luke armstrong
Human Ants in Guatemala
Special thanks to The Expeditioner´s readers for support given to Guatemala when duel disasters struck May 2010. Though bound by the usual array of parental rules as a child, when I sat next to an ant hill, it was as if I were an omnipotent God. Gazing down from on high, I would sometimes bestow Fruit […]
Call to Action! Guatemala Needs Your Help
As many of you know, TheExpeditioner.com contributor Luke Armstrong lives and works in Guatemala, and many of the people his organization works with have been directly affected by the recent storm. In response, Luke forwarded the following call for help. The eruption of Volcano Pacaya and the arrival of Tropical Storm Agatha struck a devastating […]
Alive And Well In Prague: A Case Study Of Ex-Patriotism
When asked why they choose to leave their native soil, I’ve heard plenty of ex-patriots answer with tales of youthful days spent eagerly turning the pages of a National Geographic and dreaming. My own youthfully intrepid mind used to consistently conjure up vivid images standing on a boat’s bow peering out into an infinite sea. […]
Luke´s Europe Trip: Dispatch 4 (Holy Andalusian Tapas! By Decree Of The King!)
I tend to consider myself a wholesome, PG-rated person. But in looking back at my first three Expeditioner dispatches from my Europe trip, the themes were not exactly the stuff of church homilies. They included: Selling cigarettes in London, The Devil, and illegally visiting Paris’s catacombs. To redeem myself, I was resolved to make my […]
Luke’s Europe Trip: Dispatch #3 (Plan your Illegal Activities Ahead: Unofficial Visit to Paris’ Underground)
* Disclaimer: As is becoming the norm with Luke’s contributions, TheExpeditioner.com hereby takes no responsibility for your imprisonment, injury or death as a result of mimicking any of the following actions described in this article People say that the land beneath Paris is like Swiss cheese. Outside the frequented subway, most tourists and residents spend their […]
Luke’s Off To Europe. Once There, Who Knows?
Contributor Luke Armstrong heads off to Western Europe from Guatemala today. After he arrives he’s going to, well, who knows (especially not him)? He’ll be sending us dispatches along the way (if he makes it). Dear Readers, Eight months ago today seemed very far away. It seemed, like, months away. Eight months ago I had […]
Is Thomas Kohnstamm Going To Hell? A Travel Writer’s Real Take On Travel Writing
An interview with travel writer and author Thomas Kohnstamm According to his website bio, Thomas Kohnstamm is a “writer, traveler and seeker of all that is odd, adventurous and ridiculous.” In his first book, Do Travel Writers Go To Hell, he takes readers through a healthy fixing of ridiculousness as he embarks on a debaucherous […]
Best Blunders In The Lands Of Other Languages
So we´ve all heard: Learning a second language is hard. It´s also often hilarious to the ears of native speakers. Countless novice Spanish speakers have accidentally been very horny when they meant to say they were hot. During my friend Kayla´s first week studying in Japan, she found herself sitting awkwardly at a table of […]
Finding Maximón
One of the first things travelers learn is that fornicating with the local’s wives and then sacrificing the illegitimate children produced to the devil is considered culturally insensitive. Maximón (pronounced Ma-she-mon) had a predilection for this, and not without their reasons, the men of his village decided it was lynching time. But Maximón, among other […]
The World Of Philanthropic Travel: Volunteering Abroad
All destinations have a dual nature. In Guatemala there is the Guatemala that is shown to tourists, and then there is the other Guatemala. In the Northern jungle region of the country, tourists marvel at Tikal, a breathtaking parked filled with ruins of Mayan pyramids. Not far from Tikal, in garbage dumps across the country, […]