"This is the way the world ends," mused end of days wacko T.S. Eliot, "not with a bang, but with millions of bangs, mutant fish, organic kidney beans by the crate, top-shelf liquor, and a bear eating a fire hydrant." David Moscrop doesn't want to see you get hurt, so he's written you a to-do list in preparation of our mutual impending doom.

Not all travel is easy, nor should it be. Drew Gough found that reflecting on and writing about travel isn't necessarily easy, either. In this, part one of a four-part series, he recounts the difficulty of looking back at an overland journey from Hanoi to Bangkok. Not to mention the difficulty of being ripped off at every turn.

These are the days of online journalism. Web-only publications are cheaper to run than traditional newspapers, and also find new approaches to journalism. Nick Taylor-Vaisey explains how community-driven online news, like OpenFile, complements traditional reporting by connecting directly with its readership.

Commemoration is useful for discovery, argues Amanda Watson. Watson looks back on 2011 and reminds us that self-betterment is a life-long pursuit, not just a fleeting impulse at the end of a year.

Drew Gough finally got his hands on a copy of Lapham's Quarterly (all 200-plus pages of the Future Issue) and -- that's right! -- read it. Now he can't stop thinking about how, in the year 2525, if we are still alive, if humans can survive, we may find...

Actor and documentarian Charley Boorman takes a break from adventuring to sit down with Thought Out Loud, sort of, to talk about life on the go, his recent visit to Canada, and his dream trip.