Backpacking
Blessings And Rice Balls At Kunzangdra Gonpa
We duck into a narrow room hanging out over the cliff. Three walls and a slanted floor made of wooden planks are built around a supporting rock wall where a fire-charred boulder has been converted into a kitchen and big, fat pots blacken over open flames. Women and children line the perimeter of the floor […]
Video Travel Guide To Malaysia
In this travel video travel guide to Malaysia, I travel to Malaysia’s capital city, Kuala Lumpur, and to Terengganu, the country’s second-largest city. I start off my trip by exploring Kenyir Lake, located just west of Terengganu, which is actually the largest man-made lake in Southeast Asia (it’s the size of Singapore). I head to […]
Feeling Tiny In Colombia’s Tayrona National Park
We stood at the entrance to a lush, tropical forest and confronted a simple yet profound choice. Do we proceed on foot, hauling our backpacks in the already thick morning air, or do we pay a local for the pleasure of mounting a time-worn horse? We picked the budget option and started the hour-long walk […]
Here Are Five Ways To Do Patagonia’s Torres Del Paine On The Cheap
Going on a multi-day trek through Patagonia is on a lot of people’s bucket list. Who doesn’t want to visit the Straights of Magellan, Patagonia and some of the most photogenic landscapes in the world? But if you look online the expense seems, shall we say, unfortunate. Okay, not unfortunate, nosebleed expensive. Saying that you […]
Want To Learn How To Be A Real Traveler In Thailand?
You’re almost there. You’ve booked your ticket, bought your guidebook and packed everything in your bags to last you through the several weeks of vacation you’re planning to have in Thailand. Everybody in your social circle knows you’re heading to the exciting land of beautiful beaches, friendly people and delicious food. Sure, you’ve made your […]
When A Lost Guatemalan Taught Me To Walk On Water
It has been three years since I last saw Loch. We parted on a train somewhere under London, thousands of miles away from the town in Guatemala where we had first met. As the tube doors slid shut on an era, I did not imagine that it would be near Sagres, Portugal’s most Southwesterly tip, […]
My Discovery Of Eden In Semuc Champey, Guatemala
I’m riding in the back of an open truck that must have served to transport cattle at some point, but on this occasion, it is taking me from the town of Lanquín to the secluded community of Semuc Champey, in the heart of the Guatemalan jungle. Riding with me is my girlfriend and about a […]
Facing The Feces Factor: Tasting My First Cup Of Kopi Luwak Coffee
My first cup of Kopi Luwak coffee, sometimes better known as “cat poo coffee” or the rarest beverage in the world, was a memorable introduction into the highly envious world of extreme luxury, though this tasting occurred far outside the confines of the dining room of a fine-dining restaurant in Hong Kong or New York […]
Ducks, Drugs And Dance Meditation: My Failed Stay At A Nicaraguan Permaculture Farm
The man walked blindfolded between our outstretched fingers as we caressed him with leaves and feathers. Other hands reached out to caress or hold him. “You are loved,” someone whispered. “I love you,” echoed another. He ended his walk in the arms of the oldest man and woman on the farm. They cradled him as […]
6 Questions For The Girl From “The Craziest OkCupid Date Ever”
If you’ve been anywhere near a computer at all this week, chances are you’ve come across “The craziest OkCupid date ever,” the highly click-worthy article that was published by Salon on Monday, and which has since gone completely viral (over 16,000 shares on Facebook alone as of today). The story chronicles the 21-day, ultra-minimal trip to Europe […]