Greetings, fellow sojourners!
The eight edition of Portmanteau is here!
In this edition, we talk about preserving a way of life that needs preserving. Our feature story showcases the great American outdoors that's home to the largest hiking trail on the planet. We talk about Hokkaido, Japan's snowy secret that doesn't always make it to travel bucket lists. And with Thanksgiving on the verge, we thought it appropriate to share a recipe for some sumptuous pumpkin pie!
We also have a rather serious take on one of the most prestigious districts of the world, and how the year 2020 has been rough on it. Our Reel showcases documentaries that you simply must watch for a better understanding and appreciation of this crazy thing we call life. And our Travel Record is stacked with new hits from America's country scene to jam to, either at home or on the road.
We hope that this edition of Portmanteau is well received, and we always look forward to your comments and suggestions for the next one.
Sharing the mutual love for travel!
Ashish
A deep dive into a story that's arcane, thoughtful, and sometimes humorous!
The Appalachian Trail
Every year, nearly 2 million people traverse through a hiking trail. Beginning in the state of Georgia, it goes through canyons, ridges and valleys before ending at Mount Katahdin, in Maine. What you wouldn't have noticed at first is that this is the Appalachian Trail, the world's longest hiking trail.
The land of musicals has been a silent spectator to the world throughout the year.
Where there were usually gleaming signboards and glaring neon signs on the streets of Broadway, this year was depressingly empty.
When life gives you unexpected vacations, you take it.
Documentaries that show us just how vivid this world truly is, and what we must do to conserve our future.
What would it be like to be in a movie where everyone was the cinematographer, director, producer and cast? Life In A Day is a crowdsourced film; produced by none other than Ridley Scott. The main goal of the film was to showcase what different lives across the world look like on any given day. People from literally all across the globe took videos of the same things: Getting up, breakfast, getting ready for their day.
While it may seem like a simple experiment, the results were profound. A clearer picture of our world’s diversity and uniqueness could not have been taken.
From the tea seller in Kolkata to a soldier on deployment in Afghanistan to a young student coming out to his family and so many more; Life In A Day reminds us all that we are unique, while still having the same essential qualities that make us human.
Have you ever wondered why birds dance? Or call?
Dancing With The Birds is a feature documentary by Netflix, created by the same minds that envisioned Planet Earth and Our Planet. The show delves into the lives of the Birds Of Paradise found in Papua New Guinea, a race of birds that provide marvelous insights into evolution as a whole.
New Guinea is home to around 42 species of these birds of paradise, each as distinct and vivid as the last. These birds are endemic to the islands and have always been considered a key insight into how things change over millennia. Where other birds across the world follow a certain pattern, the explosion of color and characteristic on New Guinea merits its own show.
Dancing With The Birds is a merry yet mindful show that shows you just how unique our world really is.
A more stark documentary about the effects of humans on the outside world, Racing Extinction is a view into the ticking time bomb that we have caused on our planet.
Directed by Louie Psihoyos, who has several other notable documentaries under his belt, the feature talks about how we are currently facing the greatest extinction event ever since the KT Event that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Unsurprisingly, poaching, industrialization and globalization are the primary suspects.
Whether it's large scale whaling in Japan and Norway or hunting for sharks in China or greenhouse emissions from countries like India and the United States, there has been a constant threat to the natural world from anthropogenic activities. A rather essential documentary in times like these.
Despite being Japan’s second largest island, Hokkaido is seldom on the mind of people looking to travel to the isles of this country. But this snowy domain holds its own secret surprises.
The island country of Japan is the last place you’d expect to find a snowy, isolated wonderland that’s akin to the arctic circle. And yet, Hokkaido is exactly that. What’s even more astonishing is that Hokkaido shares the same altitude as the South Of France, but is a land of snow capped mountains, ski resorts and more.
Looks like someone in the illustration department finally listened to me, I can see straight now.
Thanksgiving is around the corner, which means it's pie time. Of the pumpkin variety.
A fruit that has always been a native of North America, pumpkins are ubiquitous to American culture. The months leading up to the great American festival are when the ripest, most plump specimens are harvested; either for Jack O Lanterns in Halloween, pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving or pumpkin spice lattes for Christmas.
For this edition of Food For Thought, we thought it'd be fun to showcase how you can make the perfect slice of pumpkin pie to go along with a lazy Sunday brunch or a tea-time snack.
This recipe comes from www.allrecipes.com.
2 eggs
1 (16 ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust
Music from the Americas, featuring both Latin American and North American classics.
Puzzles to get your neurons firing.
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