I really hate blog posts that apologize for a dearth of posts, and yet I stand before you making that very mea culpa. I realize excuses are for the weak or lazy or something, but:
1. Illness in Cambodia, hospital in Bangkok.
2. Whirlwind in Singapore and unwilling return to Huzhou.
3. Trying to make the switch from [...]

It’s kind of hard to write about what it’s like to see one of the wonders of the world in person. I mean, I can think of plenty of blah-blah adjectives like magnificent, spectacular, breathtaking, humbling, powerful, stunning, unforgettable. But what do all of those really meant? They’re essentially pretty-sounding synonyms for “Whoa, cool.”

As we [...]

“The train to Bangkok is never late,” he promised.
Of course we were the ones who decided to take the risk of buying tickets for a bus that left 90 minutes after our train arrived in Bangkok. But we had read a lot about crossing from Thailand to Cambodia over land, and it didn’t sound [...]

Throughout my few years of travel, I’ve learned a lot of interesting things: pineapples grow in the ground. Smile innocently at your waiter in Italy and you’ll get free drinks whether you wanted them or not. In the Costa Rican forest, that huge thing you think is a tree is technically a vine. Jaguars will [...]

Dear Mr. Scorsese,
Have I got a movie for you! Raging Bull 2! It’s the perfect opportunity for you to avenge Robert Redford’s blasphemous 1980 Oscar win for Ordinary People, a chance for you to revisit your greatest cinematic triumph, a chance for you to visit Thailand, and a chance for you to hire me as [...]

There are a lot of us travelers out there who would like to believe that we aren’t Tourists. Tourists are loud and ignorant and don’t care if they are; they don’t try to learn basic phrases of the local language; they snub the local food, and maybe they only see a fabled Local from the [...]

Perhaps when you hear “Bangkok,” you think of sprawling, bustling urbanity. Perhaps you think of up-and-coming metropolitan glamour, of shopping and nightlife. Maybe you think of massages, culinary delights, criminal exchange rates, and sexual puns. That’s all fine. Let me tell you what you’ll really do if you come to Bangkok.
Lean in close; it’s a [...]

Life is hard when you’re on vacation in Malaysia.
First, you cannot find the motivation to put up another blog post. You also cannot live up to the one that preceded it.

There are a lot of other restrictions on what you can do in Penang.

Even in the winter, it’s too hot to wear a lot of [...]

It’s always tough to prioritize travel dreams, because if you handed me a ticket to anywhere, I’d go without hesitation. But a few times over my years of conversations with other wanderers, I’ve been asked the top five places I want to go. India has always held a place on the list.
Sunday, our last in [...]

Travel is all about doing new things, meeting people you never knew existed, seeing things you’d never even thought of. People, I have had a Kuala Lumpur revelation: I have seen fresh baby corn. For real! Who knew that stuff didn’t naturally grow in cans? Not I!

Kuala Lumpur is not, in my opinion, a special [...]