didn’t really know what to expect. When we stepped out into the courtyard this morning, the air was full of woodsmoke, and the sky was a bit hazy. I looked for the mountain this morning, and didn’t see it …then we stepped out of the gates and into madness and I didn’t think about it all day.

Augustine had coached us that we’d be approached by people (men) trying to sell us things, and we should just tell them no thanks. He said he’d take us to a place to shop for souvenirs this afternoon, or if we saw something we wanted to buy, we should get him involved in negotiations so we don’t get ripped off.

We were walking along the side of the road, mostly single file and we were swarmed like shark bait. Their sales tactics were good - they’d walk and ask questions, even that made me uncomfortable so I largely tried to ignore them, or just keep saying “no thanks.”

We walked along several streets lined with vendors selling clothes and shoes. Past a few stores, and then into the “market,” which is where Augustine said the restaurants all come to buy their food. Lots of dry goods, and women working on processing the dry goods (separating beans from dried plant pieces for example). There were several adorable children, who followed us for a bit too. They didn’t beg, but Jeff mentioned later that they may be used to tourists giving them coins or treats.

Out of the market, our guys were there waiting for us - trying to sell us hats, paintings, bracelets. We walked a few more blocks, then to a restaurant for lunch. No one was hungry, but after waiting an hour for the food, we were. Jeff and I thought of the couple of times we had lunch in Cuba at a Paladare (family home), where we were pretty sure they went out to procure the food after we’d placed our orders! We had great conversation and got to know Maggie and the other Dan better, and watching the people go by on the street was amazing - women balancing baskets on their heads, and such beautiful flowing clothes. Our sales guys hung out while we ate, waving their goods at you when they caught your eye. After lunch, we walked a few more blocks, then into a mall area with multiple businesses and a two floor store where we bought some souvenirs.

We got so turned around, but we were just a few blocks from our hotel, and the relative quiet of the courtyard was a great respite from the madness of town - zooming cars and motorcycles, and a lot of people!

We retreated back to our rooms for naps. Jeff was sleeping when we had a knock on our door, and upon answering it, I learned that the airline called to verify we were staying here - a very good sign!

Around 6:30 pm, we got a text from Tam with a photo of Kilimanjaro- I’d forgotten all about it in the madness of the day! There is an observation tower on the side of a building in our compound, and from there, a great view of the mountain. We quickly got ready and climbed the tower for a last look before sunset. I’d seen it in photos, but seeing it today was very powerful. It’s mammoth, and we’re going to hike to the top of that!

We’d preordered our dinner at the hotel restaurant, and had just sat down to eat when Freddy came and said the bag was on its way. It arrived during dinner, what a relief. It obviously had been opened as it wasn’t properly sealed, but everything was in there and Jeff will rest easier now!

We were all mostly partypoopers, retreating to our rooms after dinner. Jeff was anxious to open his bag and start organizing his stuff. Tomorrow, we’ll have a final briefing about the hike, and head out on an excursion to see some caves and a waterfall.

We’ll also meet up in the evening with George, who arrived earlier yesterday then headed out to Zanzibar - where, according to photos he’s texting, he’s enjoying a few days on the beach!

[khalilhumam]

What’s the Latest Research in Development Economics? A Round-up from NEUDC 2020

New Post has been published on http://khalilhumam.com/whats-the-latest-research-in-development-economics-a-round-up-from-neudc-2020/

What’s the Latest Research in Development Economics? A Round-up from NEUDC 2020

Last weekend was the North East Universities Development Consortium annual conference, hosted by Dartmouth University but held virtually. Researchers presented about 225 papers (about a 50 percent increase from last year’s conference) on a wide range of development topics, from agriculture and credit to tax and transport. For those not able to attend or who want a refresher, we’ve prepared a brief takeaway from each paper (or in some cases, abstract) that we could find online. Remember that research is much more than a tweet-sized takeaway (and these takeaways are ours, not necessarily the authors), so if you’re interested in a result, we encourage you to read the linked papers. For as many of the papers for which we could easily discern and characterize it, we included a methodological hashtag. A guide to those hashtags is right before the summaries. We’ve sorted the papers by topic below, but in case you’re interested in reading about all the research from a given country or region, you can also find the research sorted that way. Before we dive into the content of the papers, here are a few statistics. About a quarter of the papers are from each of three regions: Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Only two percent of papers are from the Middle East or North Africa. In terms of country coverage, India—with 41 studies—had three times as many studies as the next most studied countries (Mexico and Brazil, with 13 studies and 11 studies), as you can see in the figure below. One in four papers (58 studies total) report on a randomized controlled trial, with lots of quasi-experimental methods in use as well: difference-in-differences, regression discontinuity, fixed effects, and instrumental variables are each used by more than a dozen papers. !function()"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a)if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"])))(); If we missed a paper or if you had a different takeaway from a paper, share your thoughts in the comments! Both of us had the papers we submitted rejected by the conference, so we summarize those at the bottom.

Guide to the methodological hashtags

#DID = Difference-in-differences #ES = Event study #FE = Fixed effects #IV = Instrumental variables #LIF = Lab in the field #ML = Machine learning #PSM = Propensity score matching #RCT = Randomized controlled trial #RD = Regression discontinuity

Households and human capital

Early childhood

Climate change increases acidification of the ocean, which reduces available fish. For babies in utero, that means more deaths, especially for the weakest kids. (Armand and Kim Taveras) #FE

When one child is born smaller than another, do parents compensate for those differences with health and nutrition investments, or do they reinforce them? Evidence from Indonesia suggests that in early childhood, parents reinforce differences. Data from 50 countries suggest parents are more likely to “reinforce initial inequalities in poorer countries.” (Banerjee and Majid) #FE

A play-based preschool curriculum in Bangladesh together with monthly teacher-parent meetings to boost parenting skills led to improved child cognitive and socioemotional development. Even for kids who switched from existing preschools, their socioemotional skills improved. (Rodriguez and Saltiel) #RCT #ML

Home visits to educate parents about feeding in Peru decreased anemia among children who were anemic at baseline but apparently increased it among those who weren’t (and no, it’s not just mean reversion), potentially because some parents misinterpreted messages from the visitors. (Barron, Castro, and Lavado) #RCT

Education

Helping secondary students in Zanzibar (Tanzania) to set goals for improvement on math tests led to better reported time use but not better test scores. These intermediate gains are largest for girls. (Islam et al.) #RCT

If you took the Indonesian secondary school entrance exam on a particularly hot day, it not only affects your math and science score, it also has “compounding negative effects on a wide range of long-term achievements such as adult educational attainment, labor market returns and entry to the marriage market.” (Das) #IV

During the Pinochet dictatorship, funding for universities in Chile fell. Decades later, children of parents affecting by the reduced university spaces were themselves less likely to enroll in college. (Bautista et al.) #RD (actually a Regression Kink Design)

With data on undergraduate students in India in the process of choosing a major, this paper finds that “women are willing to pay twice as much as men for course enjoyment and higher grades, even as they expect lower grades in science and economics.” (Dasgupta and Sharma)

Does providing e-readers to students in Lagos, Nigeria, boost test scores? Only if the devices had materials from the curriculum and were filling a gap in textbooks. (Habyarimana and Sabarwal) #RCT

In Mexico, providing “information to parents about how to support their children’s learning” improved parent behavior at home and student behavior at school. In a separate experiment, providing “financial resources to parent associations” had no behavioral impact. Neither improved student test scores. (Barrera-Osorio et al.) #RCT

Two different interventions to make school principals in Salta (Argentina) more effective had no impact during the intervention, but in the two years after the intervention concluded, fewer students repeated grades. “Good things come to those who wait.” (de Hoyos, Ganimian, and Holland) #RCT

What happens when your local school closes in China due to a school consolidation program? Delayed enrollment, but no change in lifetime education attainment. Later in life, it may have led to later marriage and more off-farm work. (Zhao) #DID

In Pakistan, “both high value-added teachers and teachers who respond more strongly to incentives significantly prefer performance pay and sort into” school where performance pay is on offer. (Brown and Andrabi) #RCT

A teacher professional development for secondary school teachers in Rwanda boosted use of active instruction but did not increase students’ “academic outcomes or skills.” (Blimpo and Pugatch) #RCT

Across 15 African countries, there is lots of variation in how much teachers are paid relative to other workers with comparable education and experience. However, on average across the countries, teachers are paid about the same per month and somewhat more per hour. (Evans, Yuan, and Filmer) You can read the authors’ blog post about the paper here.

Training teachers in targeted instruction in Ghana boosted student learning. Adding training for managers boosted the quality of management but didn’t further improve learning for students. (Beg, Fitzpatrick, and Lucas) #RCT

Winning a lottery increases the willingness to pay for remedial education services much more for those who aren’t able to borrow money than for those who are. “Credit constraints limit access to educational programs” in Tanzania. (Burchardi et al.) #RCT

School-based “internet access has a modest, positive short-run impact on school-average standardized test scores” in Peru, and the “effect grows over time.” (Kho, Lakdawala, and Nakasone) #ES

After three years, on-site, in-person coaching had much broader impacts than coaching delivered through a tablet in South Africa. (Cilliers et al.) #RCT [You can also read Dave’s blog post on this paper.]

“A multi-faceted program that integrates technology into education, provides ongoing teacher training and professional development, includes community ownership, and offers free primary education” boosts reading and math scores in rural Zambia. (de Hoop et al.) #RCT

Providing computers and computer-assisted learning software to primary schools in Angola led to falls in teacher absenteeism and rises in student and teacher technological familiarity; but student learning didn’t rise. (Cardim, Molina-Millán, and Vicente) #RCT

Do stereotypical beliefs of teachers affect learning outcomes of girls in India? “A standard deviation increase in biased attitude of the math teacher widens the female disadvantage in math performance by 0.07 SD over an academic year.” (Rakshit and Sahoo)

In China, “high-ability students have detrimental effects on their high-ability roommates’ performance.” This is likely driven by competition lowering help and interaction among roommates. (Hu and Chen)

Sex education provided by near-peers in Botswana reduced pregnancy by over 40 percent whereas government teachers had a null effect and potentially increased pregnancy. (Angrist) #RCT

When a college in China changes its name, it enrolls applications with 0.06–0.08 SD higher college entrance exam scores, equivalent to a college improving their ranking by 40 to 50 places. There is a small benefit for listing the college’s new name in employers’ recruitment decisions. (Eble and Hu)

Can information about jobs improve the effectiveness of vocational training? An experiment based on the DDU-GKY, a large-scale training program in India, showed that better informed trainees are 17 percent more likely to stay in the job in which they are placed. (Chakrarvorty et al.) #RCT

Land reform 50 years on: population levels in Kenya are higher in the settlement schemes than in neighboring areas. School provision is at par with population levels, indicating that there is no impact of the reform on this public good in the long run. (Crespin-Boucaud, Boone, and Moradi) #RD

COVID

Households in Bolivia that became eligible for a pre-existing, near-universal pension program during the COVID crisis were much less likely to go hungry. (Bottan, Hoffman, and Vera-Cossio) #RD

“After Brazil’s president publicly and emphatically dismissed the risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and advised against isolation, the social distancing measures taken by citizens in pro-government localities weakened compared to places where political support of the president is less strong.” Especially in municipalities with more active Twitter accounts! (Ajzenman, Cavalcanti, and Da Mata) #FE

In Ethiopia, despite worries about food insecurity in the wake of COVID-19, “food consumption and household dietary diversity are largely unchanged or slightly increased by August 2020” relative to a year previously. (Hirvonen, de Brauw, and Abate)

Lockdowns among adults aged 65+ in Turkey worsened mental health outcomes due to a large increase in social and physical isolation. (Altindag, Erten, and Keskin) #RD

In Kenya, the COVID-19 pandemic drove over 20 percent of traders out of business and disrupted supply chains, while most cross-border traders switched to being domestic traders. Remaining traders rely on informal borders, with an increase in bribes paid and more frequent harassment by officials and the police. (Wiseman)

Nutrition

Adding nutrition education to a cash and food transfers in Bangladesh boosted both the quantity and quality of food consumed more than transfers alone. (Tauseef) #RCT

A locust plague in Mali affected people in two ways. Prices went up in the short run because people knew the harvest would be smaller. “Children exposed in utero to the adverse effects of the locust plague suffer major health setbacks.” (Conte, Piemontese, and Tapsoba) #DID

One potential advantage of in-kind transfers relative to cash is that they serve as insurance against food price changes. For poor households in India, in-kind food transfers do a better job of reducing calorie shortfalls than cash. (Gadenne et al.) #FE

What’s the impact of double-fortified salt on schoolchildren’s health in India? After both one year and four years of exposure, anemia rates fall. (von Grafenstein et al.) #RCT

“Low soil zinc availability drives child stunting in Nepal.” The authors do a bunch of robustness checks to make sure it’s not all driven by unobserved characteristics. “Our most conservative estimates suggest that on average, moving from [low zinc] to [high zinc] soils … reduces child stunting by 6 percentage points.” (Bevis, Kim, and Guerena) #FE

School feeding in Rwanda boosted student learning and closed gender gaps. “Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that providing school feeding yields an 11:1 return on investment.” (Mensah and Nsabimana) #DID

Should the government sell you goods? “In the absence of government milk in Mexico, private market prices would be 3% higher.” Direct provision generates gains in consumer welfare of 4 percent relative to milk vouchers and 2 percent relative to unrestricted cash transfers. (Jiménez-Hernández and Seira)

Health

A review of 34 mental health interventions in low- and middle-income countries shows positive impacts on economic outcomes, especially interventions that combine psychosocial and pharmacological elements. (Lund et al.)

What is the impact of an epidemic outbreak on votes? In Mexico after the 2009 H1N1 outbreak, researchers find “a strong, negative relationship between the magnitude of the local epidemic outbreak and the governing party vote share in the 2009 congressional election.” There were persistent effects in the 2012 election. (Gutiérrez, Meriläinen, and Rubli)  #DID

Towns headed by Indian (as opposed to British) district officers in India experienced 15 percent lower deaths during the 1918 Influenza pandemic, coinciding with greater responsiveness in relief provision. (Xu)

Some US states have laws that require health insurers to cover telehealth services. Those laws have little average impact on telehealth use, but for a subset of users, they decrease medical spending and emergency room visits. (Jamal) #IV #ML

“Using manipulated portraits (thinner/fatter) of real Kampala [Uganda] residents, I first show that obesity is perceived as a reliable wealth signal.” Then, in a “real-stakes field experiment,” the research shows that “obese borrowers have easier access to credit: going from normal weight to obese is equivalent to increasing one’s income by 60 percent.” (Macchi) #RCT

Preventive healthcare appointments are common in rich countries but not in poor countries. In Malawi, both the offer of HIV testing appointments and financial commitment devices increase HIV testing among high-risk men, but appointments are much more effective. (Derksen et al.) #RCT

Some community health workers in Pakistan watched a video and a discussion about the mission of their work: their performance improved on a range of tasks. Some workers received financial incentives: their performance improved only on the incentivized tasks. (Khan) #RCT

Introducing public pharmacies in Chile “increased consumer savings and mayors were politically rewarded in the upcoming election.” (Atal et al.) #ES #RCT

When public health systems contract private hospitals, how do hospitals react? In India, “hospitals engage in substantial coding manipulation order to increase their revenues.” Also, “hospital charges for care that is supposed to be free are pervasive.” (Jain and Dupas) #DID

Are non-financial incentives effective to motivate community health workers? Providing an honorary award at a public ceremony boosted performance, with impacts on child health. Showing a video that demonstrates the consequences of health worker choices was less effective. (Fracchia, Molina Millán, and Vicente) #RCT

Gender

A law that banned female genital cutting in Senegal reduced the prevalence of the practice and increased investments in girls’ education. (Hombrados and Salgado) #DID

Married women in India are much less likely to make more than their husbands than they are to make just a little bit less than their husbands, suggesting a strong social norm and that some women are earning less than they could. (Gupta)

In India, “women who paid higher dowries are less likely to be poor relative to women who did not, even when their household incomes are the same.” The surprising implication is that “anti-dowry laws may have the unintended effect of increasing female poverty.” (Calvi and Keskar)

How does women’s employment affect technology adoption? In the United States when lots of women went to work in factories during World War II, rising employment led to more home appliances. For women who had kids, that meant more washing machines. (Bose, Jain, and Walker) #IV

Women entrepreneurs in urban Bangladesh who receive cognitive behavioral therapy (which includes goal-setting, time-management, and problem-solving strategies) experience reduced stress and lose less work time solving problems at home, but profits stay the same. (Lopez-Pena) #RCT

Women in Bogota, Colombia are willing to pay for flexible work schedules, especially women with higher incomes, suggesting that “flexibility is a luxury good.” (Bustelo et al.) #LIF

For gig economy workers in India, receiving criticism worsens worker attitudes but increases their effort. Praise affects neither. It doesn’t make a difference whether the manager giving feedback is a woman or a man. (Abel and Buchman) #RCT

Among “jobseekers in Egypt, women are more sensitive to long commutes, and value flexible schedules and on-site daycare more than men.” (Feld, Nagy, and Osman) #RCT

Are female-led communities differentially affected by conflict? In Colombia, municipalities where a female mayor was elected experienced a 60 percent decrease in guerrilla attacks. Female negotiation skills could explain the drop in conflict violence. (Eslava) #RD

A gender quota among Muslim leaders in Uttar Pradesh, India has a large and positive effect on toilet provision (across both Muslim and Hindu households), while with Hindu leaders there is no average affect. (Chaturvedi, Das, and Mahajan) #RD

A school-based intervention in India with classroom discussions to reduce adolescents’ support for restrictive gender norms “converted 16% of participants’ regressive views.” Self-reported behavior became more aligned with progressive gender norms, particularly among boys. (Dhar, Jain, and Jayachandran) #RCT

Registering sugarcane blocks in the wife’s name in Uganda improves two dimensions of women’s economic empowerment: access to resources and agency, with marginal impacts on personal welfare outcomes. In contrast, a behavior change intervention has strong impacts on personal welfare impacts. (Ambler, Jones, and O’Sullivan) #RCT

“A one time large unconditional cash transfer (in rural Kenya) improves women’s control of household resources but not the frequency of physical and sexual intimate partner violence. Combining a light touch psychological intervention targeting self-believes with the cash transfer reduces the violence index by 0.14  SD.” (Mahmud, Orkin, and Riley) #RCT

Benefiting from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, a conditional cash transfer program in the Philippines, at the critical age between 12.5 and 14 years delays marriage and first birth by 1 year and 6 months, respectively.  (Dervisevic, Perova, and Sahay)

“A large share of the gender pay gap in Brazil is due to women working at lower-paying employers.” There are sizable output and welfare gains from moving to a gender-neutral economy, but analysis suggests that equal-treatment policies fail to close the gender gap in equilibrium. (Morchio and Moser)

In South Korea, a glass ceiling for women exists: “the (large) unexplained gender wage gap substantially increases at the upper end of the wage distribution.” Effects of marriage and childbirth also explain the dramatic increase in the gender wage gap for women in their 30s and 40s. (Lee)

A program aiming at reducing intimate partner violence (IPV) in Rwanda increased violence. “The program may have increased violence because men backlashed against the perceived threat to their identity posed by program messages about women’s empowerment, and against their wives’ more progressive gender attitudes and aspirations. (Cullen et al.) #RCT

Sexual crimes, lapses in alimony, and domestic violence declined during the COVID-19 stay-at-home order in Mexico, and then rose back to their pre-COVID levels. Femicides remained constant during the pandemic, but declined in municipalities with alcohol sales prohibition. (Hoehn-Velasco, de la Miyar, and Silverio Murillo)

“Providing poor women in rural Bangladesh with cash or food transfers, alongside nutrition behavior change communication, led to sustained reductions in” intimate partner violence. (Roy et al.) #RCT

Amendments to the Indian anti-dowry law were successful in decreasing dowry payments. They also led to exposed women being 2.6 percentage points less likely to be in involved in household decisions, and a 1.9 percentage points increase in the probability of domestic violence. (Calvi and Keskar)

Sexual harassment awareness trainings in India increased awareness among men by 0.106 SD, and decreased reported physical forms of sexual harassment among women by 0.125 SD. (Sharma) #RCT

Fertility

In China, only the majority ethnic group was subject to birth quotas, but birth rates fell among other ethnic groups as well. “A woman gives birth to 0.65 fewer children if the average completed fertility among her peers is exogenously reduced by one child.” (Rossi and Xiao) #IV

In the past, some ethnic groups across African countries practiced twin infanticide. Today, twin mortality is no higher for those groups than for other others. Phew. Uses data from 23 countries. (Fenske and Wang) #FE

African women in former British colonies tend to marry later and have lower fertility than women in former French colonies. But those effects tend to disappear close to the sea, where market access is higher. (Canning, Mabeu, and Pongou) #RD

“In societies characterized by the co-existence of strong son preference and worse maternal health conditions, women with first-born girls exhibit a lower likelihood of survival into older ages. This is likely due to harmful fertility behaviors after the birth of a daughter.” (Agarwal and Milazzo)

Households and marriage

Parents in Bangladesh see that their children are biased toward the present and are willing to pay to restrict their kids’ choices and—ultimately—may be able to mold their children’s preferences. (Kiessling et al.) #LIF

A lab experiment in rural Togo suggests that men in rural farming households put less investment into their wives’ farm plots than would maximize household agricultural production. (Apedo-Amah, Djebbari, and Ziparo) #LIF

An earthquake in Gujarat (India) reduced men’s and women’s ages at marriage but increased the education gap in marriages and lowered women’s likelihood of entering into self-arranged marriages. (Das and Dasgupta) #DID

Floods in Bihar, India reduced both men’s and women’s ages at marriage and—for married women—decreased the secondary school completion rate and labor force participation. It was more pronounced among groups for which dowry is the norm and among the landless, so dowry may have been helping to smooth consumption. (Khanna and Kochhar) #DID

An education reform in Zimbabwe increased women’s education and led them to marry more educated men. Since the increase in women’s education was greater, the education gap narrowed. (Salcher) #RD

Bans on cousin marriage in the US led to descendants with more education and higher labor force participation. (Ghosh, Hwang, and Squires) #IV

Migration and refugees

In low-income countries, richer people are the ones who emigrate: “In low-income countries, people actively preparing to emigrate have 30 percent higher incomes than others overall, 14 percent higher incomes explained by observable traits such as schooling, and 12 percent higher incomes explained by unobservable traits.” (Clemens and Mendola)

Research with “Filipino migrants in the UAE and their spouses in the Philippines” shows that “both migrants and spouses have biased beliefs about each other’s finances and these biases are the result of strategic misreporting. Spouses and certain subgroups of migrants underreport their income to influence the remittance decision in their favor.” (Rehman) #LIF

In municipalities of Brazil with more immigrants historically, both the descendants of the immigrants and others have higher wages. (Cenci, Lopes, and Monasterio) #FE

“Do migrant incomes catalyze economic development back home?” In the Philippines, yes: “Positive migrant income shocks lead to higher household consumption and higher asset ownership in origin areas a decade later.” (Khanna, Theoharides, and Yang) #FE #IV

“Refugees who have access to a larger co-refugee network tend to have more interactions with the local population” among Syrian refugees in Turkey. This is likely because “immigrant networks share experiences and information on the local population, therefore making it easier for refugees to interact with locals.” (Gautier) #IV

“Why do migrants embark on dangerous border crossing journeys? … Migrants [from Mexico] with poor long term economic prospects at home are more tolerant of crossing places offering high reward and high risks.” (Chau, Garip, and Oritz-Bobea) #IV

Migration prohibitions for women in Sri Lanka—based on age and on age of youngest child—had impacts on fertility. Young women increased their fertility; older women reduced their fertility. “As a result, new mothers are less-educated and younger, which may have an impact on child outcomes.” (Peru) #RD

Palm-oil price shocks in Indonesia benefit producing districts with higher per capita expenditure, while price shocks on rice do not. Districts exposed to palm-oil price shocks and those surrounding them receive more migration resulting in an overall welfare increase of 0.39 percent, with one third due to internal migration. (Siregar)

Working and saving

Banking and credit

In India, some urban centers have too many bank branches, and some rural areas have too few, so banks could reallocate branches and increase access without much or any decrease in deposits. (Hawkins-Pierot)

More banks in rural India make it easier for households to deal with tough times like bad harvests: “Households that experience shocks but have access to banking services are better off with respect to consumption compared to those that have to cope without access.” (Cramer) #RD

Informal moneylenders in rural India use loans from formal financial institutions as capital to make loans to households. (Surendra) #FE

Giving informal savings groups access to loans from formal banks in Uganda increased food security but also led to more group turnover. (Burlando, Etcheverry, and Goldberg) #RCT

Providing rural households with access to a mobile money agent in Uganda increased food security and self-employment off of farms, mostly through peer-to-peer transfers and lower costs in accessing remittances (e.g., they didn’t have to travel to get the money). (Wieser et al.) #RCT

How does the disbursement of microfinance loans via mobile money impact borrowers’ businesses in Uganda? “Women who received their microfinance loan on the mobile money account had 15% higher business profits and 11% higher levels of business capital.” (Riley) #RCT

Is the type of financial support provided to businesses more important than which businesses receive it? In Egypt, those who succeed with loans are equivalent to those who succeed with grants, showcasing that owner heterogeneity is more important than the type of support received. (Crépon, El Komi, and Osman) #RCT

Flexible repayment schedules reduce high social pressure among microcredit borrowers in the Philippines but come at a cost of reduced loan repayment. (Czura, John, Spantig) #LIF

In Pakistan, microenterprises with hire-purchase contracts “are more likely to remain in self-employment, run larger businesses, and enjoy higher profits.” As a result, their households increase spending on food and children’s education. (Bari et al.) #RCT

In Chile, low-income individuals receiving messages about how to prevent and face shocks, and how to face present bias and social comparison, combined with additional messages about options that individuals at risk of defaulting could take, decreased loan delinquency probability between 20 and 32 percent. (Álvarez, Miranda, and Ruiz-Tagle) #RCT

“Doubling the delivery time [of digital credit] from ten to twenty hours reduces the default rate by 20%” in Mexico. (Burlando, Kuhn, and Prina) #RD

Lottery players tend to bet less on numbers that recently won, suggesting a default “gambler’s fallacy” bias. 6.3 percent of players in Haiti and 15.7 percent in Denmark choose “hot” numbers—those which were winners in the previous round. There is no evidence of “streak switching”—in which beliefs switch from gambler’s fallacy to hot hand fallacy as streaks increase. (Dillon and Lybbert)

Receiving monthly wages into either a bank or a mobile money account increased savings and improved coping with unanticipated economic shocks among factory workers in Bangladesh. (Breza, Kanz, and Klapper) #RCT

Cash transfers

Households that benefitted from a multiyear cash transfer program in rural Niger have more savings and more earnings from both agricultural and non-agricultural activities. As a result, they have higher consumption even in the face of drought. (Premand and Stoeffler) #RCT

Cash transfers in rural Mali help “low-income households to invest in profitable endeavors outside of subsistence agriculture and may reduce the marital migration of women in vulnerable households.” (Hidrobo, Mueller, and Roy) #RCT

Cash transfers in Brazil reduced formal labor supply at the individual level, but because of the extra cash in the local economy, they actually lead a net positive impact on overall local labor supply. (Gerard, Naritomi, and Silva)

If households find out that they’re going to receive a cash transfer with more time to anticipate and plan, they’re more likely to save the money. (Thakral and Tô) #RCT

Voters in Kenya (correctly) do not attribute a cash transfer program to local leaders, and receiving a cash transfer does not affect household’s voter turnout, vote choice, or favorability ratings of candidates. (Orkin and Walker) #RCT

Firms and microenterprises

Firms of disadvantaged castes have a higher average revenue product of capital. Across-caste dispersion is concentrated in financially underdeveloped regions in India and the majority can be explained by differences in access to credit which reduces aggregate TFP by 6-10 percent. (Goraya)

Charging higher prices for business training in Jamaica screens out poorer business owners, selects those who expect to benefit from it, and increases attendance among those who do pay. (Maffioli, McKenzie, and Ubfal)

Firms in rural Tanzania with access to a digital phone book (lowering the cost of accessing new business and customer networks) “increase relational contracting with their suppliers and decrease it with their customers,” suggesting an improved bargaining position of firms relative to their pre-existing customers and suppliers. (Rudder) #RCT

In Chile, mentoring improves mentee’s business practices but not their business survival, profits or income. Two success factors matter most: the time that the mentor has available, and the size of her network. (Lafortune, Martin, and Tessada)

Indonesian firm-level data shows that democratization increases firm productivity, a critical determinant of economic growth. (Abeberese et al.) #DID

The expansion of special economic zones in Vietnam (from 73 to 450 between 2000–2007) had little impact on increases in employment, number of firms, output, or output per worker. (McCaig et al.) #DID

English training to domestic middle managers in Myanmar increases frequency of communication with their foreign managers, and trained managers perform better in management exercises. Employers value candidates with both higher English ability and multinational corporation experience. (Guillouet et al.)

Access to premium recruitment services (increasing the supply of applicants) to firms in India increases “employer interest in applications.” Combining access to premium services with access to identity verification services increases actual hiring and leads these firms to employ a higher fraction of employees hired through the platform. (Fernando, Singh, and Tourek) #RCT

How do firms respond to insecurity in Afghanistan? “Terrorist attacks reduce firm presence by 4-6% in affected districts… After violence, employees in provincial capitals are 33% more likely to move to Kabul and 15% more likely to exit the province.” (Blumenstock et al.)

