Perspectives of a Wandering Geographer

I suppose it was inevitable. Sooner or later in the course of 50+ blog posts I was bound to say some things that ran afoul of the International Erosion Control Association's management team and membership. After all, IECA is in the business of serving erosion control professionals and businesses that provide erosion control products. The negative opinions I have occasionally expressed about the policies of foreign governments or obnoxious travelers I have encountered as well as my sometimes "salty" language are not exactly what IECA had in mind when they suggested I do a blog about my 2012 around-the-world trip to attend erosion control-related conferences and meet with erosion control professionals. In my very first post, "Intro to My Trip" (July 19, 2012), I pointed out that I am an opinionated SOB and didn't "plan on toning it down for this blog." While I have done my best to stay positive most of the time, I'm no Pollyanna. Those of...

Following the conference of the International Soil Conservation Organization (ISCO) in Medellin, Colombia, we had a choice between two one-day field trips on Friday, July 12. One trip visited a coffee growing area around the city of Venecia and the other looked at profiles of volcanic soils and commercial flower cultivation east of Medellin. I chose the latter because I’d seen enough of coffee cultivation during the pre-conference field trip. The choice provided more excitement than I’d expected from the trip description. Medellin, site of the 2013 ISCO Conference, is located in the Central Andes Mountains of northwestern Colombia. We met at 7:00AM next to the Plaza Mayor convention center in Medellin where two buses (one for each trip) awaited us. As soon as I figured out which was the bus for my trip, I grabbed a seat next to the window on the right side immediately behind the door. I wound up with an empty seat next to me as there were only about 20 of us on a b...

This last blog post from my around the world trip may piss off some readers.   Once again, I remind you that the opinions expressed in this personal blog, Perspectives of a Wandering Geographer , are my own and are not endorsed by any groups with which I am affiliated!  Bye, bye lovely Lisbon! TAP Flight 103 heads into the clouds over the Tejo River Estuary with the magnificent April 25 th Bridge directly below us. Top: The “joys” of trans-Atlantic travel - cramped in a seat in coach for eight hours and a tasteless lunch. Bottom: My last flight was the worst. Damn, it was great to finally arrive back in Denver! Basemaps from Google Maps ( https://maps.google.com/ )   12 October 2012 on United Flight 1139, Newark to Denver I ’m finally on the last leg of my ‘round-the-world in 92 days gig. Oh boy, is it torture. First of all, I just came off an 8 hour flight from Lisbon so I’m not exactly in the most chipper of moods. The Denver fl...