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On a Japan Travel Facebook group I belong to, someone almost inevitably will post (for advice) the itinerary of an upcoming trip to Tokyo. It tends to look something like this: 6am Tsukiji fish market; 9am Asakusa temple; 11am Harajuki; 12pm Meiji Shrine; 1pm Shibuya crossing; 2pm Akihabara; 3pm Ginza shopping, 4pm cat café, 5pm […]

There are some places in the world that stand apart from local politics: Bagan in Myanmar (Wow Place #9), the Great Wall of China, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, etc. Whatever you may think of the governments of the host countries, the sights, themselves, remains eternal. Once other such site is the Dead […]

I’ve noticed a curious phenomenon about travel; it’s called, “How will I EVER?” It occurs when you’re still at home, thinking about an upcoming journey. As you’re making your plans, it feels inconceivable that you’ll ever be able to figure things out – especially if you don’t speak the local language. Questions arise like, “How […]

One of the joys of travel is stumbling across unusual juxtapositions. A tiny temple in the middle of a shopping mall. A Mexican restaurant in an obscure Mongolian town. A Starbucks coffee shop in the middle of an Arabian Souk. In such places, you can’t help but wondering, “What is this place doing here? Who […]

One of the pleasures of traveling is visiting places where famous people once spent time. For example, if you’re interested in the life of Jesus, you’ll want to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. If you admire Winston Churchill, you’ll want to drop by the Churchill War Rooms in London. If you […]

I’m intrigued by roadside attractions. What exactly compels a budding entrepreneur to say, “I will open a business on the side of an isolated highway”? Such folks are essentially trading on the boredom of the open road. Ie. Driving long stretches of freeway is tedious. People crave variety to break up the monotony; they need […]

Wow Place #220: Myanmar Border There’s a great scene at the end of the Indiana Jones movie, The Last Crusade, when our hero is asked to step off a cliff and take “a leap of faith.” Spoiler alert: he doesn’t die. Thankfully, Indy lands on a camouflaged walkway, breaking his fall and saving his life. […]

When planning a trip, I inevitably fall under the spell of FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out. Before I know it, I’m frantically researching on the web, then making a list of ALL the places I need to visit and ALL the activities I need to experience. For instance, here’s what my recent Japan itinerary […]

“Tipping point: The crisis stage in a process, when a significant change takes place.” –Dictionary.com We tend to think of “tipping points” in scientific terms, ie. the tipping point for a chemical reaction, the tipping point for climate change. But I think there are emotional tipping points as well – those times when your life […]

Back in the 90s, my buddy Will and I had an opportunity to drive cross country: him to take a class on the east coast, me to see an old girlfriend in Wisconsin. Along the way, we created a quest: to visit as many roadside restaurants as we could until we discovered the “perfect” steak. […]