Video: Where's Andrew? Flying to OZ

Wow, you're all so smart! After I was airborne for more than 16 hours, you deduced that I was headed down under. Good on ya but just know that from now on, the game only gets harder.

Congrats to @USElaine @falisha and @abaesel2 for correctly guessing Melbourne as my first port of call. (Incidentally, on Twitter the girls gave more correct answers than the boys and night owls on the West Coast showed a slight advantage over early-to-bed types back East.)

It took me more than a day to get to Australia, counting all the layovers and security lines. I wanted to time my transit from beginning to end, so I clicked my stopwatch outside National Geographic and watched the seconds rush forward. Alas, at 25 hours and 34 minutes (right after flying over the international date line) the battery on my phone fainted from sheer exhaustion. I had lost track of time, skipped a full day (I missed you November 30th) and entered another dimension called Oz. My educated guess is that it took me some 30 hours from leaving my home to stepping out into the humid, eucalyptus-scented summer air of Melbourne.

It was remarkably easy to get here, especially compared to taking the bus. Here's a short recap of my journey from home to here--from north to south, from cold to warm, and from up over to down under.

For more from Andrew, check out the Where's Andrew hub for his tweets, clues, videos, and blogs: www.nationalgeographic.com/wheresandrew.

Video: Where's Andrew? Flying to OZ

Backlink: http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/intelligenttravel/2010/12/wheres-andrew-flying-to-oz.html

Where's Andrew? He's On His Way

There was cake, there were hugs, and then we waved as our contributing editor Andrew Evans left for his next big journey. One big change: He took a taxi to the airport this time. Click through for more pics from his departure after the jump.

Where's Andrew? He's On His Way

Backlink: http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/intelligenttravel/2010/11/wheres-andrew-hes-on-his-way.html

Where's Andrew?: FIELD TRIP

Our intrepid global nomad Andrew Evans is gearing up for his next big trip...but where exactly is still under wraps. Today he visits the National Geographic Maps division to pick up some maps for his journey.

I love maps. For me, maps are the seeds of good travel and it's how I begin all my journeys--by staring at a map, then thinking, plotting, wondering, and ultimately, wandering. 

While other airplane passengers watch DVD's and read novels to pass the time, I am entertained for hours with the back page maps of the in-flight magazine. Ask me what my favorite book is and I will point to the National Geographic World Atlas for the endless travel possibilities that each page represents.

I leave for my first mystery destination in exactly one week. Nobody knows where I'm going--but I think I have an idea! And so, for the next few days, I will be busy packing and planning for the great adventure that lies ahead. A good map always makes a journey smoother, and so I took a field trip to National Geographic's world-famous map department. I've always been slightly obsessed with these iconic maps, so it was very exciting to finally get a sneak peek into the nearly hundred-year old cartographic traditions of the National Geographic Society.

I also learned a ton--like, did you know that National Geographic has its own licensed fonts just for their maps? And that every little village and town's name is checked with local governments for accuracy? Ten minutes in the map department and I was dizzy with maps, but I soon found the one map that I needed next week. I have it spread out before me right now and will be studying my destination carefully. 

Needless to say, I am pretty excited. If you plan to join me in my next adventure, then bring a good map. You'll need it as you guess where I am each day (and I don't plan on making this too easy for you)!

So, be ready next Monday, November 29th when I hit the road and get ready to keep asking, "Where's Andrew?"

 

Where's Andrew?: FIELD TRIP

Backlink: http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/intelligenttravel/2010/11/wheres-andrew-field-trip.html

Introducing: Where's Andrew?

Want more info on where Andrew's going? Click through to read the Editor's Note and watch a video of Keith talking about the project.



Post originale: http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/intelligenttravel/2010/10/introducing-wheres-andrew.html