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One of the reasons to travel is to test the limits of your wingspan. How far from home can you fly in the world? No matter where you start, the journey tends to start slow. Maybe you venture to the Big City to see a rock concert with your high school friends. Maybe you get […]

“Anything worth doing is worth doing slowly.” – Mae West The wife and I are planning a trip to New Zealand in December, and our main topic of conversation is, “How fast should we travel?” When putting together an itinerary, the strong temptation is to try and see everything. And why not? Who knows when […]

“It’s the not the Destination, It’s the journey.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson I hear what you’re saying, Ralph. The journey is everything, got it. But what if the journey consists of sitting on a truckload of raw tapioca? I’ve come to Eastern Thailand, along the Mekong River, to visit Wat Phu Tok, an amazing cave temple […]

“That’s three games in a row for me, Thomas.” “Another!” “Wow, you take your chess pretty seriously.” “Less talking, more playing!” To be clear, I’m not a great chess player, but occasionally “beginner’s luck” is my friend. Over our next 10 games of chess I play with my Dutch buddy Thomas, however, I win exactly […]

“Do you think they’re on drugs, Yumiko?” “I don’t think so.” “Maybe it’s a trance then?” No, I’m not talking about a typical day at Burning Man. Rather, my friend, Yumiko, and I are sitting in the stands of a dance hall, watching a traditional Kecak dance in Bali, Indonesia. Never heard of it? The […]

“You, get in line!” “You, single file!” “You now, two by two!” “You now, single file again!” “No photos!” As anyone who knows me can tell you, I don’t like being ordered around. There’s something about that directive “command form” grammatical structure that sets my teeth on edge. You can imagine, then, my dismay at […]

Wow Place #96: Luxor, Egypt The overwhelming impression you receive when visiting the temples of Karnak and Luxor (in Luxor, Egypt) is, “Are these movie sets? They certainly can’t be real.” It’s almost impossible to believe that these amazing, well-preserved, 3,500-year-old temples are actually the real deal. Surely these statues and obelisks towering above me […]

There’s something mysterious and vaguely dangerous about Alleppey, India, that recalls the movie, Apocalypse Now. To reach our guest house, we are instructed to take the local postal boat, essentially an outrigger canoe with a mailman, up river into the wilds of Kerala. As Cenzo and I depart town and head into the Kerala Backwaters […]

When it comes to travel (and often life), there are secret gems and over-looked gems. A secret gem is that place that no one knows about except you – someplace you stumbled upon and maybe want to keep all to yourself. An over-looked gem is a place that you might find in your guide book, […]

“The person who never climbs Mt. Fuji is a fool, and the person who climbs it twice is a bigger fool.” – Japanese Proverb My college buddy, Tim, and I are feeling exceedingly foolish as we start our final ascent of Mt. Fuji. “We should’ve trained for this Tim.” “You think?” “I’m wiped. You?” “The […]