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[A DATW Land Rover loads onto the Sea of Cortez ferry at La Paz, Mexico.]
La Paz to the Sea of Cortez ferry
[Above: Rolf and car-mate Justin Mounts taking a break from the road near Mulelge, Mexico.]
As my lack of recent blog entries will attest, the last couple weeks of traveling through Mexico has not left me with much time to wax lyrical. This is one of the things I am learning about vehicle-based expeditions with tight itineraries: There is not much time away from the vehicles, either for writing or experiencing cultures. I am currently coming to terms with the fact that I am going to have to find the
Checking in once more — from Mexico City this time — to let everyone know that I
One of the charms of travel is that it puts you into a variety of different cultural contexts. One day you’ll be hanging out on a beach with backpackers from 13 different countries; the next day you’ll be cruising nightclubs with middle-class locals; the next day you’ll be sharing tea with tribesmen up in the hill country. Sometimes these cultural contexts will live up to your exotic pre-journey expectations (like when I spent the night with a Kurdish family in northeastern Syria); other times they will be exotic in a completely unexpected way (like the time I hung out in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Santa Monica office with an old Thailand travel buddy who had gone on to run Arnold’s political campaign). Whatever the case, these new cultural contexts are always memorable.
At the SEMA auto show in Las Vegas (where the Drive Around the World team spent much of the past week) a time-honored form of cultural exoticism comes in the form of the bikini-clad women who help draw people’s attention to the various auto accessories and promotions. Indeed, bikini babes may be used to promote everything from TV shows to light beer these days, but nowhere in the world (apart from beaches, of course) are they more at home than at auto shows.
It is in the spirit of cultural awareness (and certainly not a cheap ploy on my part to attract more attention to my website by showcasing scantily clad women) that I present the following gallery of “bikini babes” from the floor of the SEMA auto show.
The text link beneath each thumbnail links to a larger pop-up picture of the bikini babes.
Bikini #2: Same patriotism; stars in different place.
Bikini #3: A brown number with heavy-duty buckles.
Bikini #4: A nice floral print.
Bikini #5: Leopard-skin print.
Bikini #6: A brown number without heavy-duty buckles.
Bikini #7: A pastel floral print.
Bikini #8: Black leather (with go-go boots).
Bikini #9: Black cloth with fastening ring.
Bikini #10: Black leather (with leather jacket).
Bikini #11: Black with frilly fringe.
Bikini #12: Black cloth with drawstring.
Bikini #13: Ultimateswimsuit.com
Help support our cause: Drive Around the World aims to raise money for Parkinson
[Above: A shot of Rolf driving through Baja by the light of the maplight. The first week of Drive Around the World has involved lots of night driving and high-mileage days.]
Just checking in here briefly to let everyone know that I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth. Rather, I am busy driving across the face of the earth.
Indeed, the Baja run of Drive Around the World has been mileage-intensive, and I haven’t been able to keep my journals up to speed, what with all the night driving and my group team duties. I hope to find some down-time in Mazatlan to catch up on entries through Las Vegas, entry into Mexico, and the Baja run.
One reason why I’ve been neglecting this blog is that I’m editing the team blog for Drive Around the World. Thus, for a real-time account of what we’re up to (albeit one that is not written by me), surf to the journal page of the DATW website. A different team member writes an account of each day of the week, and those entries can give you a vague idea of where I’ve been, as I try to get my own travel tales written and posted here.
All best from mainland Mexico…
Ever since joining the Drive Around the World team in California, I have been trying to help fund the expedition by attracting sponsors. It
In all my years of traveling, I have never before been treated to a sendoff that involves a press conference and a cheering crowd. Never before have I worn a crisp khaki uniform and been introduced as a
“If you go only once around the room, you are wiser than he who stands still.”
–Estonian proverb
For the past four years, I’ve been privileged to have my stories appear in various travel award anthologies, including the Best American Travel Writing series — but for some reason I’ve always been stymied by the Lowell Thomas Awards, the annual newspaper and magazine travel-section honors from the Society of American Travel Writers. In three successive years of entering the competition, I
Chez Jay