In Brazil, the probability of criminal prosecution increases by 23 percent upon job loss and remains constant. Unemployment benefits offset potential crime increases, especially for liquidity-constrained individuals. This effect completely vanishes upon benefit expiration. (Britto, Pinotti, and Sampaio) #RD

How does information and publicity of human right abuses impact those firms tied to an abuse? “Firms associated with an assassination (of civil society activists) have large, negative abnormal returns following the event.”(Kreitmeir, Lane, and Raschky)

“Firms exogenously exposed to the Drug War [in Mexico] experience lower export growth”, as resources went from production to protection and eroded local capacity to attract capital investment. (Gorrín, Morales-Arilla, and Ricca)

How do multinationals affect development in the long run? In Costa Rica, regions under control of the United Fruit Company were 29 percent less likely to be poor than nearby locations in 1973, with only 56 percent of the gap closing over the following four decades. “The firm increased aggregated welfare by 3.7% and this effect is increasing in worker mobility.”(Méndez-Chacón and Van Patten) #RD

Among firms along the manufacturing supply chain in Ecuador, “bilateral trade is estimated to be inefficiently low in early periods of the relationship.” (Brugués)

Localized conflict in the Ukraine decreased sales by at least 5.8 percent outside of violent areas due a propagation effect (affecting firms’ buyers and suppliers) and a change in the production network structure. (Korovkin and Makarin)

A contracting arrangement between producers and buyers that bundles price premium certainty with training and credit for a quality-improving technology induced producers in Senegal to purchase and use the technology. Producers are also more likely to produce higher-quality products (groundnuts) with increased output sales to the cooperative. (Deutschmann, Bernard, and Yameogo) #RCT

Insurance

Informal insurance is prevalent in rural India but has serious limitations, since it depends on members not getting hit by the same adverse shock. But if the same communities control cooperative irrigation schemes, then the irrigation and insurance institutions can be mutually supporting. (Mazur)

Labor (including child labor)

“At least 23% of self-employment in lean months occurs because workers cannot find jobs” in India. (Breza, Kaur, and Shamdasani)

“Increased early life investment reduces schooling in districts with high child labor, especially for girls and lower castes” in India. (Bau et al.) #FE #IV

Including information of being a recipient of a Beca 18—a merit-based scholarship provided to poor students in Peru to pursue college education—in a résumé “increases the likelihood of getting a callback for a job interview by 20%.” (Agüero, Galarza, and Yamada) #RCT

Labor market discrimination among Slovaks towards the Roma minority is prevalent at both margins, and more so at the extensive margin. (Mani) #LIF

For men that graduated from college during the public-sector hiring freeze in Tamil Nadu, India, the likelihood of being unemployed increased by about 32 percent. The application rate jumped by about 20 times for the few recruitments that were conducted. (Mangal) #DID

The “employment impacts of a small cash grant, information and psychological support are close to zero,” but optimized targeting, i.e. offering the best possible intervention to each group, “raises employment (among Syrian refugees in Jordan) by a 1 percentage point (a 20% gain).” (Caria et al.) #RCT

Training job seekers in South Africa to join and use an online professional networking platforms increases their end-of-program employment rate from 70 percent to 77 percent. (Wheeler et al.) #RCT

An “SMS-based messaging app that connects agricultural workers and employers” in Tanzania “reduces within-village wage dispersion by 16-40 percent.” (Jeong) #RCT

“Workers (in Israel) are 3-4 times more likely to find employment in firms where their parents have professional connections.” Connections matter for inequality: “the wage gap between Arabs and Jews decreases by 12% when equalizing the groups’ connections but increases by 56% when prohibiting the hiring of connected workers.” This is because “Arabs have connections to lower-paying firms, but use their connections more extensively.” (San)

Governments, institutions, and conflict

Bureaucracy and politics

Sending scorecards measuring delays in service delivery to government officials and their supervisors in Bangladesh increased services delivered without delay by 11 percent. (Mattsson)

The 1883 Pendleton Act—requiring US customhouses with 50+ employees to recruit through competitive exams—led to employees having stronger professional backgrounds who stayed longer in their jobs. (Moreira and Pérez)

Changing judge selection procedure from presidential appointment to appointment by judge peers in Pakistan significantly decreases rulings in favor of the government. (Mehmood)

Villages controlled by the state ruling party in West Bengal, India systematically receive higher aggregate anti-poverty program allocations. There are also persistent large excess payments to local candidates affiliated with the ruling party. (Shenoy and Zimmermann) #RD

Political reservation in Bihar, India: (i) lowers inequality in access to public goods; (ii) lowers intergroup private asset inequality; and (iii) increases presence of minority group members in local government. (Kumar and Sharan) #RD

Conflict and crime

The civil war in Nepal (1996–2006) led to lower food consumption and less dietary diversity, mostly through reduced purchased food. (Marchesi and Rockmore) #FE

Data from 43 African countries shows that conflict over power emerges due to ethnic groups’ disagreement over the mix of public goods provided by a culturally distant government. (Guarnieri) #DID

Police station openings deter violent crime by 15 percent and housing crime by 30 percent—leading to 4–6 percent increase in housing values in Colombia. (Morales-Mosquera) #IV #DID

“A one standard deviation increase in the total pounds of bombs dropped (in Laos) is associated with a 9.3% fall in GPD per capita.” (Riaño and Caicedo) #IV

Pretrial detention in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil reduces re-arrest in the medium term (mostly driven by incapacitation effects) and increases the probability and severity of post-release crime. (Ribeiro and Ferraz) #IV

Police “repression causes a temporary deterrence effect but only on students with social (rather than geographic) links to the victim.” Police violence increased student-led boycotts and had negative educational consequences for students in Chile. (Gonzalez)

US drone strikes in Pakistan encourage terrorism, causing up to 17.5 percent of all terror attacks or about 6,000 deaths. (Mahmood and Jetter) #IV

Following the 1918 Finnish Civil War, substantial increases in redistribution and a drastic shift towards equality occurred in municipalities that were affected by the 1866–1868 famine, that had higher levels of pre-conflict inequality, and that had more insurgents. (Meriläinen, Mitrunen, and Virkola)

Ethnic civil conflicts in Africa between 1989–2009 reveal that gender-unequal armed actors are more likely to be perpetrators of sexual violence. Sexual violence also increases “when the perpetrator is more gender-unequal than the victim.” (Guarnieri and Tur-Prats)

“An increase in the value of (labor intensive) artisanal mining activities increase both the use of sexual violence and nonlethal violence against civilians” using data from across Africa. “By contrast, an increase in the value of (capital intensive) industrial mines increases only the use of lethal violence.” (Fourati, Girard, and Laurent-Lucchetti)

US marijuana liberalization led to a large “reduction in both marijuana cultivation and gun-related homicides in Mexico as well as an increase in legal agricultural outputs.” (Swanson)

According to data from 25 African countries, the strength of an ethnic group identity increases when mineral resource exploitation in that group’s historical homeland intensifies. (Berman, Couttenier, and Girard)

Corruption

Grassroots monitoring leads to a decrease in the share of missing expenditures of 8–10 percentage points in non-audit villages in Indonesia. However, “in government audit villages, individuals are less likely to attend, talk, and actively participate in accountability meetings.” (Gonzales, Harvey and Tzachrista)

“Concentrated incentives, i.e. notifying of audit timing in advance, would have persuaded bureaucrats to forgo misappropriating an additional USD 35m (16% of average annual expenditures [on Indonesia’s employment guarantee program]) when compared to dispersed incentives, i.e. messages are uninformative and audit timing is unpredictable.” (Wong)

Switching from appointed to randomly assigned municipal auditors in Italy increased municipality’s surplus by 9 percent and debt repayments by 8 percent, with improvements coming from those that ran deficits before the reform and where the mayor did not face re-election pressure. (Vannutelli) #DID

In Russia, the procurement prices in rigged auctions are between 36 percent and 44 percent higher and the reported number of bidders is 23 percent lower. (Charankevich) #FE

Elections

Reducing the separation between Church and State can be corrosive to political institutions: religious leaders in Pakistan use their legitimacy to gain political office and misuse their political authority to undermine the independence of the Judiciary. (Mehmood and Seror)

Male-specific labor market shocks in Brazil increase support for Bolsonaro among men, while female-specific labor market shocks reduce support among women. (Barros and Santos Silva)

Rodrigo Duterte’s 2016 inauguration speech on illegal drugs solidified the population’s perception of illegal drugs as one of the primary and most pressing concerns in the Philippines. (Jetter and Molina)

Voters in South Africa are swayed by “whether a party is just winning a pre-election poll, compared to just losing.” “Supporters of the party just ahead in the polls are 10 percentage points more likely to turn out to vote and 12 percentage points more likely to vote for their party.” (Orkin)

Regionalist parties cause local violence in constituencies with significant tribal populations in India, as successful regionalists favor local ethnic majorities, causing higher uncertainty for minority groups. (Kapoor and Magesan)

Networks

The Ebola epidemic in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone in 2014–2016 led “people living in more ethnically diverse and less segregated communities” to “demonstrate a broadened sense of identity and lower attachment to own ethnic group following Ebola.” But the effect was the opposite in more isolated communities. (Yarkin) #FE #IV

In Nepal, people playing a lab game demonstrated that among closely knit groups, group members may not choose someone to be the formal monitor of behavior, whereas among more sparsely connected groups, they’re more likely to do so. (Iacobelli and Singh) #LIF

“The need to protect from weather-related subsistence shocks led to weaker kin ties and the development of institutional arrangements going beyond the local community.” Countries whose ancestors had weaker kin ties are associated with institutions of higher quality over time. (Tedeschi)

Network recovery from aggregated relational data is generally possible without parametric assumptions using a nuclear-norm penalized regression. Computation takes seconds for samples with hundreds of observations. (Alidaee, Auerbach, and Leung)

Tax

A tax exemption for newly built buildings in Montevideo, Uruguay led to more housing in some areas. In those areas, grocery store prices fell and there was more variety, driven by increasing competition. (Borraz et al.) #DID

What is the effect of public good and tax collection on tax compliance and political protest? In Haiti, tax collection lowered tax compliance and increased political action, while public goods led to higher tax compliance and lower political action. (Krause) #RCT

“Multinational firms can avoid paying taxes by using intra-group transactions to shift profits to low-tax jurisdictions.” A tax reform in Chile, intended to raise revenues, did not achieve that, but it did increase “the demand for tax advisory services.” (Pomeranz) #DID #ES

A tax reform in Thailand reduced the price subsidy for long-term savings. Middle-income taxpayers—especially those already making small contributions—reduce their savings much more than high-income taxpayers. (Muthitacharoen and Burong) #DID

Providing better advice to customs inspectors in Madagascar boosted their fraud findings, but less so when “opportunities for graft are large.” Monitoring inspectors did not “result in the detection of more fraud or the collection of more revenue.” (Chalendard et al.) #IV #RCT

A letter experiment to nudge income taxpayers in Eswatini resulted in non-filers significantly responding to the nudges, while nil and active filers did not. (Santoro) #RCT

Larger municipal councils in Brazil have greater political diversity, collect higher tax revenues (on services), and exhibit higher expenditures on “pro-social” public goods (health, education, and housing). (Kresch et al.) #RD

A personal income tax reform in Uganda—increasing the marginal tax rate of the top 1 percent group of taxpayers by 10 percentage points—led to a substantial decline in reported income among that income group. (Jouste et al.) #DID

Firms in India “remit 20% higher taxes and report 16% higher taxable income, once they are subject to third-party audits.” (Choudhary and Gupta) #DID

Urban and infrastructure

A location-based price subsidy in Bogotá (Colombia) leads to neighborhood blocks having newer houses—implying more construction. Properties in areas receiving a small subsidy are cheaper than those receiving a bigger subsidy. (Uribe) #RD

Scheduled Castes/Tribes and Muslims are more likely to live in poorer cities in India. Cities with more Muslims have worse access to education and health, while cities with Schedule Castes/Tribes have better access. (Adukia et al.)

“Subsidies for investment in rural areas in India created net benefits for workers due to larger agglomeration economies.” (Reed)

Better transit networks reduce overall criminal activity and improve welfare in Medellín, Colombia, despite dispersing some criminality to different parts of the city. (Khanna et al.)

Areas in Tokyo that had a higher proportion of local lords’ estates at the end of the 1850s now have taller and fewer buildings, more floor space, and higher land prices. (Yamasaki, Nakajima, and Teshima) #RD

The Taiping Rebellion in 19th century China blocked land routes and increased sea-trade. This catalyzed a population shift towards port cities. (Hu)

Transit improvements in Mexico City “reduce informality rates by 4 percentage points” (as informal workers are more sensitive to commuting costs). Worker’s reallocation to the formal sector explain about 17–25 percent of the total welfare gains stemming from the new infrastructure. (Zárate) #DID

How does slum demolition in Victorian England affect the economic outcomes of the displaced? Displaced residents were 7.4 percentage points more likely to move out of their neighborhood and 7.8 percentage points more likely to change their occupation in the medium-run due to the loss of self-owned businesses and local job opportunities. (He)

“After the Mexican Revolution, Indigenous people who descend from centralised societies in pre-colonial times were better able to reject road infrastructure in Mexico.” Where road building was less successful, economic outcomes are worse today. (Elizalde and Hidalgo, and Salgado) #DID

In Turkish provinces where the length of an expressway network increased from 51km to 193km, the AKP party’s vote share increased by 4.2 percentage points, or a one-third increase between 2002 and 2011. (Akubulut-Yuksel, Okoye, and Turan) #FE

Can White Elephants Kill? Unfinished sewerage projects in Peru “increased early-life mortality, driven by lack of water availability, water-borne diseases and accidents.” (Bancalari)

Over 40 percent of infrastructure projects in Brazil are never completed. A change in mayor negatively impacts the delivery of projects inherited (from the opposition) in a construction stage, while it positively impacts the delivery of more recent projects. (Granato and Ferraz) #RD

Areas which adopted electricity early in late 19th century Switzerland continue to be more industrialized and have higher incomes today. The persistence is explained by increased human capital accumulation and innovation. (Brey) #IV

Access to rural roads increases agricultural fires (to clear agricultural residue) which cause a 1.25 percent increase in local PM2.5 pollution in rural India. (Garg, Jagnani, and Pullabhotla) #RD

Brazilian municipalities closer to a migrants’ settlement (from the early 20th century) have enhanced provision of public goods today and more well-defined property rights. The settlements implied a larger size of the middle class which increased pressures for public goods provision and for more egalitarian legal institutions. (Guimbeau)

Water and sanitation

A 1 SD reduction in childhood diarrhea mortality rates from the Programa de Agua Limpia—a 1991 clean water program in Mexico—leads to a 6 percent persisting increase in cognitive skills and 0.11 SD increase in height in adolescence. (Bhalotra, Brown, and Venkataramani)

Drought-hit households in Uganda are 3 percentage points more likely to pay user fees for water and increase time spent fetching water by 1.8 hours per week (13 percent increase). Women and girls spend more time fetching water. (Kamei)

The Swachh Bharat Mission—an in-house toilet construction program in India—reduced sexual assault of women but did not affect reported rape. (Mahajan and Sekhri) #IV

Religion

Exposure to European Christian missions results in a broader scope of morality in the Democratic Republic of Congo today as it is associated with weaker kinship ties and less communal (i.e. more universal) moral values. (Bergeron) #LIF

Massive public-school construction in Indonesia in the 70s decreased attendance in primary Islamic schools in favor of public schools but increased enrolment in religious schools at secondary level—absorbing the higher demand that resulted from mass public primary schooling. (Bazzi, Hilmy, and Marx)

Religious conversion by Christians missions caused persistent anti-gay norms and attitudes in a sample of 33 African countries. (Ananyev and Poyker)

Agriculture and the environment

Agriculture

Why do farmers often “sell low” and “buy high”? Across 20 years and 26 countries, the lean-season price (which we’d expect to be high) doesn’t exceed the harvest season price (which we’d expect to be low) more than a quarter of the time across all countries (and more than half the time in Nigeria). Wait, you mean the farmers knew what they were doing all along? (Cardell and Michelson)

Giving farmers in Mexico autonomy increased adoption of improved agricultural practices, but only in the years after the intervention ended. (Gine) #RCT

In 2014, maize farmers in Tanzania received vouchers for fertilizer, plot-specific fertilizer recommendations, or both. Three to five years later, only farmers who received both “sustain higher yields after the initial intervention concluded.” But even that might be measurement error. (Tamim et al.) #RCT

Farmers in Bihar, India who received reusable, hermetically sealed storage bags for a small price were no more likely to use them than farmers who got them for free. But getting them for free initially did reduce farmers’ willingness to pay for the bags later, “suggesting free distribution can stifle future markets for repeat-purchase goods.” (Shukla, Pullabhotla, and Baylis) #RCT

Training Bangladeshi farmers on a rice-growing innovation boosted “rice yields, revenues, costs, and profits for both trained and untrained farmers in training villages.” Even life satisfaction went up! (Barrett et al.) #RCT

Training dragon fruit farmers in Vietnam improves the quality of dragon fruit (less pesticide residue), and training farmers and intermediaries improve quality even more, but just training intermediaries didn’t cut it. (Park, Yuan, and Zhang) #RCT

“Several African countries have recently centralized their agricultural markets by launching a commodity exchange. What would be the impact of such a move?” This paper presents a model and finds that “forcing all farmers to sell into the commodity exchange can make some farmers worse off.” (Nyarko and Pellegrina)

In Ethiopia, access to a rural road by itself didn’t boost agricultural productivity, and neither did the provision of agricultural extension. But together they boosted productivity by 6 percent. (Gebresilasse) #FE #IV

Why is fertilizer use so low in so many African countries? In Tanzania, lots of farmers worry about counterfeit fertilizer despite testing suggesting it’s not a problem. Two possible explanations: crop yields depend on lots of factors so farmers misattribute low yields to bad fertilizer, and farmers have uncertainty about the likelihood of fertilizer being bad. Evidence from Uganda supports both hypotheses. (Hoel et al.)

