A friend of mine pointed me in the direction of National Geographic's 'new online photography experience', Proof. The column gives light to the storytelling process at National Geographic and the intersection of art, journalism and photography as part of that process. I happen to enjoy that kind of dialogue around the representation of place and the experience of travel.

The entry I was sent and enjoyed the most was Musings: Gabriele Galimberti’s Couch Surfing. I didn't do any couch surfing during my travels, in part because I was a little daunted by the experience of living with total strangers. I regret it now. I think I missed out on something big by not putting myself in those situations. Who knows what terrific weirdness I could have experienced?

The irony is now that I'm in New York, I seem to have been doing pretty much only that, with friends and unknowns (who have become fast friends as a result). My favorite is probably Olga the naturalist vegetarian living in Kiev. Check it out.

Proof. Musings: Gabriel Galimberti's Couch Surfing

“Olga, 22—Kiev, Ukraine. Olga is a vegetarian naturist who gives out free hugs in public.”

— Gabriele Galimberti

Thank you Biggest Fan.

As some of you know I've been working on a travel concept app for the last few months. Obviously our app will revolutionize the way we travel (!)*. Its called Trekler and if you are so inclined you can sign up for our upcoming Beta run at www.trekler.com.

In the meantime I thought I'd share my favorite travel-experience app to date. It comes, obviously, from the Japanese, purveyors of all things cool, techy and quirky. When you combine those three descriptors what you really come up with is this: