Most of you know how fascinating I found Central Asia on my last trip but it’s not often in the U.S. news. I see today that Reuters is reporting that the U.S. military base in Kyrgyzstan will probably be shut down. First Uzbekistan kicks the U.S. out, now Kyrgyzstan. The U.S. presence in Kyrgyzstan certainly…
Oh, Chicago. The city is starting to crack down and a few citizens are taking it into their own hands.
I try to keep this blog mainly focused on travel, but many of my readers have asked me for more frequent updates and expressed an interest in my life in Chicago now that I’m not on the road. I have kept one major aspect of my life a secret from you, my TV obsessions. I…
The new year has brought a continuation of 2008’s cold and snow here in Chicago. This is the first winter that I’ve lived in Chicago itself, relying completely on public transportation. The streets and sidewalks in my neighborhood are covered in a foot of snow and I’ve been using my REI membership often, stocking up…
STA Travel is offering their travel internship again this year. If you’re 18-26 and want to spend this summer traveling on someone else’s dime submit your video. I’m guessing big personalities win extra points, details here (warning, video). Good luck!
On travel message boards I often find people asking how they can travel RTW only by land, in a certain number of days or following some other scheme. I stumbled upon this link on Strange Maps today (via onpaperwings) detailing how one could possibly go “around the world” in less than 80 days without flying.…
Surprisingly, despite my early support for Obama, volunteer efforts, and tickets, I almost didn’t go to the Obama rally on election night a few weeks ago. A friend was having a party and my love for the CNN’s “magic map” is great enough to make me consider missing out in the biggest Chicago party since,…
Although I volunteered for Barack Obama’s campaign during the primaries I hadn’t done much since he defeated Hillary Clinton, despite receiving at least one email a day asking for donations and three emails a week asking me to volunteer. Finally it came down to the last week before the election and I realized it was…
Happy Halloween! I’ve gotten a few comments recently on my Halloween 2005 which reminded me of the reader requests for costume updates. This year I decided to once again utilize some of my travel souvenirs for my Halloween costume. One of the things that I most enjoy when traveling is observing the local costume, so…
Sunday night I got a little travel fix, or at least an international culture fix. The girlfriend of one of my old high school friends is planning a trip to Southern India and she was interested in ashrams. When she discovered that I spent eight days at Sivinanda Ashram in Nyer Dam on my last…
It’s time to update when strangers are leaving posts asking if you’re still alive. I am still alive but a lot has changed since I got home over a year ago. I was waiting to write a long, insightful post but it never happened. You might laugh when I say that I’m a very private…
If you have ever traveled outside of the West you’ve probably been approached by someone asking for help immigrating to The U.S., or every once in a while, Canada. I got a lot of this in Asia and Africa. Sometimes it would be a checkout girl in a supermarket in Nairobi, other times it was…
Me-go Mix: Track 9 “Analakely” — Lola To download using Windows “right click” and save to disk. Mac users, you know what to do. The sprawling market at the end of Analakely Street in downtown Antananarivo Sometimes when you’re traveling in a country you hear a handful of popular songs over and over. Lola’s songs…
The co-author of “100 Things to Do Before You Die,” Dave Freeman, died two weeks ago at the age of 47. Here’s a short article. Perhaps this will help to persuade those of you putting off a RTW until you have more money, more time or fewer commitments that life is short.
One of the questions I often get from people starting to plan an around-the-world trip is “where should I go?” There are many ways to start to put together a trip: Get idea from your picture books in the library Paste a route together from the “classic routes” in the front of Lonely Planet Guides…
The email just came… my photo of a lemur in Isialo National Park in Madagascar will definitely be in Issue #4 of Everywhere Magazine! I haven’t seen a publication date for the issue yet (I’m guessing August/September) but you can catch a sneak peek or click through the whole issue here. My photo is toward…
Hi loyal readers, long time no see! I have been incredibly busy the last few months and my intended posts are piling up. I did receive an email yesterday that should be of interest to the travelers reading this. Everywhere Magazine has been put on “hold.” Although my article on the national parks of Madagascar…
I came across a few fun travel links today for everyone. First off, a t-shirt for those of you looking to pretend to blend in (or just be ironic): The I am a local photographer (I am not a tourist) t-shirt. This is a limited edition so order before the end of June. Finally, here’s…
I was searching for an email address last night and came across this appropriate email from my dad, who passed away almost three years ago. Megan, It is over. Kerry conceded this afternoon. He couldn’t win Ohio even with the provisional ballots yet to be counted. Bush gave his triumphant winning speech. The stock market…
One thing I hear all the time is “when are you going to write a book?” I’m sure most RTW travelers hear similar requests and reply with the same ambivalence as I do. Every once in a while I ask what kind of book they suggest I write and I’ve been surprised by the answer.…