“Representative household surveys from the wide Niger river basin [in Niger and Nigeria] show that the relationship between farmers’ market access and crop trade is not simply explained by market access.” (Tsuda)

How does an agricultural minimum wage affect the effects of weather shocks on labor market outcomes in South Africa? “Minimum wage substantially weakens the resilience of agricultural employment to reduced soil moisture in the short term.” (Sharp) #DID

A public works program implemented in Ethiopia since 2005 shows no effect on agricultural productivity. (Gazeaud and Stephane) #DID

Natural disasters

Short-term changes in the share of people living in poverty impact tropical cyclone mortality risk in the Philippines at the municipal level. (Tennant)

Natural disasters in Indonesia increase risk aversion among exposed individuals, with variation by severity, type and time frame of the disasters. (Purcell)

Deforestation

Increasing agricultural productivity could lead to either less deforestation (because people use land more intensively) or more deforestation (because it makes agricultural land more valuable). In Uganda, an agricultural extension program reduced annual deforestation. (Abman et al.) #RD

In Peru, re-electing an incumbent mayor reduces deforestation by a third. (Medina, Moromizato, and Barron) #RD

Rising rice prices in Cambodia increased deforestation as farmers used more land for cash crops. (Wilcox, Ortiz-Bobea, and Just) #IV

Pollution

A tax on passenger vehicles in Uganda decreased imports of passenger vehicles but didn’t reduce registration, since local traders had large inventories. (Forster and Nakyambadde) #DID

Pollution generated by coal fueled power increases anemia among women and children in India. (Datt et al.)

Receiving air pollution forecasts increases willingness to pay to continue receiving such forecasts in Lahore, Pakistan. (Ahmad et al.) #RCT

Air pollution in Colombia not only affects respiratory and cardiovascular health, but also mental health. (Ordonez)

Land acquisition for Special Economic Zones in India “increases uncertainty about landownership leading to a reduction in area under cultivation. This reduces labor demand in agriculture, suppressing agricultural wages and worsening income inequality.” (Misra) #DID

High levels of air pollution decrease student attendance via a health effect and thus reduce reading outcomes by 1.1–2.4 percentage points and math outcomes by 0.5–1.9 percentage points, with girls and older children witnessing a larger decline. (Balakrishnan and Tsaneva)

Macroeconomics

Growth and inequality

Neoclassical growth theory predicts that countries will converge to a level of income affected by their policies, institutions, and culture. Adding the last twenty years of data to older analyses suggests a trend toward unconditional convergence since the 1960s. Policies and institutions have tended to converge toward those associated with richer countries. (Kremer, Willis, and You)

Splitting municipalities in Brazil “increases economic activity and public sector delivery in new municipalities. Parent municipalities remain unaffected.” (Dahis and Szerman)

“Individuals that were exposed to democratic institutions during their “impressionable years” (ages 18–25) display persistently higher levels of civic engagement.” (Ajzenman, Aksoy, and Fiszbein)

Vernacularization, i.e. the increased use of the common or spoken tongues in writing following the Protestant Reformation in 1517, led to a significant increase in works from authors with low socioeconomic background. An increase in vernacular printing also increased city population growth and in future births of famous individuals. (Binzel, Link, and Ramachandran)

In India, the steady state distribution of household durable expenditures exhibits natural clusters (or “classes”). “Households in the lowest class may be unable to take advantage of either the labor market (via education investment to increase subsequent income) or the marriage market (via durables as a signal of ‘social status’).” (Maitra)

A new metric intended to capture the concept of “inclusive growth” is used to demonstrate that in India, there is “evidence of inclusive growth only in horizontal decomposition (social groups and religion) in the urban sector and for a few (middle) deciles in the rural sector.” (Thapliyal and Malghan)

OLS estimates of relative income mobility based on household data in Indonesia show higher mobility than the preferred IV estimates. Absolute mobility in income and consumption expenditure also suggests lower upward mobility. (Zafar) #IV

Who benefits from an allocation? Allocations of Mexico’s PROGRESA anti-poverty program rank a household 13 percentiles higher if indigenous, 8 percentiles lower for each SD increase in household income, and 21 percentiles higher for each additional small child in the household, on average. (Björkegren, Blumenstock, and Knight)

Foreign capital liberalization reduces capital misallocation and increases aggregate productivity in India. “For initially high marginal revenue products of capital (MRPK), liberalization increased revenues by 19%, physical capital by 59%, and wage bills by 29%.” There were no effects on low MRPK firms. (Bau and Matray) #DID

In Peru, “where different ethnic groups were (historically) composed of more heterogenous subpopulations, they engage in more reciprocal behavior and exhibit more open attitudes toward out-group members.” (Artiles)

Trade

How much can employers suppress wages below marginal productivity? In Colombia’s exporting firms, “workers produce about 30% more than their wage level.” (Amodio and de Roux)

Reductions in trade costs of agricultural outputs and inputs across countries between 1980 and 2015 led to welfare and productivity gains. (Farrokhi and Pellegrina)

China’s accession to the World Trade Organization and the subsequent reduction in tariff uncertainty (i.e. higher exports) led to a lower probability of enrolling in high school, especially in urban areas. (Leight and Pan) #DID

“Exporter market power prevents farmers (in Ecuador) from benefiting from international trade.” (Zavala)

Chinese import competition increased formal employment in India by 4.6 percent and aggregate labor productivity by 3.9 percent. (Chakraborty, Singh, and Soundararajan) #IV

Exposure to Chinese imports led to short-run declines in employment of both men and women in Peru; however, adverse effects are only persistent for women. (Mansour, Medina, and Vélasquez)

Before you go

Here are summaries of two papers that were rejected by the conference—one submitted by Almedina and one by Dave.

Experiencing an earthquake in Indonesia before age 5 leads to 0.7 years less schooling in the long run. Boys have lower education outcomes including cognitive skills, whereas girls exhibit worse health outcomes. (Gignoux, Menéndez, and Music) #DID

Across more than 140 impact evaluations of education interventions in African countries, multi-faceted pedagogical support programs and mother tongue instruction programs both performed well in multiple settings. (Evans and Mendez Acosta) You can also read the authors’ blog post about the paper.

The order of authors on this blog was determined by a virtual coin flip. This blog post benefited from research assistance from Amina Mendez Acosta and improvements from Jeremy Gaines. It also appears on the Development Impact blog.

[ujasiriamali]

17 Critical Steps to Start a Tourism Business in Tanzania

I have briefly described all basic requirements needed to establish a tourism business in Tanzania. There may be other requirements and steps needed depending on the uniqueness of your business and or personal additional requirements that you need to add. The article is mostly targeted to new participant in the business and or foreigners who had never invested or did business in Tanzania environments.

Step #1: Deciding to enter into tourism

Decision making for anything someone want to do always carries a lot of spiritual and mental preparedness to start and develop any project or task. Since there a lot of ups and downs to manage a tourism business your decision will make you persevere, cope and go through the challenge to the other side of success. Decision making involve committing resources, time and friends/partners towards the establishment and management of the project.

Step #2: SWOT analysis and Capacity building

It is a good idea to know the external and internal factors that will influence your business. For big businesses you can hire a legal consultant to do some legal systems opportunities and constraints that will probably hinder the existence of your tourism business in Tanzania. Alongside, the consultant will also scan the opportunities that exists and will probably favor the project nourishment. The other part of your analysis is your or your partners’ strengths and weakness in doing the business. Get the relevant capacity building to the areas of weakness so that you are capable to handle all important areas of your business, issues like legal issues, marketing areas, logistics and tourism management and administration etc.

Step #3: Tourism market survey

Market survey is important to be done before the start of the business in order to know the following: How many tourists visit Tanzania per year at least in the past 3 years? How much in terms of US Dollars do they transact each year for the past 3 years? How many businesses are involved in doing tourism – the major ones? Where do you fit in? How will you fit in? ETC

Step #4: Office Establishment

The location for tourism business is simple because customers do not buy physical products and hence office is of less importance compared to the other businesses. However, the office establishment will tremendously add value to reliability of your customers for the future goodwill of the business. Please make sure the place where you will construct or rent an office will be easily reachable, secured and furnished with all necessary equipment and tools for tourism. The availability of internet (now days fiber cable internet if possible), water and power is a mandatory requirement

Step #5: Business legal form selection and registration

Again, you will need a business consultant to help here if you are not experienced in this area. For many businesses, Company Limited by Share if the best option from legal perspective. To run a business under the form of company limited is secure to both parties, owners and customers. Because of registration and regulatory things, it is easier to monitor and locate the company compare to an individual. Like wise if for no reasons the company go bankrupt or involved with accidental judiciary case and or a customer or competitor filed a case for violating certain rights, it is probable the company assets will be confiscated and not the individual assets.

Step #6: Taxation

To know which tax, you pay or will pay in the near future of your business is very important so that you include in your business plan beforehand. Below are some of the notable list of taxes: For more details please visit http://www.tra.go.tz website Income tax for small businesses and VAT for big businesses Corporate Tax Import tax if you intend to buy assets abroad Withholding tax for paying investment return or service fees Property Tax Vehicle tax Employee pension (10% of employee gross salary) Worker compensation funds (1% of the total salaries) Skills and Development Levy (SDL) (4.5% of employee gross salary)

Step #7: Insurance

Insurance for these areas is recommended Professional liability insurance. -covers a business against negligence claims due to harm that results from mistakes or failure to perform Property insurance. -Whether a business owns or leases its space, property insurance is a must. This insurance covers equipment, signage, inventory and furniture in the event of a fire, storm or theft Workers' compensation insurance. -This covers medical treatment, disability and death benefits in the event an employee is injured or dies as a result of his work with the business. Home-based businesses. Ask for additional insurance from the Insurance company if you work from home to protect your home-based business Vehicle insurance. Comprehensive insurance is optional but third-party insurance is a must to cover the security of legal passengers in the vehicle Business interruption insurance. This covers the destruction caused by catastrophes which actually impact extremely in ability to work and get regular revenue – optional for small businesses

Step #8: Tourism Licensing

Doing tourism business in Tanzania requires some licenses to do the job The licenses are An ordinary licences plus please read this page for more details - Business Licenses Requirements and Application A tour operator license elaborated and classified in the table below: Tour Operator License (TALA) Local tour operators Foreign tour operators No of vehicles Annual fee in USD No of vehicles Annual fee in USD 1-3 500 4-10 2,000 10-30 5,000 11-50 3,000 31-50 7,500 51 and above 5,000 51 and above 10,000 The government authority responsible for license acquisition and related procedures is called Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB) Utalii House - Laibon street/Ali Hassan Mwinyi Road - Near French Embassy P.O. Box 2485, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Email: md@tanzaniatourism.go.tz,  Email: info@tanzaniatourism.go.tz Web: www.tanzaniatouristboard.go.tz General +255 22 2664878/9

Step #9: Membership and Associations

Joining various well known association and membership institutions will add value and reliability to your tourism business Major membership institutions in Tanzania, Africa and International ones are Institution name and address Tel/Fax Website and email Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (TATO) P. O Box 6162, Arusha, Tanzania. PHONE / MOBILE +255272504188 FAX +255272506430 WEBSITE: http://www.tatotz.org tato@cybernet.co.tz Zanzibar Association of Tourism Investors (ZATI) Mjini Magharibi Unguja P. O Box 2578, Zanzibar, Tanzania. PHONE / MOBILE+255772823234 FAX+255772823234 WEBSITE: http://www.zati.org Email: info@zati.org; chairmanzati@zati.org Tourism Confederation of Tanzania P. O Box 13837, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania PHONE / MOBILE+255222136177 / +255712889 281 FAX+255222136188 WEBSITE http://www.tct.co.tz EMAIL tct@cats-net.com Tanzania Association of Cultural Tourism Organizers (TACTO) P.O Box 10455, Mianzinai 4th Floor Kwa Molel Towers, Arusha, Tanzania PHONE / MOBILE +255 22 2163906/22 2163914-6 FAX+ 255 737 200 913   WEBSITE http://www.tactotanzania.org EMAIL info@tactotanzania.org   Tanzania Tour Guides Association (TTGA) P. O Box 15272, Arusha, Tanzania   PHONE / MOBILE +255 713 338 411 FAX255 713 338 411   Intra-African Travel and Tourism Association (IATTA) P. O Box 6541, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania PHONE / MOBILE +255 754 368 677 FAX+255 22 2124 263   WEBSITE http://www.iata.org EMAIL info@iatt.org   Tanzania Society of Travel Agents (TASOTA) P. O Box 21338, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. PHONE / MOBILE +255 784 325 849 FAX +255 2115381, +255 2112786   WEBSITE http://www.tasota.org/ EMAIL chairman@tasota.org  

Step #10: Business Plan Development and Financial Planning

It is now time to develop a business plan that covers these areas: Company/Business Description Product/Service Description Market and Competition Analysis Business Management Summary Project Implementation Plan Financial Projections Attachments to the Business Plan Coming soon Step #11: Staff Recruitment and Management Step #12: Service Provider Scanning, Negotiation and Selection Step #13: Tourism Product (itineraries) Design and Development, Step #14: Corporate Terms of Services (booking terms, privacy policy and refund policy) Step #15: Marketing and Market research (develop marketing programs and consumer research – An ongoing activities) Step #16: Selling phase Step #17: Business monitoring, evaluation/review and redesign Read the full article

[alohaexpeditions]

Aloha Expeditions-Best responsible tours & Travel company in Kenya

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[holmjanson-blog]

The sun dips down in the sky disappearing into the Atlantic Ocean. I seldom have watched a sunset so intently; waiting, waiting, waiting for that last little sliver to disappear. So much rested on that last sliver. My gaze moved from the sliver of sun to the restaurant around me.  Families and couples sat at the tables with a platter of water, orange juice, a hard-boiled egg, and some bread in front of them.  It was then that I realized that traveling during Ramadan in Morocco was a real learning experience.

