Blog
08 Dec 2016 | Denakil Depression
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23 Mar 2016 | African Tales
The Ethnology Museum at Addis Ababa University is a great place to visit. It has interesting exhibits and it’s small enough to leave you wanting more. A section of the museum consists of various stories told by the many small ethnic groups peppered throughout the country. Most of these stories are accompanied by little cards noting where each of these...
14 Mar 2016 | Taken in by the Locals
Travelers hold authentic experiences with locals in high regard. To see a new place not just with your own eyes but through the eyes of people who live there is to many what traveling is about. It separates a traveller from a … tourist. I’ve been lucky enough to have a few of these experiences, but until now they’ve all...
02 Oct 2015 | Gap Year
A year ago my life changed completely. It was a shock, but it wasn’t a surprise. It was something I’d planned for only in my imagination but never expected to actually happen. Since the day I was laid off, work has been absent from my life. Paid work that is. Work for friends and loved ones, voluntary work, writing (here!),...
23 Jun 2015 | Maps
In amongst a lot of yoga classes, disposing of my stuff and various household projects with M, I’ve been spending my time doing little coding projects. The latest one involved creating an interactive map of my travels. This was a lot of fun and at times very frustrating. But in the end it was a great chance to learn about...
21 Jun 2015 | Freedom II
One of the pleasures of keeping a journal or a blog is that you can recall the beginnings of things more clearly. You have a record of them, and when they come to fruition you can re-read how you described things at the time without the haze of reconstructed memories. This last Thursday, the 18th of June 2015 I completed...
16 May 2015 | Tassajara
Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, located in a remote (2 hours to the nearest town, the Web site warns!) part of the Los Padres National Forest, southeast of Carmel-by-the-Sea in California, is fascinating. First and foremost, it is a Zen monastery. In fact it was the first training Zen monastery in the US and was established on the site of an...
10 May 2015 | General Labor
This was written while at Tassaraja, around the 20th of April 2015. After 20 years of school and a 15 year professional career in high tech, I wait in a line as “general labor” at the work circle in Tassajara awaiting my assignment for the day. I have no skills save eagerness. Tassajara is a retreat center. It functions both...
07 May 2015 | Consumed
Traveling for 3 months with everything on your back changes your perspective on things. Literally, on things. Or perhaps if you’re the kind of person which finds such a trip appealing, you already have a different perspective and just need the courage to act in accordance with it. Regardless, my return was greeted by way too much stuff. One of...
01 May 2015 | Packing Post Mortem
When planning my southeast Asia trip I spent a lot of time researching how and what to pack. I then wrote in exhaustive detail about every one of my possessions during this long trip. At the time this was mainly theoretical: my longest trip prior to that 3 months on the road was 3 weeks. So naturally I was curious...
23 Mar 2015 | Costs of Living
You must be rich to travel. You must wait until you have enough money to retire, then you can roam about the world freely. Short vacations only till then. Perhaps that’s what you think. That’s what I thought, anyway. Two visions of my ‘gap year’ have been co-existing in my head: a big long vacation before going back to the...
21 Mar 2015 | Day 91: Impressions of Cambodia
Opinion on Cambodia was the most divided of any country I visited. Some thought it wonderful, and others thought it terrible. That division fit my experience perfectly. Experience It’s a cliché to say that Cambodia is a land of extremes. Yet it’s undeniably true. Angkor is a unique place. The Khmer Rouge perpetrated some of the vilest crimes in history....
08 Mar 2015 | Day 90: Phnom Penh & Unfinished Business
Every child knows that play is nobler than work. — Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian Work is not a way of arriving at a desired present and securing it against an unpredictable future, but of moving toward a future which itself has a future. — James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games I’m starting this piece in Phnom Penh. It won’t be...
05 Mar 2015 | Day 88: Koh Rong Samloen
For the very last excursion in my three month trip, it was time to go underwater again. Time to dive. Since the dive sites were off an island I had in mind to visit anyway and Kristen was in town and wanted diving and seclusion too, the plan made itself. As it has done so often. Dive Shop Cambodia (TripAdvisor)...
05 Mar 2015 | Days 82-87: Sihanoukville
To finish off this segment of my travels, I wanted a beach. I needed a beach to relax and to contemplate and to do nothing. So from Siem Reap I fled south to Sihanoukville and spent my time on Otres beach (TripAdvisor, Lonely Planet), about 5 km south of town. I chose Otres for its reputation of being extremely chilled...
03 Mar 2015 | Day 81: Impressions of Siem Reap
Siem Reap challenged me. Right off the plane it seemed to be a nice, relaxing change from Bali. It was quiet. It was early morning and refreshingly cool. As the sun climbed higher, the heat became oppressive and the yellow dust everywhere was choking. It was a strange combination of a parched landscape and humid, thick air. It felt unhealthy....
27 Feb 2015 | Day 81: Angkor Day 3 —— Angkor Wat
The trick to seeing Angkor’s temples: go far and go early. Believe me when I tell you that the crowds are crazy here and the only defense is a good alarm clock. Going early has other benefits too: the heat is manageable before 11 AM. The golden light is better for taking pictures. Dusk has the same light, but your...
26 Feb 2015 | Day 79: Angkor Day 2 – Grand Tour
After a rest day, I headed out for my second Angkor excursion. This time on a tour. In addition to AC comfort, the minivan provided some interesting characters as companions. There was a sweet retired couple from Brittany who humored my fractured and gap-ridden French. A quiet Indian couple from Gujarat. And lastly a worldly ethnic Chinese couple, Canadian citizens...
25 Feb 2015 | Day 77: Angkor Day 1
After relaxing for a few days after my overnight flight from Bali, it was time to visit the temples of Angkor. The advice I’d been given — what I recalled of it — by Serena in Pai was to try the short loop (mini-tour) and the big loop (grand tour) and then a third day to re-visit the temples you...
24 Feb 2015 | Day 75: Memories of Bali
As my magical time in Bali recedes into the ancient awe of Angkor, I thought I’d write down my impressions of some of the wonderful memories and impressions before they fade completely. These are mainly personal impressions and may not be meaningful to others. Sometimes I write only for myself. Fittingly, I’m making the final edits on this just as...