Travel off the beaten track and experience

Bovines have beef with UK farmer A farmer from Devon who imported descendants of ‘super cows’ bred by Nazi Germany has had to reduce the size of his herd because the beasts have become too aggressive. Derek Gow, 49, introduced 13 Heck cattle to his land after importing them from a Belgian conservation park in 2009, and managed to breed them with some success for the next few years. However, Gow has had to send most of the animals to the abattoir after concluding they were simply too dangerous to have around. He said: “The ones we had to get rid of would just attack you any chance they could. They would try to kill anyone. Dealing with that was not a lot of fun at all.” The formidable beasts were created in the 1930s by German brothers Heinz and Lutz Heck, who were zoologists commissioned by the Nazi hierarchy to bring back something resembling an auroch – a type of European wild bull which had become extinct in the 1600s, and which held mythical status for the Nazis. The program...

Picture of soaking animal sparks outrage across social media United Airlines has earned the ire of animal lovers the world over after a picture was tweeted of a dog stranded on a runway in the pouring rain. Evil United Airlines leaves dog on rainy cold runway for more than a half hour despite alerts to staff :-((((( boo pic.twitter.com/xcwVOxIpV9 — barbara (@theregoesbabs) December 28, 2014 Twitter user @theregoesbabs claimed that she sat on her plane and looked on as the animal was left in its carrier on the wet runway for over half an hour, despite staff having been alerted. The picture has since been retweeted over a thousand times. United Airlines responded quickly and shifted blame for the overlooked pooch onto its (apparently erroneously named) PetSafe program, which is responsible for airport-to-airport delivery of animals. @theregoesbabs Thanks for telling us. The weather can change & may have been clear when PetSafe dropped off. They’re the ones to call too. —...

Travel Photography of the Future? Star Trail Photography from the International Space Station is Like Art from the World of Tomorrow Space travel is coming. It may not be for a while, but one day adventurous travellers will leave the confines of our planet's atmosphere to take a 'round the world trip' of a wholly different nature. For over half a century space travel has sat squarely in the domain of the scientist and the military pilot, but many — the graphic novelist Alan Moore and the ever-epic Brian Blessed among them — have speculated about the inspirational works artists, poets and musicians may create when civilian space travel becomes affordable. Earlier this year Commander Chris Hadfield returned to Earth after 2 months on the International Space Station (ISS) as part of Expedition 35. Highly active on social media throughout, on his last day Hadfield posted a YouTube video cover of David Bowie's Space Oddity which stoked the fires of t...

Do you want to map for Google? Google offering the chance to help map the world Google is on the hunt for people to help map its Street View photo library. If you work for a government agency, a research organisation, a tourism board or a university, then you could be the person that Google is looking for. The company announced on Thursday a pilot program that lets third-party organisations borrow its high-tech Street View Trekker equipment and contribute imagery to its mapping platform. Obviously this is a way for Google to expand its coverage without having to do the donkey work; still, it's pretty cool though. Google's Trekker backpack captures 360-degree photos of a variety of locations and landmarks, such as the Grand Canyon and Mt. Everest. It can be navigated through narrow passages and inclines, bringing users to exotic places around the world without ever leaving their seats. The program's first partner is the Hawaii Visitors and Convention ...

Ryanair flight lands 200 miles from destination Passengers Kefalonia-bound diverted to Thessaloniki on the Greek mainland due to “darkness” It’s always a bit of a gamble flying with the budget carrier Ryanair, but passengers on board a recent flight from London Stansted to the Ionian island of Kefalonia were treated to an intriguing new level of ineptitude. Instead of landing on the island made famous by ­ Captain Corelli’s Mandolin , the plane ended up settling down in Thessaloniki on the Greek mainland, 200 miles away. The reason for the extraordinary mishap was revealed by Sunday Times journalist Kate Mansey, who was one of the unfortunate voyagers and tweeted: ‘On a Ryanair flight that has just landed in the WRONG Greek Island. Excuse? “Too dark” to land in correct airport. Furious passengers.’ Interestingly, the flight, which took off on time, was scheduled to land at 9.20pm, which further boggled the minds of those on board. Mansey went on to say: ‘They said [they]...

Google Maps takes users to Mount Everest Google Maps starts virtual tours of the world’s tallest mountains One of the things that is always on people’s gap year wish lists is to climb one of the world’s tallest mountains. Thanks to Google Maps, you can now do that without leaving the comfort of your home (though you should be warned, it doesn’t mean you can tick it off!) From today, people can take an online tour of four of the Seven Summits, the highest mountains on each of the world’s continents. You’ll be taken up Aconcagua in Argentina, Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Mount Elbrus in Russia and as far as Everest base camp in Nepal. Dan Fredinburg said on Google’s official blog: “While there’s nothing quite like standing on the mountain, with Google Maps you can instantly transport yourself to the top of these peaks and enjoy the sights without all of the avalanches, rock slides, crevasses, and dangers from altitude and weather that...