This wasn’t the first time I was in a predominantly Muslim country during Ramadan.  In fact, I still remember being in Zanzibar in 2006 on my career break travels when the hotel owner warned my sister and I not to go out right after sunset because it was Ramadan and the streets would be empty.  I didn’t really understand what he meant – but we did take his advice.  I was also in Istanbul Turkey one hot July during Ramadan; I was intrigued with the holiday, but I didn’t really try to learn much about it – until now.

A man sits in a mosque and reads the Quran in Turkey

When I arrived in Morocco, I had no idea Ramadan was supposed to start in 3 days. Unlike Christmas that falls on the same day every year, Ramadan changes days every year.  The Islamic calendar has only 29 or 30 days in each month; therefore, Ramadan changes by 13 days every year. That was the first of many surprises that I encountered regarding Ramadan in Morocco. 

For some reason I always equated Ramadan as the big Muslim holiday, similar to Christian Christmas, but I learned that this holiday was far from joyous, in fact it seemed like more torture than ‘joy to the world’.   Yet I also learned that Ramadan had more in common with Christmas than I first thought. 

Ramadan in Morocco

I took a lot of time on this trip to learn more about this important time.  And it was interesting being there at the beginning seeing the daily life go from normal to Ramadan.  95% of the population of Morocco is Muslim, so this holiday affects pretty much everyone.  However, I wanted to also understand how it affected travelers like me and ultimately answer the question – should you travel to a country when they are celebrating Ramadan?

But first – some background.

What is Ramadan?

Ramadan is the month in the Islamic calendar when the Quran was messaged to the prophet.

Mosque in Casablance

Praying in Turkey

Mosque in Casablanca

At this time Muslims fast from eating, drinking (even water!), smoking, and sex from sun up to sun down.  Depending on the time of year the month falls, this can be up to 16 hours of fasting a day!  They do this in order to know and feel the hunger pains of the less fortunate and be grateful for what they have. It’s a time to remember the poor and destitute. It is supposed to be a time when you work hard and focus more on religion and God. Muslims spend more time at the mosque and more time praying.  And they always go to Friday prayers.

How is Ramadan Celebrated Today?

Ramadan is powerful…so powerful it has the ability to turn back time! On the night before Ramadan started our guide told us the clocks would be changing by an hour.  No – this wasn’t some sort of daylight savings time – this was Ramadan time.  By moving the clocks back an hour it allowed people to break their fast a little earlier in the evening.  It will change back after the month is done.

Upon searching – I did find a lot of food pictures!

“Ramadan can be hypocritical,” our guide Rasheed told me.  “Normally people aren’t in the mosque, but during Ramadan it’s full, you can’t even find space to pray!”  It’s true – many times as we walked around the cities, we saw people praying outside the mosque as there wasn’t room inside. It seems as if Christmas and Ramadan have more in common than I thought!  What church doesn’t have to pull the folding chairs out of storage every December 24th for the extra people at the services they only see once a year?

And also, like Christmas, according to Rasheed it seems that Ramadan has also gotten caught up in modern day commercialism, straying from the original meaning and origins. Families and restaurants often have huge dinners on display for after sunset – going the other extreme to overabundance. I did see plenty of ads for ‘breaking of the fast’ dinners at fancy hotels around the area while staying in various cities in Morocco. It seems that even Ramadan has been swallowed up by social media and marketing.

Fasting and other Hardships

The abstinence includes food, drink, sex, and smoking.  I’m not a smoker, so I personally think that the not drinking any liquid would be the real challenge.  Especially considering it was well into the 90’s while I was in Morocco and I can’t imagine 15 hours without any water in that heat.  Plus, we were traveling around the Sahara Desert; it sounds like a bad horror movie – not being able to drink in the desert!

Rasheed said that the first 2 or 3 days of fasting are the hardest as your body adjusts to a new schedule.  I personally can’t imagine how hard it must be in the beginning, especially if you have to be around people eating like our poor guide. He would normally get us to lunch and then go in the back and take a nap or read the paper.

He also mentioned that this is a month where you get very little sleep since in the dark hours you are also making sure you are drinking a sufficient amount and waking up early to eat. He normally drinks 3 Liters of water at night; he’s up all night peeing.

Breaking Fast

This is where we get the term breakfast, and breaking fast at sunset is a pretty welcome experience as you would guess! I noticed that people go about this in different ways; some load up on food, and some start really light with water and soup.  But the thing that is consistent among everyone is that they are inside eating something at sunset.  This is when the entire place full of hustle bustle just minutes before, turns into a ghost town for an hour; vendors close up their shops, and the streets are quiet.  It’s actually an eerie experience to see the streets of Marrakech go from full to empty as if the zombie apocalypse is coming and no one gave me the message.

One of my favorite evenings was sitting at the Casablanca beach restaurant watching the sun go down.  I could sort of feel the energy in the air as families and couple came into the restaurant to sit down and wait.  The waiter was calm and collected as he placed trays of water, orange juice, bread, and egg in front of them.  I noticed that not many people were even watching the sunset.  I had expected that everyone would be facing the setting sun just waiting for it to disappear – because that’s what I would be doing if it were me! But to my surprise most people weren’t even watching the sunset. They weren’t really talking either; most just sat in a zombie state quietly.

I was also expecting everyone to open their water and chug it as soon as the sun disappeared. Or maybe quickly shoving the bread and egg in their mouth with a feeling of relief. However, it wasn’t like that at all; the people in the restaurant just got up and went the buffet at the restaurant and filled their plates.  It was all very civil.  I was astonished at why they didn’t open their bottle of water or drink their orange juice first.  I’m pretty sure I’d be ravaging after 15 hours of nothing.

Travel Considerations for Ramadan

During this time of fasting, I think you have to be considerate as a traveler, but it doesn’t mean that all tourism stops.  There were a few times on this trip where I hit my ‘hangry stage’, my stomach was growling, it was hot, and it was taking us forever to walk for lunch.  I had to stick with the schedule and the group which irritated me in my angry, hungry state.

My anger turned to our guide who was walking too slow for my liking. My stomach growled again as I took a drink from my water bottle and studied our guide walking slowly in his djellaba (long robe). He hadn’t even had breakfast or a sip of water on this hot day, and he was slowly plodding along doing his job leading us as he had been all morning in this heat. My hanger suddenly softened a bit and gave me a whole new respect to what they were going through.  While I was having a childlike temper tantrum inside my head thanks to my hunger, they were total professionals; you never would have noticed any discomfort on their part.

I thought a lot about how hard it would be to work in the service industry during Ramadan.  I don’t think I could do it!  Having to be accommodating and polite while not eating OR DRINKING all day was unimaginable to me. I think as a traveler though it is important to have patience and understanding for the people fasting while also working all day.

Travel Tips for Ramadan

1. Be patient People may be a bit more tired or irritable (especially the smokers!), but once you understand they ‘why’ behind it – I think your tolerance and understand increases too.

2. Plan your dinner before or after breaking fast The sunset hour of breaking fast minorly affects you as people tend to disappear for a little bit at that time such as hotel staff, shopkeepers and taxi drivers. You’ll have to plan accordingly and eat about an hour before or after sunset at any restaurant. I was at the bar in my hotel when the bartender came over and settled up the tab right before sunset and made sure that I had everything I needed for a little while; he said he was getting ready to go eat.

3. Stay off the empty streets during breaking fast Locals have warned me to not go out on the streets when they are empty for fear of theft. I always found that odd, as I thought everyone would be inside eating and I’d be safer! However, once I walked around an empty Marrakech I totally understood what they meant. You feel pretty vulnerable with no one around, and I made sure to follow their advice after that.

A busy souk in Morocco

The streets in Marrakesh during breaking fast

Should you travel to a country During Ramadan?

As a traveler, Ramadan is a minor disturbance, but it’s not enough to change your travel plans.

If you are someone who enjoys cultural travel and is curious about other cultures, then I think it’s a great time to travel! It’s a chance to see another side of a country and learn more about a religion and holiday that is celebrated all over the world. However, if you are expecting everything to run smoothly without any issues, then you might want to skip this time. But then again, if you expect everything to run smoothly with no issues on a trip, then you might as well burn your passport and stay home regardless!

In the end, I came back home more knowledgeable about a big part of the world culture – and isn’t that what travel is really about? Learning about each other, sharing, and understanding are the elements of a successful trip in my world!

Follow my Travels

The post Understanding Ramadan in Morocco appeared first on Ottsworld Unique Travel Experiences.

[gryphye]

Those, plus the Zanzibar Market Place Job, The Inside Job, the Carnival Job, and the French Connection.

It’s harder to pick an episode I don’t like, than one I love. :)

Leverage Marathon Ideas?

Hi everyone! Tomorrow me and my friend (who hasn’t watched Leverage before) are having a marathon, and I’m trying to make a list of Leverage’s greatest hits/must not be missed episodes. The first and last episodes of every season are on it already, but if anyone has any suggestions I’d love it!

(This post is ok to reblog btw)

[whittlebaggett8]

China’s Ivory Ban: A Work in Progress

At the close of 2017, China came via on its 2015 assure with the United States to ban the authorized sale of ivory in China. Even though this is certainly a large assistance to elephant conservation, China will have to have to deal with its illegal ivory trade in buy to have a lasting impression.

In the hallways Beijing Money Airport, there is 1 charismatic advertisement that looks to reappear each and every 100 meters or so: that of planet-popular basketball participant Yao Ming “fist-bumping” with an elephant. Above the ad textual content in Chinese (and not in English as properly, exceptional between commercials in Beijing Airport’s intercontinental wing) proclaims: “In the identify of the law, ivory is no for a longer period a commodity.” This ad is meant to provide awareness to the truth that on December 31, 2017, regardless of becoming the world’s premier authorized ivory current market, the earlier authorized ivory trade was shut down. As National Geographic documented at the time, that meant “All of the country’s certified ivory carving factories and shops [were] shuttered.”

Some professionals were skeptical as to whether or not China would follow by means of on its 2015 pledge, along with the United States, to implement an ivory ban. But not only was the guarantee stored, China has taken noticeable actions to enforce it as perfectly. In February 2019, China stood by Tanzania’s decision to convict Yang Fenglan, a Chinese nationwide, to 15 yrs powering bars for ivory smuggling. Yang experienced been residing in Tanzania because the 1970s and held a broad array of jobs, from a Chinese restaurant proprietor to the vice president of the “China-Africa Company Council,” a position she held at the time of her arrest in 2015. The organization’s internet site contends that it is fully commited to serving Chinese traders in Africa, dedicated to the improvement of Africa, and actively responds to the steps of the Discussion board on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). Yang was arrested alongside with two Tanzanian nationals, and in addition to the 15 yr jail sentence, was given a wonderful of $13 million.

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In a push launch by the Ministry of Overseas Affairs, spokesperson Geng Shuang said that “China does not safeguard Chinese nationals who dedicate crimes overseas, and that China upholds the just final decision created by Tanzania in this scenario.” Geng elaborated further more on his remarks, indicating that “China is inclined to continue to contribute to the safety of endangered wildlife and the suppression of illegal trade, with each other with the international neighborhood like Tanzania.”  With no a question, China’s approval of the arrest of Yang Fenglan is an essential action to curbing ivory trafficking.

Meanwhile, the recent ban, just over a year outdated, is now setting up to show outcomes in changing Chinese consumer’s see in direction of ivory (even while it is also early to say no matter whether the ban has had any outcome on elephant populations). However, with no the lawful ivory trade, unlawful ivory trafficking has grown. For the 2017 ban to have a significant effect, China will need to clamp down on its unlawful ivory trade as very well.

In order to comprehend how the Chinese ivory trade became what it is currently, it is essential to start from the beginning of China’s appreciate affair with ivory.

Thanks to the rampant poaching of elephants through the 1980s, the “Convention on Intercontinental Trade in Endangered Species and Wildlife Flora” (CITES) placed elephants in their “Appendix I” class in 1990. This classification of animals is reserved for only the world’s most endangered crops and animals, and by positioning elephants on this list the globally sale of ivory was in essence banned. At first a lot of countries in Africa documented the ban as being extremely helpful and that it helped stabilize their elephant populations.

Having said that, because numerous African countries do not have an abundance of sources to spare for wildlife conservation, poaching ongoing, albeit at a a great deal lower degree than ahead of the CITES ban in 1990. In get to elevate money for elephant conservation, CITES accepted a “one-time sale” of 49.4 metric tons of stockpiled ivory in 1999 from Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe to Japan. The dollars employed from this sale of seized ivory was utilised to fund elephant protection, and because of to the success of this sale, CITES accepted a further “one-time sale” in 2008. Nevertheless this time the sale went to each Japan and China, and though it did increase $15 million worthy of of terribly necessary money for elephant conservation, it also contributed to the revival of the ivory craze in China: a country in which the ivory trade was authorized.

In China, ivory is observed as standing image. The raw tusks that are brought into China are ordinarily turned into anything from Buddhist statues to chopsticks. With the rampant increase in desire for ivory soon after 2008, Tanzania observed their elephant populace minimize from 110,000 wild elephants in 2009 to a depressing 44,000 in 2014. Yang Fenglan is believed to be accountable for at least 400 of these deaths. As an animal with a gestational period of 22 months, growing elephant populations is extremely hard.

Meanwhile, with the developing smooth electrical power of China in Africa, more and far more Chinese nationals have started off to go there and dwell in nations around the world where by heavy Chinese sector operates. As the ivory craze took hold, some of these Chinese discovered they could function beneficial side functions devoid of arousing as well a great deal suspicion from the community governments. Two countries in particular have a great offer of Chinese market: Tanzania, exactly where Yang Fenglan was arrested, and Mozambique. In Mozambique, China has a sturdy maintain on the neighborhood timber sector and fisherman from Fujian and Guangdong have moved there because the 1990s to choose gain of the sea cumber market. This brought about the expansion of a modest but lively Chinese expat community in Japanese Africa. After they realized that ivory was a lot additional financially rewarding than sea cucumbers, what has been known as the “Shuidong Syndicate” was born.

