I can hear the scraping of a broom but can’t see anyone, just blue, glittery static, unsure if my eyes are open or closed. I sit, enjoying the cool surface beneath me. The static grows lighter and fades away. I’m…
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Now that we’re fully immersed in that awkward period after Christmas when the snow hasn’t yet melted away but our holiday cheer has, let’s take a moment to reminisce on the most wonderful time of the year. This post…
At first glance it’s all borderline absurd: the wait, the expense, the costumes, the music, the special effects and the scale. The line to get in started three hours in advance. Through the glass doors we could see smartly…
“Avoid hiking at night. Mountain lions are nocturnal, humans are not,” said Google. Great. Few things are more humbling than basking in the beauty of California’s wild northern coast, but basking in its beauty after sunset might just qualify.…
Nothing bonds people more than stuffing them together in a tight space for an extended period of time, surrounding them with stale air, feeding them tasteless food and making them altogether powerless. No, I’m not talking about jail. This is traveling, at…
What I noticed first were the hands. Heavy, no-nonsense, working hands. Hands that lift and carry and squeeze. Okay, I might be exaggerating a little and even flirting with political incorrectness, but it’s what I remember. As we moved…
From afar Vang Vieng looked like any number of small towns in Laos. Dramatic limestone cliffs framed the sunset as we dropped into the karst canyon from the north. We took a mini bus into town from the main…
Picture two round, sweaty, shirtless men, partly bald with smug (if not evil) grins plastered onto their cartoonish faces. Excuse me, stupid, cartoonish faces. They’ve come to roll down their car window, smile at us and savor in our frustration.…
There’s nothing quite like that moment. It’s early in the morning and you’re sore from the previous day’s hike. You unzip your tent, a rush of fresh air hits you and you see a view that makes you forget…
There are some faces that are impossible to forget. You cross paths with a stranger from a different world for a split second and sometimes they never leave you, burned into your memory. Today I’m thinking about that woman…
“This ain’t Manhattan.” “Yea, they’re not gonna stop.” The words felt harsh and the faces looked unwelcoming. I was in the middle of trying to wave down a cab in a neighborhood out by JFK airport. “What should I…
I couldn’t tell if my sleeping bag was wet or just damp, but I was too tired to care. My whole body ached. When I lay down flat each vertebrae in my back cracked, giving way and settling me…
As I explored Denmark’s capital by bike, I realized I was using the word “cool” with obnoxious frequency and couldn’t help but cringe at my lack of adjectives. But if there’s any city that merits such profuse usage, it’s…
Maastricht is a small Dutch city of 120,000+ residents wedged between Germany and Belgium. It bears the architecture and atmosphere of both a small Belgian village and an elaborate Dutch city, with a twist of modernity. Built around the Meuse river…
The input is constant: the smell of burning flesh; the smorgasbord of curries (heaven for your taste buds and hell for your stomach); buzzing street markets; starving street puppies; overpacked buses; and narrow mountain passes. After nearly four months,…