SOUTH KOREA | Tuesday, 19 May 2015 | Views [552]
I knelt before my Korean super toilet repeatedly vomiting with such violence that the blood vessels in the corner of my left eye burst open. How could it be, I thought to myself between retches, that my first significant case of food poisoning on this ... Read more >
Tags: bbq, beaches, bullet train. seoul, busan, busan, food, hiking, korea, mash, toilet
THAILAND | Wednesday, 29 Apr 2015 | Views [793]
I left my house in Minnesota on December 6 of last year and have pretty much been on the road ever since. I have not set foot in my home country for 116 days, almost one third of a year.
I am currently in Koh Samui, an island in ... Read more >
Tags: beach, family, friends, italy, koh samui, navy, retreat, thailand, yoga
MALAYSIA | Monday, 20 Apr 2015 | Views [620]
Greetings from glittering Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, or KL as everyone (including all the locals) seem to call it. For the geographically challenged, KL is the capital of Malaysia. The city’s most iconic feature is the Patronas Towers, which from ... Read more >
Tags: bidet, flush, japan, kl, malaysia, patronas, squat, technology, toilets, western
SRI LANKA | Wednesday, 15 Apr 2015 | Views [479]
The safari jeep raced across the red clay track at a speed I would have thought impossible given the pitted, rutted, boulder littered road surface. Every teeth jarring bump we hit made my brick sized camera body with its foot long telephoto lens swing ... Read more >
Tags: beaches, elephants, jeep, leopards, nuwara ella, safari, sloth bear, sri lanka, tea, yala
THAILAND | Thursday, 9 Apr 2015 | Views [695]
I don’t have a lot of insightful things say about Bangkok. Much like Singapore, it wasn’t a sightseeing stop. After weeks spent in Cambodia and Laos and with weeks in Sri Lanka on the immediate horizon, Bangkok was more of a catch your breath ... Read more >
Tags: animals, bali, bangkok, dogs, pets, rabies, strays, thailand
LAOS | Tuesday, 31 Mar 2015 | Views [671]
I’ve been mispronouncing Laos my entire life. It wasn’t until I started researching the country as a possible destination for this trip that I learned, it’s Laos like Cow, not Laos like Mouse. Turns out there were many things I didn’... Read more >
Tags: bridge, elephants, food, french, laos, luang prabang, mekong, monks, temples
CAMBODIA | Tuesday, 24 Mar 2015 | Views [806]
These things happened within 12 hours of my arrival in Cambodia: (1) I bribed an immigration official so that we could cut to the front of the long visa stamping line; (2) I went to a pizza restaurant that was out of pizza; (3) I saw a tourist in a ... Read more >
Tags: angkor, cambodia, hard rock cafe, khmer, lotus, siem reap, temples, zombie
SINGAPORE | Monday, 16 Mar 2015 | Views [573]
I’d love to tell you many interesting facts and anecdotes about Singapore, but I can’t. The stop in Singapore was not about Singapore, per se. It was about a break from Southeast Asian grit. Laundry. Shopping. Photo editing. Writing. Travel ... Read more >
Tags: efficient, food, iphone, laundry, modern, police, shopping, singapore
MALAYSIA | Friday, 13 Mar 2015 | Views [642]
I am now the proud owner of a pair of emerald green “leech socks.” I’ll get back to those in a bit.
First, a little geography. Borneo is the world’s third largest island. Extra credit if you can name the ... Read more >
Tags: borneo, danum valley, elephant, jungle, leech, malaysia, monkey, orangutan, pygmy, sabah
INDONESIA | Wednesday, 4 Mar 2015 | Views [610]
Think of a number between one and ten. Now multiple that number by nine. If the resultant number is a two-digit number, add the first and second digits together (for example, if the number is 72, you add the 7 to the 2 to come up with 9). Now ... Read more >
Tags: bali, chinese, indonesia, monkey, seminyak, temples, ubud, yoga, yoga barn
NEW ZEALAND | Monday, 16 Feb 2015 | Views [463]
In what I hope doesn’t become a habit, I feel compelled to write a second consecutive travel blog entry discussing insects. However, unlike the much adored glow worms (or more accurately glow maggots) discussed in my post of a few days ago, today ... Read more >
Tags: beach, dunes, otago, penguins, sand fly, yellow eye
NEW ZEALAND | Friday, 13 Feb 2015 | Views [506]
Fun Fact: The Kiwifruit was originally known as the Chinese Gooseberry. It originated in northern China, not New Zealand. In fact, New Zealand isn’t even the world’s top producer of Kiwifruit. That title goes to Italy. The name Kiwifruit ... Read more >
Tags: cave, dunedin, fjordland, glow worms, kepler, lord of the rings, milford, otago, te anua
NEW ZEALAND | Thursday, 5 Feb 2015 | Views [651]
I consider myself a youngish 44. I’m not saying I look any younger than I am. Possibly the opposite. But in spirit….I feel younger, or at least act younger than many people my age. I like hanging out with younger people. I’ll get ... Read more >
Tags: aspiring, canyoning, glacier, helicopter, milford sound, new zealand
NEW ZEALAND | Saturday, 24 Jan 2015 | Views [586]
I’ve always thought that American auto makers benefit greatly from American rental car companies. I’ve never known anyone who actually owns a Chevrolet Sonic or Buick Verano (I don’t think such models even merit TV commercials). Yet ... Read more >
Tags: abel tasman, dolphins, kahurangi, nelson, new zealand, rental care
COOK ISLANDS | Monday, 19 Jan 2015 | Photo Gallery
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NEW ZEALAND | Sunday, 18 Jan 2015 | Views [566]
There is a great scene at the end of the movie Charlie Wilson’s War in which a grizzled CIA agent played Phillip Seymour Hoffman (who was certainly one of the greatest actors of my generation and died way too soon) tells a story about unintended ... Read more >
Tags: ankle, banks, farm, new zealand, penguin, tour
COOK ISLANDS | Monday, 12 Jan 2015 | Views [670]
I’m a fairly assiduous travel researcher. Prior to a trip, I digest guidebooks, read Trip Advisor reviews and Google images of the destination. As people I’ve travelled with would tell you, part of the reason I do this is that I’m ... Read more >
Tags: aitutaki, beach, cooks, lagoon, travel, unspoiled
COOK ISLANDS | Wednesday, 7 Jan 2015 | Views [728]
Among the first things I noticed upon my arrival in Rarotonga was the abundance of graves. Almost every property we passed on the way from the airport to the hotel contained at least one tombstone. Although many of the graves were clearly quite old, ... Read more >
Tags: beach, cook islands, fish, muri, rarotonga
