So Many Places

Following on from the “Five Things” meme that floated through the edublogosphere recently, Kim Cofino’s blog had a nice little post about listing the places in the world she’s been to. I was impressed by her map, and thought I’d give it a go too. This website will let you highlight the places in the world you’ve been, and I thought it very cool.


I have to admit that mine probably looks a little more impressive than it really is… There are places I’ve been to that were short localised visits, but this tool highlights the whole country. So although I’ve only been to Hong Kong, the map shows all of China. Likewise, I certainly haven’t seen all that much of North America yet. And yes, I have been to a lot of islands throughout the Pacific, but it was with my parents when I was much, much younger, so really, I haven’t travelled nearly as much as I wish I had.

Not travelling more extensively is one of my biggest regrets in life actually, although I guess it’s never too late to make up for lost time. I’ll certainly be encouraging my own kids to see as much of the world as possible when they get older.

For what it’s worth, here is a breakdown of the US States… still plenty of room to explore there too!


Understanding Flatness

friedman.jpgI’ve been reading Thomas Friedman’s book “The World Is Flat” and have been finding it a compelling and interesting read. I think he has really clearly identified and explained the trends and convergences that have brought us to what is arguably one of the most important inflexion points in world history.

If you get a chance to read the book I suggest you do so. In the meantime, you might like to have a look at this video (http://mitworld.mit.edu/play/264/) of Friedman giving a speech to a group of students and staff from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In this talk he gives an excellent overview of the book and explains some of its key ideas. The speech lasts about 75 minutes in total and its the sort of thing you need to really sit and watch in its entirety, but well worth it. Maybe watch it instead of TV one night…