The explosion in ivory smuggling produced by the ivory ban in 1990 and then the revival of Chinese curiosity in ivory in 2008 created a valuable enterprise for would-be fisherman who located elaborate strategies to get unlawful ivory from Africa (in which the looking of elephants is prohibited in lots of international locations) and bring it to China, where by it could be sold legally. One of the much more well-known crime syndicates to grow in this area is from the metropolis of Shuidong, a smaller metropolis just north of the island of Hainan in the South China Sea. An significant report produced by the Environmental Investigation Company (EIA) outlines in depth the increase of the “Shuidong Syndicate.” The town of Shuidong initially specialised in sea cucumber shipments, for which their fisherman made repeated and extended journeys to the islands of Zanzibar in Tanzania and the port of Mombasa in Kenya. Now these former sea-cucumber fisherman have an elaborate transportation route through which they ship uncooked tusks from the coastal town of Pemba in Mozambique, to South Korea, wherever they are significantly less possible to be searched by customs officers. From South Korea, the gang delivers their products down to Hong Kong, wherever, disguised as a regional shipments, the ivory slips earlier customs officers and is introduced to Shanghai. From Shanghai the unlawful ivory is introduced to its remaining spot overland, Shuidong, dwelling to 80 % of China’s now illegal ivory. By the stop of their journey, just about every kilo of ivory is valued at close to $750 and every cargo can be predicted to make $1.3 million, in accordance to The Economist.

The Shuidong Syndicate is really considerably alive and properly on the other hand, China’s ban on ivory is earning a distinction. Because the ban went into outcome very last 12 months, a poll finished by Countrywide Geographic “found that 72 p.c of respondents would not get ivory, as opposed to 50 p.c when the poll was conducted last 12 months, right before the domestic trade ban went into outcome.” On the other hand Countrywide Geographic commented even more, stating this can most most likely be attributed to modifying customer awareness about the outcomes of the ivory trade, as the poll also identified that only 8 per cent of the folks polled understood about the ban. In addition, a report carried out by the Entire world Wildlife Fund (WWF) and “TRAFFIC,” a wildlife trade monitoring network, uncovered that 8 out of 10 persons interviewed agreed that the ban “will make them fully stop acquiring ivory… suggesting that the ban has a sizeable effect on the documented invest in intention.”

The up coming phase, says Vanda Felbab-Brown, an expert in the illegal wildlife trade and arranged criminal offense at the Brookings Institution, is for China to make large and continuous raids on traders. This, she believes, will actually mail the information household to quite a few Chinese that ivory is no for a longer time a commodity. On the other hand as of July 2017, there has not been a one notable arrest of everyone in the Shuidong region more than ivory.

In addition, a different investigation performed by “TRAFFIC” observed that even although all the legally accredited suppliers that they frequented in 2017 no for a longer period bought ivory in 2018, the total amount of money of illegal ivory parts that they identified experienced actually grown. From 2017 to 2018 Targeted visitors seemed at different metropolitan areas, together with some alongside the Vietnamese border, a infamous hotspot for ivory buying and selling. Even so, the simple fact still continues to be unlawful ivory sales in 2nd-tier metropolitan areas by area suppliers do not seem to be to be afflicted. Equally as alarming was that 76 per cent of ivory discovered in 2018 was “new ivory,” indicating it was harvested right after the 1989 CITES ban. All the ivory observed in third-tier towns was “new.” Obviously the suppliers from whom the vendors are finding their ivory from are still poaching for new products.

The new arrest of Yang Fenglan and the large-degree acceptance by the Ministry of Overseas Affairs is significant simply because it shows not only that China is no more time taking part in the ivory trade, but also that, at minimum at the optimum ranges of federal government, China is dedicated to wildlife conservation and supporting others in that energy — even if that implies imprisoning Chinese citizens. Even so, while Yang’s arrest is an vital sign to internationally travelling Chinese about the implications of unlawful actions, if China does not seek out and punish the various experts working illegally inside of its possess borders the long lasting effects of the ban will be small.

Yet, the implementation of the ban and Yang’s arrest are symptoms that in the potential China will choose wildlife conservation additional critically. This bodes properly for the elephants.

Kevin T. Bielicki has worked in coverage examination in Beijing.

The post China’s Ivory Ban: A Work in Progress appeared first on Defence Online.

from WordPress https://defenceonline.com/2019/03/16/chinas-ivory-ban-a-work-in-progress/

[rollinbrigittenv8]

My 2017 Travel Favorites (countries, food, gear and more!)

Wandering Earl

As the end of the year approaches, I want to share my travel favorites from all the experiences that I had in 2017. It was a wild year, one that took me to 28 different countries, led me to 71 different accommodations and gave me some of the most memorable moments of my entire 18 years of travel.

So, here are my favorites from this year of adventures…

Travel Gift

Tinggly This has to be the perfect gift for someone that loves to travel. You choose from one of the ‘experience collections’ and the recipient receives a gift box containing 300 – 500 experiences in over 80 countries around the world that they can choose from. They then have 2 years to redeem one of the experiences. There are even versions that allow 2 people to share an experience together. Birthdays, weddings or any other occasion…who wouldn’t want to receive such a gift? Really creative and fun idea from the folks at Tinggly!

Luggage

Timbuk2 Co-Pilot Luggage Roller With my luggage, things are getting confusing. My excellent Eagle Creek Load Warrior had to be retired as I really gave that thing a beating over the past few years. It was an excellent piece of luggage though and I would highly recommend it. With that said, I decided to replace it with something different – the Timbuk2 Co-Pilot. It’s a smaller company but they make some really quality luggage and this thing is tiny, yet has more volume than my previous bag (up to 50 liters). It fits as a carry-on with any airline, keeps things very organized and is remarkably sturdy (even has ultra-strong skateboard wheels). So, this is my new luggage of choice and I’m loving it so far!

Accommodation

Riad d’Or – Meknes, Morocco Riad d’Or is just silly beautiful, with unique rooms scattered around an old labyrinth-like mansion right in the heart of the old market.

Mango Beach House – Zanzibar, Tanzania It doesn’t get more chill and impressive than Mango Beach House, especially if you want a beachfront room away from the crowds.

Merovigla Studios – Santorini, Greece Mmergovigla Studios just might be the best value on the island of Santorini, with unbelievable views from good-sized rooms and a great location…all for a fraction of what most hotels cost here.

Jaiwana Haveli – Udaipur, India I’ve been using the excellent Jaiwana Haveli on the India tours I lead and with their new renovated rooms, along with their rooftop views, awesome breakfast and lakeside location, this place has become even better.

Food and Dining

Orivy – Hoi An, Vietnam I could eat Vietnamese food at Orivy every day. Everything on the menu was award-worthy.

Fish and Zelenis – Novi Sad, Serbia We found this tiny place by accident while wandering around and we were blown away by the local appetizers and seafood they served. It’s also run by super kind people that treat everyone like an honored guest.

Soy – Berlin, Germany We went to Soy three times in one week during our stay. Let’s just say that doesn’t happen often.

Argo Restaurant – Santorini, Greece Argo just needs to be visited if you’re ever on Santorini – the traditional Greek food, the view, the atmosphere, the staff, it’s all something special.

New Country Visited

Morocco It was my first time to this country and just the landscapes alone were enough to keep me in awe for two and a half weeks. My favorite parts were the seldom-visited, but spectacular, Dades Valley and spending a night out in the Sahara Desert. I loved the experiences so much that I’ve put together another Wandering Earl Tour to Morocco for 2018 in case you’re interested in an unforgettable adventure

Cool Town for Hanging Out

Las Palmas, Gran Canaria My girlfriend and I spent 5 weeks in Las Palmas a few months ago and we liked it so much that it just might become our more permanent home base starting next year. It’s walkable, very affordable and easy to reach, it has beautiful city beaches, great food, a relaxed lifestyle, food markets, history and no shortage of excursion opportunities around the island (that’s an understatement as you have more beaches, mountains, canyons, little villages, national parks, lakes and more to explore). And most of the tourists that come to Gran Canaria stay in other parts of the island, leaving the main town relatively quiet. It’s not a town that many people think about hanging out in for a while but it definitely deserves a look. I have nothing but excellent things to say about this destination!

Tropical Destination

Seychelles I love tropical destinations and islands and beaches and all that. And now I am certain that I have seen the best out there. There is simply no other tropical location like this small Indian Ocean country and the gorgeous beaches, of which there are dozens, make the Seychelles true paradise in every single way. The island of La Digue was my favorite spot. If you like gorgeous beaches and laid-back island life (almost no cars on the island), it simply does not get better than La Digue in particular.

(Boracay came in second for me, a distant second, but nothing can match the Seychelles. Although, here’s a video I made on Boracay last week so that you can have a glimpse of this paradise too.)

Airfare Booking Site

Kiwi.com For years I would use Kayak.com and almost nothing else but this year, it seems that things have changed as I began noticing other websites were offering lower fares much more consistently. And Kiwi.com has become my new favorite because, to put it simply, I’ve found the cheapest fares on this site more times than any other site out there. They also make it easy by often combining separate tickets into one ticket, instead of forcing you to purchase two separate flights yourself if your journey is with more than one airline. That’s a huge bonus when hopping around the world.

Hotel Booking Site

Agoda.com and Booking.com This is a toss up but it’s always one of these two. With Agoda, the prices are often lower and you earn ‘Gift Cards’ almost every time you book with them. In just the past 3 months I’ve racked up $40 of gift card money to use on future bookings. But with Booking.com, once you get to the Genius Member level (only takes 5 bookings), you can really get some good discounts and perks. Between the two, I always find the lowest price for accommodation anywhere I go around the world. (I also use Airbnb a lot when an apartment would be more suitable than a hotel or guesthouse.)

*If you use this Booking.com link, you’ll get $25 off your booking (I will too!).

Travel Credit Card

Chase Sapphire Reserve This credit card is simply incredible. While it’s only for US citizens, the $400 yearly fee is nothing once you see the benefits. Those benefits include a $300 yearly travel credit, Priority Pass membership (access lounges in airports worldwide for free), great medical, trip and luggage insurance, 50,000 point sign up bonus, 3 points per travel dollar spent, Global Entry fee credit and 1.5 times points redemption ($1500 worth of points is actually worth $2250 when you redeem it for travel) and more. I’ve had the card for over a year now and it’s saved me a ton of money, led to a couple of free flights and the airport lounge access has been extra sweet. Well worth looking into if you travel a decent amount!

Headphones

Symphonized NRG 3.0 Earbuds When I wear these on an airplane, I can’t hear any of the noise around me. The noise cancelation is that good and the sound quality when I’m listening to music is excellent too. These are not a $300 pair of Bose noise cancelling headphones, but for $25, they do an awesome job. They’re also very sturdy, great for a traveler like myself that just stuffs everything in their bag.

Travel Clothes

Clothing Arts High-quality, pickpocket proof, good-looking travel clothes. That was the goal of founder and friend Adam Rapp when he set out to create a travel clothing brand. A few years later that brand has grown big time and he’s definitely producing some of the highest quality travel clothes out there. They’re not super cheap but they are super comfortable and super durable while protecting you in very unique ways from potential pickpockets as you travel.

Travel Apps

TripIt I use TripIt pretty religiously as it helps me stay organized. Every travel booking I make, I simply forward to TripIt and just like that everything – dates, airlines, hotels, reservation numbers, reservation details, etc. – are all in order and neatly visible in my app. I pop open the app and I can access any reservation I need in mere seconds.

Trover Trover is great for finding random things to do wherever I might be. Open the app, let it find your location and suddenly you have recommendations, along with photos and usually additional details, of places to visit and check out nearby. It’s better than a guidebook in my opinion and much more enjoyable to use!

WiFox WiFox was created by my friend Anil from FoxNomad.com and it allows you find Wifi networks and passwords in airports all over the world. Choose an airport from the map and a box pops up with the details you need to log onto the internet. All of the information is crowdsourced, allowing you to also add networks/passwords to the app that you find as you travel yourself.

Excursions

Masai Mara Safari, Kenya Our 3 day trip from Nairobi, Kenya into the Masai Mara Game Reserve was an absolute highlight of the year. With barely any other travelers around, we pretty much had the place to ourselves, with a private safari vehicle, a very comfortable and budget-friendly log cabin in the park and endless sightings of the Big 5 as we ventured across the wide savannah each day. We also had a chance to hang out with some Masaai villagers that invited us on a wander through the local town. A lot of people have asked me if a safari in the Masai Mara is really worth doing (and paying for) and I can definitely answer with a huge YES!

Lost Campers Road Trip – USA Renting a van from Lost Campers, we set out for a trip through California a few months ago. And it was brilliant as our reliable van allowed us to explore every destination we wanted to visit (including some remote state forests and mountain ranges) while always having a place to sleep. The van came with all the gear we needed, as well as a comfy mattress inside, and with a handful of locations in the western part of the US, picking up and dropping off the van is a breeze.

*Lost Campers has also given me a great discount code that you can use. The code “WanderingEarl” will get you 10% off ANY Lost Camper campervan, at any of their 4 locations, with no duration limit from December – March 2018

Airline

Qatar Airways For a few years now this has been my favorite airline. From aircraft to comfort to service to price, I’m not sure there’s a better value out there, at least for many of the routes I’ve flown. With that said, I only flew with them a couple of times in 2017 as I was traveling in different regions of the world than normal. But I still haven’t found another airline that matches what Qatar Airways can offer overall.

Specific Flight Route

Yeti Airlines – Biratnagar to Kathamndu, Nepal (right along the Himalayas) Any flight across Nepal is an absolute treat if you get a window seat on the correct side of the plane. A few weeks ago I was able to stare out at the Himalayan Mountains as I soared through the sky, at pretty much the same altitude as some of the peaks. It’s something to experience at least once and will instantly become one of your own travel favorites!

Precision Air – Dar es Salaam to Nairobi (right over the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro) Our February flight in East Africa caught us by surprise when the pilot suddenly announced we were only five hundred meters directly over the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro. We rushed to the window on the left side of the plane and looked down. It was absolutely surreal.

And that’s my list of travel favorites for 2017. I’d be curious to hear what some of your favorite experiences, destinations, gear, meals and more might have been from your own travels!

Did I miss something? If you have a question about any of my travel favorites from this year, just let me know and I’d be happy to answer!

(By clicking on some of the links above, I may earn a small commission if you do purchase a product or service. This helps support the blog and I will never mention anything that I don’t truly believe in.)

[touristguidebuzz]

Adventure Races and Overland Travel: An Interview with Ric

There are some amazing overland adventures around the world like the Mongol Rally and the Rickshaw Run. Overland travel is one of my favorite ways to travel. I believe the closer you get to the ground, the more countryside you visit, the better to get to understand a place. Sadly, I’ve never done a big overland rally but one of our community members has! Ric, another fellow Bostonian, has driven almost 7,000 miles in races and rallies across the globe. He’s an adventurous traveler, and in this interview he shares his tips and insight to help anyone learn how to travel off-the-beaten path!

Nomadic Matt: Hey Ric! Thanks for doing this! Tell everyone about yourself. Ric: I’m Ric from Boston. I am just a guy who previously worked in the financial services industry after college. Now, I’m based in Bangkok for about half of the year. I go back to the US to visit for a couple of months, and then I am traveling and exploring for about four months a year.

Besides my blog, GlobalGaz, I am a podcaster at Counting Countries, where I interview people who have traveled to every country in the world (I’m hoping to accomplish that goal one day soon). I co-lead Bangkok’s Travel Massive as well as organize a 2,500-person Meetup.com group. I enjoy bringing together people who love to travel to share their passion.

I’ve also published three books: two on road rallies I participated in through India and the Caucasus region, and the third is a photo journal of when I slept over at Chernobyl (I am a bit obsessed with photography). I have produced two full-length travel documentaries and keynoted at the PATA Adventure Travel and Responsible Tourism Conference.

