Piepowder, are you?
Learning new words is always exciting, especially when their meanings are interesting. Take, for instance, the word ' piepowder '. Now, what would you think that means? Powdered pie? Uh-huh, wrong. It comes from the old French 'pie' meaning foot, and 'poudre', meaning powder or dust. Basically, when you put foot and powder together, you are referring to the dust on your feet. In English, piepowder has come to mean a traveller , especially a travelling merchant, says word expert Anu Garg. He says that in the pre-sneaker, pre- sidewalk, carriage-less era, travellers earned their name the hard way, one dusty footstep at a time. Merchants would trudge from fair to fair, handling disputes as well.
Pilgrimages to sacred destinations and places of worship were undertaken on foot in earlier times as there was no other option; all pilgrims were piepowders. Even today, some devotees take a vow to trek barefoot, say, to Vaishno Devi, to Mumbai's Siddhivinayak mandir and to Kerala's Sabarimalai. Pilgrims to Sabarimalai chant 'Kallum Mullum Kaalukku Methai' – 'stones and thorns are but soft cushions to our feet' – but the mother of all walking pilgrimages is the Camino de Santiago (The Way of St James) in Spain. The journey itself is said to be a transformative experience, taking one to exalted spiritual heights, revealing deep insights. Interestingly, the Spanish name for the Milky Way is El Camino de Santiago – a medieval legend says that the Milky Way was formed from the dust raised by travelling pilgrims!
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Business Insider
7 hours ago
- Business Insider
Priced out of Austin, he bought a one-way ticket out of the US. Now, he lives on a Thai island for a fraction of the cost.
Mike Holp, now 38, left Austin in 2019 due to the high cost of living. He bought a one-way ticket to Asia and eventually settled in Koh Samui, Thailand. Island life is slower and much more affordable; his monthly expenses rarely exceed $1,800. Seven years ago, Mike Holp was riding through the streets of Austin as a food delivery worker, earning between $15 and $20 an hour. He lived just outside downtown in a shared rental with three roommates. Even with a computer science degree, the tough competition made it hard for him to get the tech job he'd hoped for. "Basically, the only thing that I could find to do to pay expenses was to deliver food on my bike," Mike Holp, now 38, a digital creator, told Business Insider. Each day blurred into the next as he worked long hours just to cover rent, only to repeat the same grind the following month. It was a relentless cycle, and the lifestyle started to wear him down. He felt disillusioned, and the rising cost of living wasn't helping his situation. "At that point, I was like 'What am I doing all this for? Just to get by?'" Holp said. His life in Austin didn't feel sustainable, and he knew he had to get out. In 2019, with money saved from delivering food and working real estate photography gigs on the side, Holp bought a one-way ticket to Asia. Finding home in Thailand After a brief stint in Bali and then Singapore, Holp decided to make Thailand his next stop. He spent time living in different parts of Thailand, including Chiang Mai — where he met his now-fiancée, Mary. She was on vacation at that time but was based in both Bangkok and Koh Samui for work. Wanting to be closer to her, Holp decided to move to Samui because he preferred its slower pace over the bustle of the Thai capital. House-hunting was fairly easy: He found their first home on Facebook Marketplace. It was a one-bedroom house located in Lamai, a laid-back area along the southeastern coast of the island. Rent was 9,000 Thai baht a month. After three years in that house, it was time for a change. His fianceé had left her previous job and now works at a school, and they wanted to live close by. They're still in Lamai, but in a bigger one-bedroom property that costs 20,000 Thai baht, or about $600, each month. "It's a modern village-style home. It's on a raised platform, about 12 feet off the ground, so if there's any flooding, we don't have to worry about that," Holp said. Although Holp has learned a little bit of Thai, the good thing about Samui, being a tourist destination, is that many locals can speak and understand basic English, he said. It was also fairly easy for him to connect with new people. "There's a large Facebook group called Koh Samui Expats — they've got about 40,000 people in there," Holp said. "And I'm actually a moderator in that group, so that helps to meet people." Escaping the rat race Holp says his life in Samui is "completely different" from that in Austin. He starts his mornings by dropping off his fiancée at work. After that, it's time for a walk along the beach and a quick workout session at an outdoor gym situated on a tiny islet linked to the Samui mainland by a wooden bridge. Post-workout, it's time for a coffee at a nearby café before he heads home to start work for the day. Apart from creating content for his own social pages, Holp also runs a photography business and a consulting business that helps others relocate to Thailand. "I have a flexible schedule," he said. "It's just a much more carefree, relaxed lifestyle compared to Austin." The fact that he's no longer in the rat race also means he has the time and energy to spend on his hobbies, such as exploring the island on his bike and meeting with friends. The lower cost of living in Thailand helps, he said. "It frees up my time so that I can focus on passion projects like the YouTube channel, and I don't have to worry about just paying rent all the time and stressing out," he said. Holp says he and his fiancée typically spend between 50,000 and 60,000 Thai baht, or about $1,500 and $1,800, a month. "We sometimes cook at home, but the meals are usually very affordable here, so going out to eat is very easy," Holp said. Their weekly grocery run costs about 2,000 Thai baht, and it's also fairly easy to find international brands and products at the larger stores, he said. "Even going to the grocery store, you can get 30 eggs for 5 bucks," he added. Holp estimates a comparable lifestyle for two in Austin would cost about five times as much. A single person needs to earn at least $101,587 annually to live comfortably in Austin, per a 2025 SmartAsset analysis based on data from MIT's Living Wage Calculator. 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Yahoo
