The teardrop tattoo underneath his right eye was the only warning label I needed; it was clear that I was dealing with an unstable character. How did I know he wasn’t wielding a knife, razor blade, or hypodermic needle inside his pocket or under his shirt…or even something more dangerous? Places Unknown First of all,…
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Humble Beginnings Argentina was near the very beginning of my exploratory travels, at country number 11. Besides Brasil and Mexico, most of my traveling experience was made up of quick cruise stops with my family…pretty much jumping off the boat for a few hours with hoards of other tourists, to go on a pre-arranged “excursion,”…
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The explanation is long overdue. While I never tire about talking travel, I think it’s most efficient to write a short blurb answering the questions on the topic I get asked about the most: traveling fast. Many of my friends, family, acquaintances and readers often ask me how and why I travel so “fast.” Common…
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Azores, We Have a Problem: About This Blog Entry It’s hard for even me to believe that there was a time in my life when travel didn’t excite me. But there was. There was actually a period of my life, when I would travel–mostly cruises, with my family–that I didn’t have that travel “bug;” that…
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It was the kind of journey dreams are made of: a 24-week, 9-country itinerary that included luxury, risk, nature, city, adventure and solitude. Throw in an injured foot and a blown out back and you’ve got a recipe for fun! 18 flights, a handful of bucket list worthy cities, many wonderful people and a million…
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What’s the Password? I kept going back to my teenage years, when an older co-worker at the radio station I worked for used to tell me that the secret word was “Afghanistan Banana Stand.” I always thought that was funny, and never in a million years could I have ever imagined that I would actually…
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One young man even made it a point to request that when I return to the US, I tell all my friends that, “We are not terrorists…we want peace. We welcome Americans to come visit and see.” It was very moving. One Wrong Move… Mom had been warning me for years that “getting old sucks.”…
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No-Go Yemen is listed as the planet’s least-visited country for good reason: There’s been an awful war happening there for the past five years that’s caused one of the greatest humanitarian crises in the world. Getting a visa has been almost impossible in recent years, and most flights in have been suspended. Up until recently…
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Oman and Chill If I could sum up Oman in one word: chill. Also: safe, calm, clean and nice people; these are the things that I loved about Oman during my two-night stay in December of 2019. My original itinerary had me in Muscat for only a few hours: arriving from Kathmandu with just enough…
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Nepal? No, Pal. I’ve never wanted to leave a place quicker than this. Even before returning to the hotel from my initial, introductory “walk around the neighborhood,” I’d conceded defeat. I wanted outta here on the next flight. There’s no way I could remain here for three whole nights and not have a sour attitude….
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