When not on the road I enjoy hanging out with my wife and our new dog Khan Mak, a Pomeranian and Chihuahua mix.

It sounds like you’re on an epic quest! How did you get started traveling? Getting fired was helpful! I was laid off from my job on three different occasions in five years. Each time I got laid off, I took the severance package and embarked on months-long international road trips. On the third trip, I realized I couldn’t go back to my former corporate life and needed to make my passion — traveling — my life.

Since then, each year I spend more and more time overseas — now typically 9-10 months a year. My goal is to visit 20 new countries this year.

What led you to embrace this nomadic lifestyle? While I was making good money in the financial services, it was not a fulfilling career. I began to dread going into the office more and more. I had volunteered a bunch of times in Armenia, Tanzania, and Thailand, and these experiences are what really drew me to living overseas.

In 2004, I volunteered in Yerevan, Armenia, at an orphanage. I am ethnically Armenian, so this was a great way to connect with my roots. I spent a lot of time bonding with the kids — who today are young adults — and have been back every year to visit them; from 2004 to 2010, I hosted an annual festival for the children at the orphanage. I also volunteered at an after-school group where the children learned about film, photography, and journalism.

In Thailand, I have been fortunate to be associated with the Mercy Centre in Bangkok. For the last three years, I’ve been a volunteer teacher for kindergarteners. The time spent working with others has made a big impact on me, and I find it to be very rewarding.

You’re trying to go to every country in the world. Can you tell us more about that? As I visited more and more countries, I decided that I wanted to visit every country in the world. According to the UN, there are 193 countries. I have been to 110 so far. As the list dwindles, the countries become more difficult to visit, whether it is a difficult visa to get, a remote country, or simply dangerous to visit.

I celebrated my 100th country last year in Iraq. Iraq is not your typical holiday spot, but I found my trip to be both rewarding and educational. I was received with warmth and gracious hospitality by the local Iraqis. I spent an entire afternoon with an elderly gentleman who I met drinking tea. He escorted me around the local market, introduced me to his friends, and treated me to lunch.

I also have had some interesting experiences visiting countries that “don’t exist” such as Transnistria, a country of 500,000 people located between Moldova and Ukraine. Transnistria is not recognized by the UN as a sovereign country; however, you need a Transnistrian visa to enter it. It has its own flag, currency, army, and government. It is a quirky place to visit, if you get a chance.

What do your friends and family think about your constant travels? What did they think when you first started? My dad has always been supportive of my travels. In fact, he has joined me on some epic trips, such as traveling to the Galápagos Islands and Antarctica.

My friends are sometimes intrigued with my travel tales and will come to me for travel advice, and the more adventurous ones will join me on a trip. I’ve also made an entire new group of friends from around the world who are fellow travelers and travel bloggers. They are a great resource for support and advice.

What’s your number one piece of advice for new travelers? Of course, the first piece of advice is just to get out there. If you are apprehensive or not experienced, start out slowly. If you want to dip your toe in the water, start off with Western Europe. If you want to take the next step, consider Thailand, Bulgaria, or Argentina (countries with good tourist infrastructure and very affordable). As you get more comfortable and experienced, spread your wings, and travel to more off-the-beaten path places.

To make your travel and life more fulfilling, I would make two suggestions:

Volunteer – This is an effective way to become part of the community. You will be able to build genuine friendships with the locals and really learn about the culture and country you are visiting.

Join an adventure rally – Rallies allow you to get off the beaten path and see parts of the country that you would not typically visit. The rallies allow for real interactions with the locals.

Tell us more about rally races. What are they and how did you get into them? A “rally” is a challenging adventure, where participants travel from point A to point B within some sort of parameters (think Amazing Race). Some rallies specify what kind of transportation to take, such as a tuk-tuk. Other rallies require participants to ride a cart led by oxen, ride a sailboat off the island of Zanzibar, or pilot a paramotor for 1,000 miles in the sky.

My first rally, known as “the Caucasian Challenge,” was 17 days, 11 countries, and 7,000 km and from Budapest to Yerevan. In 2010, two friends and I bought a 1993 Jeep Cherokee in Budapest for $2,300 USD with 250,000 km already on it. Our team, named “The Yerevan Express,” competed against 10 other teams. During our journey we got lost and ended up in Montenegro (a country not on the itinerary), and we witnessed the breathtaking mountains of northern Albania. The rally ended when I literally abandoned my car between Georgia and Armenia and took a bus to the airport to leave the country.

Next was the “Rickshaw Challenge.” In 2012, I embarked on a 12-day, 2,000km sprint across India (during the monsoon season!) piloting an auto-rickshaw. India is amazing, but it can also be a bit overwhelming on the senses. This is especially true when attempting to navigate the country in a seven-horsepower (think a riding lawnmower) rickshaw. During these 12 days, we were constantly running out of petrol, driving up to 14 hours a day, getting detained by the police, and eating too many samosas to count. Needless to say, crossing “the Rickshaw Challenge” finish line was rewarding.

After that came the “Cambo Challenge” in 2015, organized by Large Minority (a company that organizes awesome rallies in Sri Lanka, the Amazon, Cambodia, and the Philippines). This was a 1,600km circular route through Cambodia over 12 days. The rally took place on a Cambodian tuk-tuk (for anyone who has been in one, you’ll understand the struggle!). We navigated our way through the magnificent temples of Angkor Wat, drove past floating villages, stayed with families in an ecovillage called Chambok, camped near temples, and swam in the Gulf of Thailand. “The Cambo Challege” was another great way to discover realness of this commonly overlooked country while also giving back with Large Minority’s commitment to local community (10% of their revenues support local projects).

I documented both “the Rickshaw Challenge” and “the Cambo Challenge” by producing a full-length, adventure travel documentary. My partners and film crew were my former students from Manana, the after-school group in Yerevan.

What advice would you have people if they wanted to do this? What resources are out there? Great question! Had I not seen a captivating banner hanging in an Armenian café, I’d have never known myself. There are four primary companies that organize most of these rallies:

Large Minority

Travel Scientists

Dakar Challenge

The Adventurists

Some of these rallies provide virtually no support, while others provide guidance and assistance (such as route planning, luggage support, or even an ambulance) as you race across the country. Some rallies last ten days (like the Lanka Challenge) while others can top two months (the longest is the Mongol Rally).

You have to fund these rallies yourself (or get a sponsor). Some rallies provide the vehicle, hotels, and support for an inclusive price (which can total a couple thousand dollars per team). Other organizers require you to provide the car and practically everything else, and offer minimal support, for a smaller entry fee (several hundred dollars). Other costs vary greatly, based on what type of accommodations you stay in, the food you eat, the cost of your airplane ticket, and of course, if you have to buy a car for the rally.

You can participate in rallies around the globe. “The Ice Run” takes place in the Siberian Arctic for 12 days. You can participate in “the Monkey Run” in the Saharan Desert covering 1000km. “The Banjul Challenge” follows the coast of West Africa for three weeks. “The Philippines Challenge” places you in the crystal blue waters of the Philippines over nine days.

Besides the official websites, check out this overview of some of the best rallies, and these specific blog posts about the Philippines Challenge, the Lanka Challenge, the Central Asian Rally, the Amazon Challenge, and the Mongol Rally.

What’s been the biggest lesson you’ve learned so far? I have learned so much from being on the road. But there are two lessons I always try to remember: perspective and the power of perception.

In my former corporate life, I would have spent several thousand dollars on a luxury watch, but not now. I’ve grown to value experiences and relationships more than material possessions. Travel definitely changes your perspective.

When it comes to the power of perception, I have one story that stands as a telling example. In 2004, I was chatting up a bartender in Moscow. After I informed him that I was from the US, he told me how much Russians hate Americans (I was a bit surprised, naively thinking the Cold War was over!). He went on about how Europe and the US fabricated Serbia’s hostilities against its neighbors and used false facts to justify attacking Serbia (Russia’s ally). When I mentioned the mass graves of Muslims in Srebrenica, he told me that they didn’t exist and the West fabricated their existence. So my second lesson from the road is your truth is not the universal truth.

*********

All of Ric’s adventures stemmed from his desire breakthrough the normal 9-5 and explore the world. He didn’t jump into adventure races and rallies on his first trip, he took one trip, then another, and built up his confidence on the road. Eventually, he began driving across the world!

Hopefully, this post will inspire you to think outside the box a bit and figure out ways to use your passion and skills to get out there, escape the cubicle, and see more of this world.

Become the Next Success Story

One of my favorite parts about this job is hearing people’s travel stories. They inspire me, but more importantly, they also inspire you. I travel a certain way but there are many ways to travel the world. I hope these stories show you that there is more than one way to travel and that it is within your grasp to reach your travel goals. Here are more examples of people who are traveling the world in a unique (some may call it strange) way:

How Ryan drove overland from Seattle to South America

How Tomislav travels the world on $3,650 USD per year

How Arielle got paid to travel worldwide on a yacht

How Will adventurously travels on a budget of $20 USD a day

P.S. – Want to travel with me? There are only 2 spots left on my next reader tour! I’ll be taking readers on an intimate group tour of Vienna and Prague, where we will visit all my favorite sights, restaurants, bars, and off the beaten path places! Come explore the world with me!

The post Adventure Races and Overland Travel: An Interview with Ric appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

[fadingfartconnoisseur]

Adventure Races and Overland Travel: An Interview with Ric

There are some amazing overland adventures around the world like the Mongol Rally and the Rickshaw Run. Overland travel is one of my favorite ways to travel. I believe the closer you get to the ground, the more countryside you visit, the better to get to understand a place. Sadly, I’ve never done a big overland rally but one of our community members has! Ric, another fellow Bostonian, has driven almost 7,000 miles in races and rallies across the globe. He’s an adventurous traveler, and in this interview he shares his tips and insight to help anyone learn how to travel off-the-beaten path!

Nomadic Matt: Hey Ric! Thanks for doing this! Tell everyone about yourself. Ric: I’m Ric from Boston. I am just a guy who previously worked in the financial services industry after college. Now, I’m based in Bangkok for about half of the year. I go back to the US to visit for a couple of months, and then I am traveling and exploring for about four months a year.

Besides my blog, GlobalGaz, I am a podcaster at Counting Countries, where I interview people who have traveled to every country in the world (I’m hoping to accomplish that goal one day soon). I co-lead Bangkok’s Travel Massive as well as organize a 2,500-person Meetup.com group. I enjoy bringing together people who love to travel to share their passion.

I’ve also published three books: two on road rallies I participated in through India and the Caucasus region, and the third is a photo journal of when I slept over at Chernobyl (I am a bit obsessed with photography). I have produced two full-length travel documentaries and keynoted at the PATA Adventure Travel and Responsible Tourism Conference.

When not on the road I enjoy hanging out with my wife and our new dog Khan Mak, a Pomeranian and Chihuahua mix.

It sounds like you’re on an epic quest! How did you get started traveling? Getting fired was helpful! I was laid off from my job on three different occasions in five years. Each time I got laid off, I took the severance package and embarked on months-long international road trips. On the third trip, I realized I couldn’t go back to my former corporate life and needed to make my passion — traveling — my life.

Since then, each year I spend more and more time overseas — now typically 9-10 months a year. My goal is to visit 20 new countries this year.

What led you to embrace this nomadic lifestyle? While I was making good money in the financial services, it was not a fulfilling career. I began to dread going into the office more and more. I had volunteered a bunch of times in Armenia, Tanzania, and Thailand, and these experiences are what really drew me to living overseas.

In 2004, I volunteered in Yerevan, Armenia, at an orphanage. I am ethnically Armenian, so this was a great way to connect with my roots. I spent a lot of time bonding with the kids — who today are young adults — and have been back every year to visit them; from 2004 to 2010, I hosted an annual festival for the children at the orphanage. I also volunteered at an after-school group where the children learned about film, photography, and journalism.

In Thailand, I have been fortunate to be associated with the Mercy Centre in Bangkok. For the last three years, I’ve been a volunteer teacher for kindergarteners. The time spent working with others has made a big impact on me, and I find it to be very rewarding.

You’re trying to go to every country in the world. Can you tell us more about that? As I visited more and more countries, I decided that I wanted to visit every country in the world. According to the UN, there are 193 countries. I have been to 110 so far. As the list dwindles, the countries become more difficult to visit, whether it is a difficult visa to get, a remote country, or simply dangerous to visit.

I celebrated my 100th country last year in Iraq. Iraq is not your typical holiday spot, but I found my trip to be both rewarding and educational. I was received with warmth and gracious hospitality by the local Iraqis. I spent an entire afternoon with an elderly gentleman who I met drinking tea. He escorted me around the local market, introduced me to his friends, and treated me to lunch.

I also have had some interesting experiences visiting countries that “don’t exist” such as Transnistria, a country of 500,000 people located between Moldova and Ukraine. Transnistria is not recognized by the UN as a sovereign country; however, you need a Transnistrian visa to enter it. It has its own flag, currency, army, and government. It is a quirky place to visit, if you get a chance.

What do your friends and family think about your constant travels? What did they think when you first started? My dad has always been supportive of my travels. In fact, he has joined me on some epic trips, such as traveling to the Galápagos Islands and Antarctica.

My friends are sometimes intrigued with my travel tales and will come to me for travel advice, and the more adventurous ones will join me on a trip. I’ve also made an entire new group of friends from around the world who are fellow travelers and travel bloggers. They are a great resource for support and advice.

What’s your number one piece of advice for new travelers? Of course, the first piece of advice is just to get out there. If you are apprehensive or not experienced, start out slowly. If you want to dip your toe in the water, start off with Western Europe. If you want to take the next step, consider Thailand, Bulgaria, or Argentina (countries with good tourist infrastructure and very affordable). As you get more comfortable and experienced, spread your wings, and travel to more off-the-beaten path places.

To make your travel and life more fulfilling, I would make two suggestions:

Volunteer – This is an effective way to become part of the community. You will be able to build genuine friendships with the locals and really learn about the culture and country you are visiting.

Join an adventure rally – Rallies allow you to get off the beaten path and see parts of the country that you would not typically visit. The rallies allow for real interactions with the locals.

Tell us more about rally races. What are they and how did you get into them? A “rally” is a challenging adventure, where participants travel from point A to point B within some sort of parameters (think Amazing Race). Some rallies specify what kind of transportation to take, such as a tuk-tuk. Other rallies require participants to ride a cart led by oxen, ride a sailboat off the island of Zanzibar, or pilot a paramotor for 1,000 miles in the sky.

My first rally, known as “the Caucasian Challenge,” was 17 days, 11 countries, and 7,000 km and from Budapest to Yerevan. In 2010, two friends and I bought a 1993 Jeep Cherokee in Budapest for $2,300 USD with 250,000 km already on it. Our team, named “The Yerevan Express,” competed against 10 other teams. During our journey we got lost and ended up in Montenegro (a country not on the itinerary), and we witnessed the breathtaking mountains of northern Albania. The rally ended when I literally abandoned my car between Georgia and Armenia and took a bus to the airport to leave the country.

Next was the “Rickshaw Challenge.” In 2012, I embarked on a 12-day, 2,000km sprint across India (during the monsoon season!) piloting an auto-rickshaw. India is amazing, but it can also be a bit overwhelming on the senses. This is especially true when attempting to navigate the country in a seven-horsepower (think a riding lawnmower) rickshaw. During these 12 days, we were constantly running out of petrol, driving up to 14 hours a day, getting detained by the police, and eating too many samosas to count. Needless to say, crossing “the Rickshaw Challenge” finish line was rewarding.

