Author: eliotpeper

• The week that starts it all

  Kat Man Doooo! Our first week of travel in Nepal’s crazy and surprisingly hazy capital “ppffffftt!!! ppfffffftt!!” In a daze, we woke up around 6 am, confused about that strange noise and what seemed like a LOT of crowing/chirping/singing. Once we figured out that it was just 6 am and we weren’t on some plane…

• The first 100 words

  The first 100 words are the most important in any language. I’ve studied Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, German, Latin and Dutch with different degrees of commitment and success. I’ve also experimented with a few phrases in Indonesian, Filipino and Nepali. When you go on your next international trip, try to learn 100 important words or phrases…

• What to do in Kathmandu?

  When we were putting together the itinerary for our trip we reached out to as many friends as possible who might have knowledge of or contacts in the places we plan to go. We were overwhelmed by the response: introductions to locals and trekking guides across Nepal and Ethiopia, an invitation to visit the tea…

• Book Review: A.I. Apocalypse

  William Hertling is a software security consultant who’s recently started to pump out some of the most interesting techno-thrillers out there. A.I. Apocalypse is the follow up to Hertling’s breakout hit Avogadro Corp that follows the development of a rogue artificial intelligence by a Google-like company (techies will notice the clever play on Google’s name).…

• Buy someone lunch today

  We are sitting in Terminal B at LAX awaiting the departure of our flight to Kathmandu through Singapore (we also stop for a refueling in Japan). Some alarm just went off in the airport as I started to write this post and apparently LAX thinks the best alarm sound is a constant, piercing, high-pitched wail…

• Sabbaticals aren’t just for professors

  Late last year my beautiful fiancée Drea and I decided to take six months off to travel the world as off-the-beaten path as possible. We had been thinking and talking about it for a long time and we finally decided to pull the trigger. Our flight leaves in less than a week and things are…