Cheeky commuters bare bums People around the world strip off for ‘No Pants Day’ Thousands of people around the world have dropped trou to take part in the ‘No Pants Subway Ride’, bringing a sly smirk to people’s faces. Despite the freezing cold weather outside, people put on a brave face to take part. Young and old, men and women, and even a few children got involved in the event which takes place once a year in 50 different cities. The ‘No Pants Day’ Movement was started in 2002 in New York by the ‘prank-collective’ group Improv Everywhere, which aims to cause ‘scenes of chaos and joy in public places’. Larry Piche, a member of the group, said: “At least for the last 10 [years] it’s been a global movement. When I heard that the City of Vancouver wasn’t participating in the ‘No Pants’ four years ago I decided it would be perfect for our group to take the reins on it.” “Esse...

Felix Baumgartner completes jump from the edge of space Fearless Felix leaps into the record books Felix Baumgartner has smashed the record books after becoming the first man to reach supersonic speed without travelling in a jet or spacecraft. Felix hit Mach 1.24, or 833.9mph (1,342kph) after jumping from the edge of space. Nearly 10 minutes later, he made a soft landing on his feet in the New Mexico desert in what has to be one of the most amazing events this century. However, breaking the speed of sound wasn’t the only record that fell last night. Felix also claimed the records for the highest altitude manned balloon flight and the highest altitude skydive. The man known as Fearless Felix said: “When I was standing there on top of the world, you become so humble, you do not think about breaking records anymore, you do not think about gaining scientific data. “The only thing you want is to come back alive.” A worldwide audience watched live on the interne...

Spanish bulls gore tourists Four injured in annual running of the bulls festival Several tourists have been hurt at the annual running of the bulls festival in Pamplona, Spain. Two Britons and an American were gored on the third day of this year’s festival. One of the injured, 38-year-old Aryeh Deutsch, tripped and fell amid a crowd of runners as he ran ahead of one of the black bulls. He saw the bull heading toward him as he lay on the ground. Deutsch, an American from New Jersey, told the Huffington Post : “The next thing I know I am underneath him. I can see his belly and I was trying to roll out of the way to get under the fence and, yeah, he got me. He got me in the right calf.” After the bull was finished with Deutsch it gored the two British tourists by charging at a group of runners huddled by a fence. Eventually the animal was lured away by cowherds. None of the injuries sustained in this year’s festival so far are thought to be serious. American tourist Deut...

I’ve constantly taken one particular of my Grandfather’s saying to heart: You basically cannot make soup out of poop . He certainly had a knack for restoring issues that couldn’t have otherwise been resurrected without the need of his magic, but he absolutely knew when to throw in the towel when one thing was beyond repair. This may perhaps not be the most accurate of analogies concerning the news story I’d like to share with you nowadays, but it’s a very good opportunity to impart some of Grandpa Wick’s wisdom on all of you. Basically, I can’t come up with a right analogy, now that I consider of it. I can’t say “a diamond in the rough” genuinely operates. Neither does, “make the best of what you are got.” Regardless, in some cases amidst the silliest, lamest, or dumbest points in life, there is a silver lining . . . somewhere . . . usually. At the ABC News travel desk, they noticed that cruise ships — yes, the dreaded “c” word Matt usually edits off into the netherworld –– are star...

With neverending controversy and almost absolutely everyone in Vegas betting on its failure, the Globe Cup is set and prepared to roll. If you are fortunate enough to get your hands on some tickets, know that we will be watching for you on Television, and wishing we were there as well. To place some finishing particulars on your trip to South Africa, BootsnAll has recently released a top quality guide to the games to enable you out. From total guides on every of the nine host cities, to venue details, traveling guidelines, accommodation, an educated word on the travel risks, and possibly the most vital guide of them all, the following-parties. Plus, it has links to all sorts of data, like a full match schedule. One factor neglected on this page—how to paint your face like a correct soccer fan. Bring on the footie!

86 events, 17 days, 5500 participants from 80 various countries, 3 billion television viewers, and 1 managing editor sent to stir up the pot and see what occurs. Yes, the rumors are correct: I will be loading up my camera, skis, tickets, and laptop and heading to Whistler on February 9th for roughly a week, to see what all this Olympics hype is about (and to do my ideal tracking down the notoriously inept ski jumper from Calgary’s ’88 Olympics,  Eddie “the Eagle” Edwards — he’s got to be nearby, appropriate?). Actually, even though, I am incredibly fortunate to have this opportunity. To numerous, the Olympic Games symbolize the coming collectively of people today and cultures from all more than the globe. In spite of its controversy, as there normally seems to be at this occasion, I have always held the belief that the games imply extra than winning a race of a sport that you by no means see but each and every four years. It is about representing your country, your self, spirit, abil...

