All Feature Articles
Scottsdale Travel Guide
Scottsdale, Arizona, is one of my favorite places to visit any time of year. Why do I love coming here so much? The real question is: Where to start? Located adjacent to Phoenix and in the heart of the Sonoran Desert, Scottsdale’s weather is warm and sunny all year long, so you can take advantage […]
5 Tips for Traveling with a Drone
If you’re a seasoned traveler, chances are you’ve seen a drone at a popular attraction at one point or another. Drones are everywhere these days, and travel photography and videography is becoming one of the most popular uses of the flying cameras. And while they can be obnoxious if in the wrong hands, they can […]
Kentucky Fried Camel in Egypt: My Return to a Country I Never Left
“You don’t scream as the camel stands up,” Amina told me with a smile. “It must be your Egyptian blood.” I patted my camel’s neck as he turned towards the pyramids. They stood, three majestic pieces of history, glistening out over the horizon. The sand blew into my eyes as my father barked at me […]
The Narrows
A dark shape glided by beneath me, a manta ray, its great wings undulating. It moved with such grace, at such a leisurely pace, I had half a mind to slow down and linger. Meanwhile, on the surface, I thrashed away in the throes of competition — a 55-year-old man somewhere between Nevis and St. […]
Sailing the Greek Islands (Yoga, Hiking and Wine Included)
As our boat sailed out of the ancient Greek island harbor of Kos, our group of 10, mostly strangers, sat in a circle around a long, wooden table, studying a map spread out before us depicting the Dodecanese, the group of islands clustered together in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Our tour guide for the trip, […]
Lone Pilgrim On The Kumano Kodo
On my second day in Kumano Kodo, I came across an unsettling sight nestled into the mountain ridge: a moss-choked shrine to Jizo, the guardian of travelers. This spot in Kumano Kodo marked the place where, in 1854, locals had come across the corpse of a lone pilgrim. The mossy Jizo reminded me just how […]
Oranges, Chickens And The Reason I Signed Up For Spanish Classes
On our last day in Pedasi, a Pananamian fishing town 200 miles from Panama City, 4 people from the multi-generational family who lived next door stood in my kitchen. There was the lady of the house, her 11-year-old daughter, a man I had never seen before and a visiting, out-of-town aunt. I showed them the […]
Borders, Bandits, And Baby Wipes: A Big Adventure In A Tiny Car
Inspired and challenged by his quests of “getting there,” Bassam Tarazi and two friends signed on for the infamous Mongol Rally, a nearly 10,000-mile road trip from London to Mongolia, through terrain that would make a mountain goat’s knees buckle, in a vehicle that was little more than a go-kart. Borders, Bandits, and Baby Wipes […]
Top 5 Feel-Good Restaurants In Siem Reap, Cambodia
Siem Reap, home to the majestic temples of Angkor, has long been on the map as a must-visit destination for any traveler to Southeast Asia. The grandiosity of ancient Khmer civilization overwhelms visitors as they walk through the unfathomable complexity of Angkor Wat, stare into the faces of Bayon and witness mother nature’s might in […]
Into The Great, Wide Open: The Ultimate Alaskan Fishing Trip
Through the windshield, I watched the de Havilland’s front propellor spin furiously as our small 8-person prop plane hurtled forward through the Alaskan sky. It was a bright, clear morning, and below us I could make out the outlines of a few of the small islands that make up the Alexander Archipelago. Looming in front […]