Meet Ethan Gelber

Ethan, BikeAbout's founder and president, is a graduate of Yale University and Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (with a Masters in International Education and Cross-cultural Communication). He learned about education, technology, and bicycle travel during his six years helping to establish, manage, and guide for Blue Marble Travel, a European bicycle tourism company. A native of New York City, Ethan has taught Humanities at an inner-city alternative high school that he helped open and design the curriculum for. He has also worked for UNESCO, the American Council of Learned Societies, and different educational and regional research institutes associated with Columbia University. Ethan has toured extensively, often by bicycle, in Europe, the Mediterranean, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas. He speaks fluent French, functional Italian and Spanish, and sloppy German. Since the BikeAbout–the Mediterranean journey, in addition to his work for BikeAbout, he has moonlighted as a writer, editor, project manager, and translator, most recently for GORP.com, Lonely Planet Publications, the French Government Tourist Office in New York (as publications manager and editor of its FranceGuide magazine in 2004 and 2005), and now the Starlight Children's Foundation in Australia, for whom he coordinated the Tour de Kids. After a year living in Sri Lanka (September 2004 to September 2005), where he worked as an alternative tourism consultant and wrote for, among others, Lonely Planet (again) and Travel Sri Lanka magazine, he has moved to Sydney, Australia. Click here if you would like to read about his travels in 2002 and 2003.

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Ethan's BikeAbout Dispatches

September 25, 1997: Topics: thoughts about the upcoming trip
September 26-27, 1997, Tangier, Morocco: Topics: tajine (food), mint tea, clothing, Phoenicians, money
October 4, 1997, Al Hoceima, Morocco: Topics: Pigier Schools, education, economy, Internet access
October 10, 1997, Saidïa, Morocco: Topics: pastilla (food), Internet access, cultural exchange, Mediterranean Sea, daily life, taxis, wildlife
October 19-20, 1997, Tunis, Tunisia: Topics: brik (food), environment, Bizerte, wildlife, Utique (Utica), mosaics, Punic tombs
October 21-22, 1997. Tunis, Tunisia: Topics: medina, harissa (food), computer technology
October 27, 1997, Sousse, Tunisia: Topics: Salade méchouia (food), ribat, mosque, rules of the road, medina, catacombs, daily life
November 3, 1997, Matmata, Tunisia: Topics: agriculture, Hollywood films, cinema, "STAR WARS," "troglodyte" (cave) homes
November 14-15, 1997, Valletta, Malta: Topics: fenek (food), Valletta, Knights of the Order of Saint John, Crusades, HISTORY, architecture, megalithic temples, Phoenicians, daily life
November 18-19, 1997, Cairo, Egypt: Topics: bargaining, numbers, antiquities, Egyptian Museum, King Tut, terrorism, rules of the road
November 28, 1997, Alexandria, Egypt: Topics: bicycle safety, water, Nile River, Nile Delta, rules of the road, water pumps, agriculture, Persian wheel
December 5-6, 1997, Al-Arish, Egypt: Topics: Sinai Peninsula, Suez Canal, HISTORY, environment, "bonking" (bike term)
December 9, 1997, Gaza City, Palestine: Topics: maftoul (food), Khan Younis, Intifada, HISTORY, PLO, cultural events, women in society, environment, family life
December 17, 1997-January 11, 1998: Topics: thoughts during mid-trip break
January 13, 1998, Jerusalem: Topics: humus (food), Temple Mount, Mount Moriah, Dome of the Rock, Herod, Jerusalem, HISTORY, Crusades, Hadrian, Alexander the Great, Ottoman Empire, Diaspora
January 18, 1998, Tel Aviv, Israel: Topics: bagel (food), military history, military service, bicycle advocacy, Diaspora
January 21-22, 1998, Haifa, Israel: Topics: kebabs (food), 'Akko (Acre), Ptolomy, Crusades, History, "making Aliya", Mt. Carmel, Baha'ism
January 29-30, 1998, Beirut, Lebanon: Topics: Leila Mouammar (Person of the Day), Beirut (reconstruction, Hamra), Civil War, war, HISTORY, Eid el-Futr party
February 4, 1998, Byblos, Lebanon: Topics: Phoenicians, papyrus, Alexander the Great, Byzantines, Crusaders, alphabets, bike safety
February 7, 1998, Beirut, Lebanon: Topics: border crossing, nutrition, Hafez al-Assad, Middle East wars, history
February 8-10, 1998, Beirut, Lebanon: Topics: agriculture, daily life
February 13, 1998, Adana, Turkey: Topics: Adana kebab (food), Antioch, Saint Peter
February 19-20, 1998, Antalya, Turkey: Topics: Iskender kebab (food), Coast of Golden Sand, tourist over-development, the Greek gods, international artifact theft, Side, Antalya, HISTORY
February 24-26, 1998, Istanbul, Turkey: Topics: geography, Constantine the Great, HISTORY, Constantinople/Istanbul
March 5-6, 1998, Thessaloniki, Greece: Topics: media, antiquities, King Philip II of Macedon, history, alphabet
March 13-14, 1998, Athens, Greece: Topics: tzatziki (food), Greek restaurants, Katerina (Person of the Day), Acropolis/Parthenon, HISTORY, "No Limits World," a quick tour of Athens, Greek-Turkish relations
March 20, 1998, Olympia, Greece: Topics: souvlaki (food), Olympic Games, Wonders of the Ancient World, the Greek gods
March 27, 1998, Konitsa, Greece: Topics: grilled meat (food), the Town Hall and Mayor of Konitsa, earthquakes, school presentations
March 31, 1998, Tirana, Albania: Topics: bus ride through Albania, border crossing, "pillbox" bunkers, first impressions of Albania, History (modern)
April 4, 1998, Tirana, Albania: Topics: burek (food), Albanian greetings, Albanian Education Development Project, Open Internet Center, travel arrangements, biking with the Albanian Cycling Union, Petrela Castle/Fortress, saying goodbye
April 15, 1998, Sarajevo, Bosnia: Topics: pida (food), Sarajevo, Balkan war, living with war, HISTORY, acronyms
April 20, 1998, Split, Croatia: Topics: school visit, UNESCO and World Heritage education activities, Split, history
April 26-27, 1998, Lubljana, Slovenia: Topics: Skocjan Caves, Koper, Karst region, Lipizzaner stallions, Lipic(z)a, history
May 5, 1998, Ferrara, Italy: Topics: cappelacci di zucca (food), FIAB, Cities for Cyclists, history, Este family, bike advocacy, bikes and boats
May 11-12, 1998, Sorrento, Italy: Topics: delicioso limone (food), Amalfi Coast, compass, Roman gods, Mount Vesuvius
May 18-19, 1998, Roma, Italy: Topics: pasta (food), Roma, hills of Roma, HISTORY, Order of the Knights of Malta
May 29-30, 1998, San Remo, Italy: Topics: Christopher Columbus, French and Italian Riviera, Alfred Nobel and the Nobel Prizes
June 5, 1998, Marseille, France: Topics: cassoulet (food), langue d'oc versus langue d'oīl, Association DIA, Marseille, history
June 10-11, 1998, Figueres, Spain: Topics: handicapped bicyclists, hospitality, Perpignan, Padraic's departure, Côte Vermeille/Costa Brava, "tra montana" winds, Catalonia, history, Iberian Peninsula

Anthony Corinne andrEa Ethan Padraic


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