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Monster Energy Athletes Claim Podium Spots at 2025 UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup in Loudenvielle-Peyragudes
29-Year-Old Amaury Pierron from Brioude, France, Takes 2nd Place in Elite Men Downhill Race, Rises to Top Season Rankings 20-Year-Old UK Team Rider Jordan Williams Takes 3rd Place LOUDENVIELLE-PEYRAGUDES, France, June 1, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Stop Two of the 2025 season is in the books! Monster Energy congratulates Amaury Pierron on taking second place in the UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup in Loudenvielle-Peyragudes, France, this weekend. In the second race of the season, the 29-year-old from Brioude, France, rose to the podium on the challenging track. Also rising to the podium, 20-year-old Jordan Williams from Bristol, United Kingdom, claimed third place in Sunday's final. Williams was joined in the Top Five by 28-year-old Monster Energy team rider Luca Shaw from Hendersonville, North Carolina, in fifth place with a finish time of 3:16.776. Shaw now holds fifth place in season rankings with 294 points. The Elite Women Downhill final concluded with 35-year-old Camille Balanche from Le Locle, Switzerland, in fourth place. The Swiss team rider battled high winds in the upper segment of the track and treacherous conditions in the lower half to earn a finish time of 3:48.776. Balanche now ranks fifth in the 2025 season standings with 305 points. From May 30 to June 1, the 2025 UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup descended on the iconic trails of Loudenvielle-Peyragudes. In stop two of the season, the challenging and technical racetrack in the heart of the French Pyrenees mountains hosted the world elite of the sport. The action-filled weekend also stoked visitors with live concerts, mountain bike expositions, and fan activations in the event village. In Sunday's Elite Men Downhill final, Amaury Pierron dropped in as the number one qualifier and last rider on the course. Charging into the top section, Pierron managed to build a 0.7-second lead over the fastest rider by the third split of the race. But when the dust settled, the Frenchman concluded the track 1.5 seconds behind the winner with a time of 3:14.729 for a strong second-place finish. "It was a crazy race this time around in Loudenvielle. We've always raced here in the wet and later in the season. This was dry and really fast. The average speeds were scary, as if there was no limit! Everyone was going really fast all weekend, and I'm just glad to have stayed on my bike in these conditions, get through to the final, and now the podium. So happy with this," said Monster Energy's Pierron. On the strength of Sunday's result, Pierron now commands first place in the 2025 UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup season rankings with 440 points. Joining Pierron on the podium, Jordan Williams claimed third place in Sunday's final with a finish time of 3:16.163. After battling a knee injury during the 2024 season, the former Junior Division Mountain Bike Downhill World Champion is fully back in the saddle and now holds eighth place in season rankings with 243 points. "It was insane - it was just so fast!" said Monster Energy's Williams, adding: "I did not expect to land on the podium here. It's been a while trying to get up to speed after my knee injury last year, and to do it here on this track in these conditions is wild! Huge thanks for all the support and for the team getting me back on track. I took a few risks and that paid off! Very stoked!" The action continues next weekend with the 2025 UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup, in Saalfelden Leogang, Austria, from June 5 to 8, 2025. For more on Amaury Pierron, Jordan Williams, Camille Balanche, Luca Shaw, and our team of mountain bike athletes, visit Follow Monster Energy on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok for updates from the 2025 mountain bike season. For interview or photo requests, contact Kim Dresser. About Monster EnergyBased in Corona, California, Monster Energy is the leading marketer of energy drinks and alternative beverages. Refusing to acknowledge the traditional, Monster Energy supports the scene and sport. Whether motocross, off-road, NASCAR, MMA, BMX, surf, snowboard, ski, skateboard, or the rock and roll lifestyle, Monster Energy is a brand that believes in authenticity and the core of what its sports, athletes and musicians represent. More than a drink, it's the way of life lived by athletes, bands, believers, and fans. See more about Monster Energy including all of its drinks at CONTACT: Kim Dresser C: (949) 300-5546 E: View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Monster Energy
Yahoo
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9 Family-friendly activities to do near Camp Lejeune, NC
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