Back in the paleotechnic dawn of the 21st century, my mother’s request was understandable. “Just call me once a week to let me know you’re alive,” she said, as I wandered off across… Continue reading
Turkey would not be a good place for a celiac, the thought occurred to me (for the twentieth time this trip) when the waiter brought my sandwich, chicken and peppers hidden somewhere in… Continue reading
I am defeated. Laid low. Destroyed and demolished. You see, I have that most dreadful of afflictions, and though it pains me to see it written, the curse made manifest in font and… Continue reading
The sign on the wall said “California is in a drought” and I was tempted to the most benevolent vandalism ever. (Unless you count this, which you should.) Because while I agree with… Continue reading
Seeing a US fast food chain in Istanbul is like running into a crass, boorish American tourist in the Hagia Sophia; not far from my hotel there’s a Burger King talking on its… Continue reading
My previous experience with tour guides was to turn and run the other way, snug and smug in my snobbish superiority as a solo traveler. No spoon feeding for moi! No comfy tour… Continue reading
Apparently my brother and I used to fight like cats and dogs, squids and whales, birds and bullet trains, though I barely remember any of that. But we’re in a good patch lately,… Continue reading
Can you think of a better movie for the barbershop TVs than Edward Scissorhands? I couldn’t, but then again, in the heat of Santiago de Cuba, and with the gummybear feeling in my… Continue reading
I am supremely grateful for the privilege to write a few things for Altruvistas, the ethical travel company that facilitated my first Cuba and Venezuela trips, but sakes alive, that one from Peru… Continue reading
I seem to have fallen out of Nature. When they built my apartment a hundred years ago, they didn’t bother with niceties like insulation, and my toes remember cold winter days when they… Continue reading
“In June of 2008 it suddenly bothered me that most of my food was better traveled than I was. So I bought a one-way ticket to Europe.” That’s how I started my… Continue reading
