Archive for April, 2008
Nepal votes and tourists return
Nepal has long been a draw for intrepid travelers, with its Himalayan landscape and religious heritage, but political turmoil put a severe crimp into the country’s tourism industry for much of this decade. The political violence has now largely subsided, though, as evidenced by the democratic election that was held there yesterday. As a result, tourists are [...]
Even law research can now be outsourced
It sometimes seems as if there is no end to the type of work that can be outsourced these days. Businesses have been outsourcing labor for years, and individuals have figured out how to outsource personal tasks, nursing home care and even pregnancies. Now comes word of the latest work that is being outsourced – legal research. [...]
The new world of work – cafes to coworking
The world of work has evolved considerably in the past decade, and perhaps nowhere is this change more evident than in the mobility of workers, who keep finding new ways to move beyond the traditional office environment. It began when high speed internet access and teleconferencing technology enabled more people to work from home, at least for part of [...]
Holiday in Oman
Not many Americans holiday in Oman. In fact, other than Dubai, not much of the Arabian Peninsula gets a whole lot of tourist traffic. But that didn’t stop Spud Hilton and his wife from planning a weeklong, 600-mile driving trip through this desert kingdom. He wrote about their experiences for the San Francisco Chronicle. The [...]
Riel World photo – Hoi An, Vietnam
Hoi An, Vietnam Produce for sale at a local street market in the charming town of Hoi An, in central Vietnam.
Relationship-building and emerging markets
There was an article in the NY Times this week about the challenges and the allure of doing business in emerging markets around the globe. Or, more accurately, “emerging emerging markets.” Buried within the story was a fascinating account of just how business gets transacted in some cultures. First, the overview of these markets: Forget [...]
Travel thoughts from Laurie Gough
World Hum recently posted an interview with travel writer Laurie Gough. An excerpt: In hindsight, can you explain how you knew you were destined to be a wanderer? My Dad was a geographer and he was a lover of maps and any road leading to someplace new. Every summer we’d pack up our trailer and station [...]
The dumbing down of America?
Nicholas Kristof had a thought-provoking column in the Sunday NY Times about the dumbing down of America and what this says not only about U.S. culture, but also about the potential future of our competitiveness in the global arena. An excerpt… Americans are as likely to believe in flying saucers as in evolution. Depending on how the questions [...]
Cultural lessons, from Peru to Iraq
Cultural lessons also apply to the military, as evidenced by this interesting piece in Newsweek, which shows how one soldier took cultural lessons learned as a youngster in Peru and applied them to some of his dealings with locals in Iraq. For Capt. Jim Marckwardt, coming to Iraq in 2005 was like being a kid again. [...]
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Bob Riel is a writer and a traveler. Go here to read more about Bob, his work and the Travels in the Riel World blog.
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My travel memoir - Two Laps Around the World: Tales and Insights from a Life Sabbatical - is about two round-the-world journeys with my wife.
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