It was announced this week that New York City had 45.25 million vacationers final year, creating it the U.S.’ top rated city for travel for the initial time considering the fact that 1990, surpassing Orlando, Florida. Of these guests, 36.7 million came from the U.S., while a healthful eight.six million came from abroad (even though they spent 5 times as a great deal — here’s NY Mag’s “Top 25 New York Purchasing Destinations” for all you hoping to boost that number). Per Mayor Bloomberg: “They want to go to a location exactly where people are nice . . . And I hear again and once again and once more from good friends from about the globe that come here, and they say, ‘You know, I never ever knew New Yorkers had been such good people today.’ ” Although generally accurate, I feel the mayor wants to commit a tiny far more time in the subway in the course of rush hour to see if he’d make that exact same statement.

Are you kidding me? These basically exist? Travel and Leisure Magazine did a spread on some of the wildest runways about the globe. Let’s just double verify that all our tray tables and seatbacks are in the locked and upright positions. Discussed in the write-up are the many variables in landing a plane to start with. Then you add in shortened runways, one of a kind atmospheric and meteorological conditions, heavy air traffic, or a combination of these and you have your self a white knuckle thrill ride . . . at least for some of the individuals on board (we won’t mention any TheExpeditioner.com contributors or anything). Tom Claytor, a pilot with experience flying in and out of the Matekane Air Strip in the little African country of Lesotho, talks about taking off from this short strip of concrete sitting inches from a vast couloir at 7,550 feet high,  sometimes “you shoot off the finish of the airstrip, then drop down the 2,000-foot cliff face till you start off flying.” The imag...

Not that it’s completely uncommon to hear a hodgepodge of German, Spanish, French and Dutch when you’re riding the subway in New York City, but the reality that a majority of these that I’ve been hearing are clutching guidebooks, wearing Styrofoam Statue of Liberty crowns, and poring over subway maps only suggests one issue: it’s August in New York. Which is why I believed I’d try to assist out a bit and list some of my favored, and a lot more importantly, cost-free things to do in the massive city during the month of August. 1) Central Park hosts Shakespeare in the Park, but good luck obtaining tickets. For absolutely free music, dance and film, check out the Central Park SummerStage, with shows in August ranging from dance by The Wheeldon Enterprise, to music by The Pretenders and Dinosaur Jr. two) With events all over Manhattan, the River to River Festival has historically hosted some of the very best totally free shows in the summer time, from ind...

Any person else catch this story about the girl receiving paid by her corporation not to show up to function for a year and travel the planet and get paid $80,000 though carrying out so. Oh the humanity, stories like this make me want to do one thing crazy and irrational with my well being like go bungee jumping off a bridge or watch “Grey’s Anatomy.” Turns out it’s not all superior, she’s really a lawyer and has been toiling away, functioning 14-hour days (with likely really little vacation) at a no-nonsense job for the past six years, and she’ll have to go back to it immediately after the year’s up (if they take her back): Hunting to reduce fees like every person else, but not ready to lay off associates, Skadden [her employer] has chosen instead to supply all of its associates — about 1,300 worldwide — the alternative of accepting a third of their base pay to not show up for work for a year. (So far, the partners have no equivalent arrang...

The Waldorf-Astoria’s under $300 on Mondays. What a deal! Kayak’s gone ahead and added a handy new feature referred to as a “rate calendar,” a calendar (appropriately with prices) that breaks down the typical price tag of a room by day for you suitable-brain visual men and women. I have to credit Budget Travel with scooping this story, but of course they had been granted an interview with Kayak himself, probably a thrilling meeting for all those involved and what I would guess incorporated complimentary Eating plan Cokes and liberal use of Kayak’s conference room through the allotted hour. Come on Kayak, hook TheExpeditioner.com up when in a while, okay?

It seems like all of a sudden airlines are scrambling to make sure that you get to Dublin as soon as feasible, for as small as probable, so that you can visit as a lot of pubs as doable (as properly as see every thing else this wonderful nation has to supply). If I’m not mistaken, there’s also a specific holiday coming up in the Spring that’s pretty well known across the country and may well be type of enjoyable to practical experience for the very first time. Air France will get you there for $110/every way from NYC (w/taxes it comes to $328). American is offering flights from Chicago to Dublin for $166/every single way (w/o taxes). Or if Ireland in the winter doesn’t sound also appealing to you, now’s a single of the greatest instances to lock in stunning flight deals to South America by means of American (who look to continuously have the best bargains for heading south). We’re speaking Rio for $850, Argentina for $700, and Salvador, Brazil for...