After that came the “Cambo Challenge” in 2015, organized by Large Minority (a company that organizes awesome rallies in Sri Lanka, the Amazon, Cambodia, and the Philippines). This was a 1,600km circular route through Cambodia over 12 days. The rally took place on a Cambodian tuk-tuk (for anyone who has been in one, you’ll understand the struggle!). We navigated our way through the magnificent temples of Angkor Wat, drove past floating villages, stayed with families in an ecovillage called Chambok, camped near temples, and swam in the Gulf of Thailand. “The Cambo Challege” was another great way to discover realness of this commonly overlooked country while also giving back with Large Minority’s commitment to local community (10% of their revenues support local projects).

I documented both “the Rickshaw Challenge” and “the Cambo Challenge” by producing a full-length, adventure travel documentary. My partners and film crew were my former students from Manana, the after-school group in Yerevan.

What advice would you have people if they wanted to do this? What resources are out there? Great question! Had I not seen a captivating banner hanging in an Armenian café, I’d have never known myself. There are four primary companies that organize most of these rallies:

Large Minority

Travel Scientists

Dakar Challenge

The Adventurists

Some of these rallies provide virtually no support, while others provide guidance and assistance (such as route planning, luggage support, or even an ambulance) as you race across the country. Some rallies last ten days (like the Lanka Challenge) while others can top two months (the longest is the Mongol Rally).

You have to fund these rallies yourself (or get a sponsor). Some rallies provide the vehicle, hotels, and support for an inclusive price (which can total a couple thousand dollars per team). Other organizers require you to provide the car and practically everything else, and offer minimal support, for a smaller entry fee (several hundred dollars). Other costs vary greatly, based on what type of accommodations you stay in, the food you eat, the cost of your airplane ticket, and of course, if you have to buy a car for the rally.

You can participate in rallies around the globe. “The Ice Run” takes place in the Siberian Arctic for 12 days. You can participate in “the Monkey Run” in the Saharan Desert covering 1000km. “The Banjul Challenge” follows the coast of West Africa for three weeks. “The Philippines Challenge” places you in the crystal blue waters of the Philippines over nine days.

Besides the official websites, check out this overview of some of the best rallies, and these specific blog posts about the Philippines Challenge, the Lanka Challenge, the Central Asian Rally, the Amazon Challenge, and the Mongol Rally.

What’s been the biggest lesson you’ve learned so far? I have learned so much from being on the road. But there are two lessons I always try to remember: perspective and the power of perception.

In my former corporate life, I would have spent several thousand dollars on a luxury watch, but not now. I’ve grown to value experiences and relationships more than material possessions. Travel definitely changes your perspective.

When it comes to the power of perception, I have one story that stands as a telling example. In 2004, I was chatting up a bartender in Moscow. After I informed him that I was from the US, he told me how much Russians hate Americans (I was a bit surprised, naively thinking the Cold War was over!). He went on about how Europe and the US fabricated Serbia’s hostilities against its neighbors and used false facts to justify attacking Serbia (Russia’s ally). When I mentioned the mass graves of Muslims in Srebrenica, he told me that they didn’t exist and the West fabricated their existence. So my second lesson from the road is your truth is not the universal truth.

*********

All of Ric’s adventures stemmed from his desire breakthrough the normal 9-5 and explore the world. He didn’t jump into adventure races and rallies on his first trip, he took one trip, then another, and built up his confidence on the road. Eventually, he began driving across the world!

Hopefully, this post will inspire you to think outside the box a bit and figure out ways to use your passion and skills to get out there, escape the cubicle, and see more of this world.

Become the Next Success Story

One of my favorite parts about this job is hearing people’s travel stories. They inspire me, but more importantly, they also inspire you. I travel a certain way but there are many ways to travel the world. I hope these stories show you that there is more than one way to travel and that it is within your grasp to reach your travel goals. Here are more examples of people who are traveling the world in a unique (some may call it strange) way:

How Ryan drove overland from Seattle to South America

How Tomislav travels the world on $3,650 USD per year

How Arielle got paid to travel worldwide on a yacht

How Will adventurously travels on a budget of $20 USD a day

P.S. – Want to travel with me? There are only 2 spots left on my next reader tour! I’ll be taking readers on an intimate group tour of Vienna and Prague, where we will visit all my favorite sights, restaurants, bars, and off the beaten path places! Come explore the world with me!

The post Adventure Races and Overland Travel: An Interview with Ric appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

via Travel Blogs http://ift.tt/2uTOhHn

[theladyjstyle]

There are some amazing overland adventures around the world like the Mongol Rally and the Rickshaw Run. Overland travel is one of my favorite ways to travel. I believe the closer you get to the ground, the more countryside you visit, the better to get to understand a place. Sadly, I’ve never done a big overland rally but one of our community members has! Ric, another fellow Bostonian, has driven almost 7,000 miles in races and rallies across the globe. He’s an adventurous traveler, and in this interview he shares his tips and insight to help anyone learn how to travel off-the-beaten path!

Nomadic Matt: Hey Ric! Thanks for doing this! Tell everyone about yourself. Ric: I’m Ric from Boston. I am just a guy who previously worked in the financial services industry after college. Now, I’m based in Bangkok for about half of the year. I go back to the US to visit for a couple of months, and then I am traveling and exploring for about four months a year.

Besides my blog, GlobalGaz, I am a podcaster at Counting Countries, where I interview people who have traveled to every country in the world (I’m hoping to accomplish that goal one day soon). I co-lead Bangkok’s Travel Massive as well as organize a 2,500-person Meetup.com group. I enjoy bringing together people who love to travel to share their passion.

I’ve also published three books: two on road rallies I participated in through India and the Caucasus region, and the third is a photo journal of when I slept over at Chernobyl (I am a bit obsessed with photography). I have produced two full-length travel documentaries and keynoted at the PATA Adventure Travel and Responsible Tourism Conference.

When not on the road I enjoy hanging out with my wife and our new dog Khan Mak, a Pomeranian and Chihuahua mix.

It sounds like you’re on an epic quest! How did you get started traveling? Getting fired was helpful! I was laid off from my job on three different occasions in five years. Each time I got laid off, I took the severance package and embarked on months-long international road trips. On the third trip, I realized I couldn’t go back to my former corporate life and needed to make my passion — traveling — my life.

Since then, each year I spend more and more time overseas — now typically 9-10 months a year. My goal is to visit 20 new countries this year.

What led you to embrace this nomadic lifestyle? While I was making good money in the financial services, it was not a fulfilling career. I began to dread going into the office more and more. I had volunteered a bunch of times in Armenia, Tanzania, and Thailand, and these experiences are what really drew me to living overseas.

In 2004, I volunteered in Yerevan, Armenia, at an orphanage. I am ethnically Armenian, so this was a great way to connect with my roots. I spent a lot of time bonding with the kids — who today are young adults — and have been back every year to visit them; from 2004 to 2010, I hosted an annual festival for the children at the orphanage. I also volunteered at an after-school group where the children learned about film, photography, and journalism.

In Thailand, I have been fortunate to be associated with the Mercy Centre in Bangkok. For the last three years, I’ve been a volunteer teacher for kindergarteners. The time spent working with others has made a big impact on me, and I find it to be very rewarding.

You’re trying to go to every country in the world. Can you tell us more about that? As I visited more and more countries, I decided that I wanted to visit every country in the world. According to the UN, there are 193 countries. I have been to 110 so far. As the list dwindles, the countries become more difficult to visit, whether it is a difficult visa to get, a remote country, or simply dangerous to visit.

I celebrated my 100th country last year in Iraq. Iraq is not your typical holiday spot, but I found my trip to be both rewarding and educational. I was received with warmth and gracious hospitality by the local Iraqis. I spent an entire afternoon with an elderly gentleman who I met drinking tea. He escorted me around the local market, introduced me to his friends, and treated me to lunch.

I also have had some interesting experiences visiting countries that “don’t exist” such as Transnistria, a country of 500,000 people located between Moldova and Ukraine. Transnistria is not recognized by the UN as a sovereign country; however, you need a Transnistrian visa to enter it. It has its own flag, currency, army, and government. It is a quirky place to visit, if you get a chance.

What do your friends and family think about your constant travels? What did they think when you first started? My dad has always been supportive of my travels. In fact, he has joined me on some epic trips, such as traveling to the Galápagos Islands and Antarctica.

My friends are sometimes intrigued with my travel tales and will come to me for travel advice, and the more adventurous ones will join me on a trip. I’ve also made an entire new group of friends from around the world who are fellow travelers and travel bloggers. They are a great resource for support and advice.

What’s your number one piece of advice for new travelers? Of course, the first piece of advice is just to get out there. If you are apprehensive or not experienced, start out slowly. If you want to dip your toe in the water, start off with Western Europe. If you want to take the next step, consider Thailand, Bulgaria, or Argentina (countries with good tourist infrastructure and very affordable). As you get more comfortable and experienced, spread your wings, and travel to more off-the-beaten path places.

To make your travel and life more fulfilling, I would make two suggestions:

Volunteer – This is an effective way to become part of the community. You will be able to build genuine friendships with the locals and really learn about the culture and country you are visiting.

Join an adventure rally – Rallies allow you to get off the beaten path and see parts of the country that you would not typically visit. The rallies allow for real interactions with the locals.

Tell us more about rally races. What are they and how did you get into them? A “rally” is a challenging adventure, where participants travel from point A to point B within some sort of parameters (think Amazing Race). Some rallies specify what kind of transportation to take, such as a tuk-tuk. Other rallies require participants to ride a cart led by oxen, ride a sailboat off the island of Zanzibar, or pilot a paramotor for 1,000 miles in the sky.

My first rally, known as “the Caucasian Challenge,” was 17 days, 11 countries, and 7,000 km and from Budapest to Yerevan. In 2010, two friends and I bought a 1993 Jeep Cherokee in Budapest for $2,300 USD with 250,000 km already on it. Our team, named “The Yerevan Express,” competed against 10 other teams. During our journey we got lost and ended up in Montenegro (a country not on the itinerary), and we witnessed the breathtaking mountains of northern Albania. The rally ended when I literally abandoned my car between Georgia and Armenia and took a bus to the airport to leave the country.

Next was the “Rickshaw Challenge.” In 2012, I embarked on a 12-day, 2,000km sprint across India (during the monsoon season!) piloting an auto-rickshaw. India is amazing, but it can also be a bit overwhelming on the senses. This is especially true when attempting to navigate the country in a seven-horsepower (think a riding lawnmower) rickshaw. During these 12 days, we were constantly running out of petrol, driving up to 14 hours a day, getting detained by the police, and eating too many samosas to count. Needless to say, crossing “the Rickshaw Challenge” finish line was rewarding.

After that came the “Cambo Challenge” in 2015, organized by Large Minority (a company that organizes awesome rallies in Sri Lanka, the Amazon, Cambodia, and the Philippines). This was a 1,600km circular route through Cambodia over 12 days. The rally took place on a Cambodian tuk-tuk (for anyone who has been in one, you’ll understand the struggle!). We navigated our way through the magnificent temples of Angkor Wat, drove past floating villages, stayed with families in an ecovillage called Chambok, camped near temples, and swam in the Gulf of Thailand. “The Cambo Challege” was another great way to discover realness of this commonly overlooked country while also giving back with Large Minority’s commitment to local community (10% of their revenues support local projects).

I documented both “the Rickshaw Challenge” and “the Cambo Challenge” by producing a full-length, adventure travel documentary. My partners and film crew were my former students from Manana, the after-school group in Yerevan.

What advice would you have people if they wanted to do this? What resources are out there? Great question! Had I not seen a captivating banner hanging in an Armenian café, I’d have never known myself. There are four primary companies that organize most of these rallies:

Large Minority

Travel Scientists

Dakar Challenge

The Adventurists

Some of these rallies provide virtually no support, while others provide guidance and assistance (such as route planning, luggage support, or even an ambulance) as you race across the country. Some rallies last ten days (like the Lanka Challenge) while others can top two months (the longest is the Mongol Rally).

You have to fund these rallies yourself (or get a sponsor). Some rallies provide the vehicle, hotels, and support for an inclusive price (which can total a couple thousand dollars per team). Other organizers require you to provide the car and practically everything else, and offer minimal support, for a smaller entry fee (several hundred dollars). Other costs vary greatly, based on what type of accommodations you stay in, the food you eat, the cost of your airplane ticket, and of course, if you have to buy a car for the rally.

You can participate in rallies around the globe. “The Ice Run” takes place in the Siberian Arctic for 12 days. You can participate in “the Monkey Run” in the Saharan Desert covering 1000km. “The Banjul Challenge” follows the coast of West Africa for three weeks. “The Philippines Challenge” places you in the crystal blue waters of the Philippines over nine days.

Besides the official websites, check out this overview of some of the best rallies, and these specific blog posts about the Philippines Challenge, the Lanka Challenge, the Central Asian Rally, the Amazon Challenge, and the Mongol Rally.

What’s been the biggest lesson you’ve learned so far? I have learned so much from being on the road. But there are two lessons I always try to remember: perspective and the power of perception.

In my former corporate life, I would have spent several thousand dollars on a luxury watch, but not now. I’ve grown to value experiences and relationships more than material possessions. Travel definitely changes your perspective.

When it comes to the power of perception, I have one story that stands as a telling example. In 2004, I was chatting up a bartender in Moscow. After I informed him that I was from the US, he told me how much Russians hate Americans (I was a bit surprised, naively thinking the Cold War was over!). He went on about how Europe and the US fabricated Serbia’s hostilities against its neighbors and used false facts to justify attacking Serbia (Russia’s ally). When I mentioned the mass graves of Muslims in Srebrenica, he told me that they didn’t exist and the West fabricated their existence. So my second lesson from the road is your truth is not the universal truth.

*********

All of Ric’s adventures stemmed from his desire breakthrough the normal 9-5 and explore the world. He didn’t jump into adventure races and rallies on his first trip, he took one trip, then another, and built up his confidence on the road. Eventually, he began driving across the world!

Hopefully, this post will inspire you to think outside the box a bit and figure out ways to use your passion and skills to get out there, escape the cubicle, and see more of this world.

Become the Next Success Story

One of my favorite parts about this job is hearing people’s travel stories. They inspire me, but more importantly, they also inspire you. I travel a certain way but there are many ways to travel the world. I hope these stories show you that there is more than one way to travel and that it is within your grasp to reach your travel goals. Here are more examples of people who are traveling the world in a unique (some may call it strange) way:

How Ryan drove overland from Seattle to South America

How Tomislav travels the world on $3,650 USD per year

How Arielle got paid to travel worldwide on a yacht

How Will adventurously travels on a budget of $20 USD a day

P.S. – Want to travel with me? There are only 2 spots left on my next reader tour! I’ll be taking readers on an intimate group tour of Vienna and Prague, where we will visit all my favorite sights, restaurants, bars, and off the beaten path places! Come explore the world with me!

The post Adventure Races and Overland Travel: An Interview with Ric appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

Adventure Races and Overland Travel: An Interview with Ric http://ift.tt/2uTOhHn