Following the Equator

Our 10 Best of 2008

This is the 320th post of 2008 at Following the Equator, and we decided to commemorate our blog's first full calendar year with a top-10 list of favorite posts.

We had a lot of stories, videos, photos, interviews, tips and perspectives about educational travel. We launched some regular weekly features, including our Tip of the Week and Photo of the Week. We debuted Life on Tour, introduced EF on YouTube and EF on Facebook and promoted the EF Tours group on Flickr (above). And, along the way, we encountered a lot of inspiring travelers.

Following the Equator also was nominated for a Blogger's Choice Award and finished fifth out of 1,177 blogs for Best Travel Blog. Thank you to everyone who supported our blog in 2008 by voting, reading, sharing, commenting and subscribing. We're looking forward to an even more successful 2009.

Group Leader Spotlight: Jeremy George

A few years ago, Jeremy George, a high school history teacher from Springfield, Missouri, had never traveled abroad. Then he found EF.

Since taking his first group abroad, Jeremy has traveled everywhere from Austria to Australia with EF Educational Tours. Next year, he will travel on tours to Amsterdam and Paris and France and Spain, and he is already planning a tour to England, Ireland and Wales in 2010.

Jeremy—pictured above with students in Australia (he's in the black-and-blue jacket to the right of the guy in the cool hat)—talked with us about the "irreplaceable experience" of travel, establishing a reputation for taking students on tour and his own dream tour of Italy:

Photo of the Week: Sydney's Hyde Park

Sydney's Hyde Park is famous for the massive fig trees that line its avenues, and this dramatic photo captures the perspective of the park perfectly. Plus, the black-and-white effect is just stunning.

The photo was submitted to the EF Tours group on Flickr by nyc_parsons, who notes, "It was like a jungle right in the middle of the city."

If you want to be selected for the Photo of the Week, just add your travel photos to the EF pool on Flickr. We'll feature a different photo every Thursday.

Photo: nyc_parsons via Flickr

Maple Leaf Monopoly

Montreal is the new Boardwalk.

Monopoly finally revealed the winning cities in its new World Edition this week, and the Canadian city earned the global game's most prestigious position, as we predicted in February.

In fact, Canada monopolizes the new Monopoly board. In addition to Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto also earned spots. The other dominant country is China, which placed Beijing and Shanghai, plus Hong Kong, on the board. Only one U.S. city (New York) made the game.

More than 5.6 million votes were cast to select the 22 cities in the new edition, which goes on sale next week in 50 countries.

Meet EF's Olympics ambassador

The Beijing Olympics begin Friday, but EF has had Olympic fever for some time already.

Not only is EF Education First the Official Language Training Services Supplier of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and not only did EF's founder, Bertil Hult, carry the Olympic torch, but EF also has its very own Olympian.

Cristina Teuscher—a New York native who now works in EF's London office—is a two-time Olympic medalist. Cristina won a gold medal in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay at the 1996 Games in Atlanta, and she won bronze in the 200-meter individual medley at the 2000 Games in Sydney.

Lately, Cristina has been traveling the world, promoting EF's role in the Olympics. Cristina visited both our Boston and Denver offices in the past couple of months, and she recently took time to answer some questions for us before traveling to Beijing for the Games.

Around the World recap (and photos)

We finally got a chance to catch up with Matt Borrello, who returned to EF last week after his around-the-world tour.

Matt, a regional sales manager with EF Educational Tours, won an internal EF contest to travel to four of the world's wonders and chose to bring his mother, Lucille, on the whirlwind journey.

Matt told us all about the stunning sights, the wonderful people and the exhausting flights. By our calculation, Matt and his mom traveled nearly 30,000 miles on 12 flights.

"It was fun and exciting," Matt said, "but it was also a challenge because we had 12 different flights to meet."

Around the World: Back home

After circling the globe on a whirlwind tour of the world's wonders, Matt Borrello and his mother, Lucille, have returned safely home. Matt emailed this morning after completing their around-the-world trip with EF:

"I just wanted to let everyone know that I am now back in the United States and arrived home safely. 

"Overall, my mother and I had a fantastic experience on this trip, and we are looking forward to sharing those memories with everyone soon. 

"Also, it appears that Jetstar has located our luggage and will be sending it back to our home. When the luggage will actually appear, no one knows!"

Despite the aforementioned lost luggage, our lucky contest winners saw the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Taj Mahal, the Great Barrier Reef and the Great Wall of China. Talk about a once-in-a-lifetime trip!

We will try to catch up with Matt next week to get more details on the trip—and hopefully see some photos.

Around the World: Great Wall of China

Matt Borrello and his mother, Lucille, have nearly completed their around-the-world trip with EF. They are in Beijing on the final stop of their world tour. Matt emailed this morning after visiting the Great Wall of China:

"I just wanted to let you know that my mother and I have just finished seeing the Great Wall! It was a terrific experience, and I cannot believe how steep the wall is to walk up. Unfortunately, it was raining while seeing the wall, so it hurt our experience a little bit. 

"We also just ate at a very nice restaurant called the Peking Duck. I would have to say it was our best meal on the trip. A chef comes out in front of your table and cuts up an already cooked duck and serves it to you."

That means they've visited the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Taj Mahal, the Great Barrier Reef and the now Great Wall of China in less than two weeks. Our weary world travelers are headed home soon, and we'll catch up with Matt next week.

Photo: jaaron via Flickr

Around the World: Great Barrier Reef

It was a little later than expected, but Matt Borrello and his mother, Lucille, finally visited the Great Barrier Reef today on their around-the-world trip with EF.

Matt emailed this morning with details:

"We just finished up our trip to the Great Barrier Reef, and everything went well! It was pretty cold out so we didn't go snorkeling or diving, but we took advantage of some of the different types of cruises that they offered. We went on a semi-submarine and a boat where the floor was covered in glass.

"It's pretty amazing how many different living organisms are living on the reef!

"Today is our last day in Australia, and tomorrow morning, we will be traveling out to Beijing to visit the Great Wall of China. We are still without our luggage so we are continuing to try and make the most of it."

Matt and Lucille are scheduled to see the Great Wall on Sunday. Stay tuned for more updates, and follow along with our interactive map.

Photo: Michael McDonough via Flickr

Around the World: Live from Cairns

When you're traveling around the world in 18 days, you've probably got to expect a bump in the road (or two).

That's been the case with Matt Borrello and his mother, Lucille, who are circling the globe on an around-the-world trip with EF. Matt and his mom have arrived safely in Cairns, Australia, after a couple of hiccups in their itinerary.