When I was a kid, I remember being in my best friend’s kitchen as he suckled a bottle of Tabasco sauce for sheer pleasure. I assumed he could inherently handle it because he was Asian, and I wasn’t. In reality, the reason had to do with the differing cultural environments in which we were brought [...]
Recent Blog Posts
August 2009
Last weekend, I read “A Village, Or A Zoo?” the Washington Post travel section’s cover story about the author’s experience trekking through the hills of northern Thailand, visiting various ethnic tribes. The main draw was the same as it was for me and just about every other backpacker visiting Chiang Mai – the Karen Tribe [...]
Dan over at Voyagner recently interviewed me regarding my trip around the world. In it, I talk about a few of my favorite countries, the most entertaining dare I received, why Colombia appealed to me, and a few ways in which my views on life and work have changed as a result of traveling for [...]
Here are a few travel experiences I hope to accomplish in my lifetime: Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro Travel overland through eastern Africa (Victoria Falls to Nairobi) Take the Trans-Siberian Railway Take the world’s highest train from China to Lhasa, Tibet Take the 2-day, mountain bus ride from McLeod Ganj to Leh, India Bicycle down Corocio, the [...]
This week, I delved into some of the 750+ video clips from my travels. Most of them are destined for a folder I’ll never open again, but who doesn’t love cute, cuddly panda bear cubs hanging around in trees? Here’s the link to read more about my visit to the Giant Panda Research Base near [...]
Himalayan eagles soared around us as we caught the thermals up and made swooping turns to the left and right going down. It took a few minutes to feel comfortable in the seated position, with nothing below you but the terraced farmland. At least with skydiving you know you’re going straight down. Paragliding is all [...]
While I was making my way through Southeast Asia last September, Andrew and Erin Kitchell were busy developing 30 Words, a new series of language guides they believe the marketplace lacked and travelers would actually use. Erin offered to send me a few copies of the South and Central American Spanish, and European Spanish guides [...]
Arlington’s Clarendon Center was ground zero for Travel Writing, A One-day Short Course available through the county’s Adult Education program. Our teacher was Jerry Haines, a former lawyer and college journalism teacher turned Washington Post columnist. The class was made up of 7 women and 3 men, ranging in age from early twenties to late [...]