Best of the Rest (Weekly Links Ending 9/18/11)

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This past week I wrote a post on some of our favorite travel couples.  As I mentioned in the article though, this list only represented a small fraction of travel bloggers that we frequently tune into.  So many people share their travel tales to the world each week and get us so excited to begin our journey in January.  Here are the best of the rest from this week:

• Happy “I-Quit-My-Jobaversary” Adventurous Kate!  I am taking a sabbatical and Tony is flat out quitting his job, which is harder for both of us than we initially imagined, as we have built solid relationships with our colleagues over the years.  However, I know what we are doing is the opportunity of a lifetime and I am excited to leave our jobs in October (Tony) and December (me) to explore the world!
• Janice shares her observations on how Europeans enjoy their coffee.  I gotta say, it’s much better than our daily Dunkin Donuts drive-through runs in the AM.  In honor of this romantic approach to coffee, I am currently down at my local Starbucks sitting outside with a cup of coffee writing this blog post.  Okay, so maybe I’m still somewhat of an American with the cliché Starbs and free wireless with my coffee… but I’m learning!
• This story of Adventurous Kate’s run-in with a naked man is hilarious so it was well worth the 2^nd hit on our “Best of the Rest” from her blog.  I mainly thought this was extremely funny because this happened to one of my coworkers back in January – However, he was the naked man.  And it was on a business trip in Jersey.  And a hotel lobby full of people saw him.  Epic.
• Every week, I foolishly check A Lady in London’s blog to see what she is up to…and I say this is foolish because I always seem to come across her food posts at 4PM when I am STARVING at my desk at work.  She by far has some of the most mouth watering posts I have seen.  This one is one of her many fabulous foodie articles on the dining scene in London.  I would like to hear her tips on writing reviews for restaurants.  If there’s a way to do this and get meals comped than I am all ears!
• I really enjoyed reading this week’s interview of Jared, Jess & Kobus  (the three behind the website, Life Remotely)  on Positive World Travel.  They have taken their passion for travel and turned it into a business to allow them to become “location independent” and “digital nomads.”  This is EXACTLY what Tony and I someday hope to achieve so their story is a true inspiration to us!
• Melanie Chamberlain (girlwithgumption.com) recently wrote a short article on Vagabondish that introduces readers to the Southeast Asian fruit, Durian.  What drives my curiosity to this article (and this fruit) is that she states that Durian tastes BETTER than chocolate and wine – My two favorite things IN THE WORLD (besides Tony of course).  This can’t be true can it?  I need some more opinions on this before I even begin to REMOTELY consider this notion.  Have you tried this curious fruit?  I need to get to the bottom of this before my head (and stomach) explode!
• Our first destination on our RTW trip in January will be Santiago, Chile.  Hopefully we will be able to stay down there for a couple months and soak in all the goodness of this great city.  However, for those of you who only have limited time in Santiago, Kyle Hepp has mapped out her off the beaten path guide to Santiago in 24 hours.  Thanks for sharing this great guest post Nomadic Matt!
• Tony studied abroad in Florence, Italy back in 2005, which was the city where we first met.  At the time I was studying abroad in Spain and one of our mutual friends, Kipp, and I planned a trip to Florence to visit Tony and other Babson College “study abroadies”… and the rest was history!  I have been dying to visit this city with Tony again – this time as my husband!  This article from Chris on the “Best of Florence” just got me that much more excited.
• Here in the states I am gymaholic and try to eat as healthy as possible.  One of my fears for next year is staying fit and trim while on the road – Especially since I will no longer have my monthly gym membership and I will be frequently tempted to try out all the great global cuisines.  But then I think about how much more active I am going to be travelling the world instead of sitting at my desk from 9-5.  Maybe I CAN avoid coming home after my RTW adventure looking like a sumo wrestler.  One piece of advice I will take from Julia of Homeless and Confused is that I must walk as much as possible and explore!