I just have that kind of face. I’ve been blessed (or is it cursed?) with a face that is home in any Asian country. After a recent trip to Thailand, the taxi driver who picked me up asked out of the blue, “Flying back to Singapore?” Ummmm....
Travel
Cast Away on the Similan Islands
I hate the word “undiscovered”. As in “(insert location here) is the next undiscovered paradise!” It makes me feel like I’m not part of the “in” crowd. The travel elite. (Cue awkward flashback to high school with my bulky JC Penney sweaters and no-name sneakers.) I mean,...
Living Hi-So in Phuket
I have Travel OCD. There, I said it. Acceptance is the first step toward healing, people. It doesn’t help that I have the Myers-Briggs personality known as ENTJ, aka The Field Marshal. But Field Marshal? Really? Doesn’t sound all that great considering that the other personality types...
Down the Home Stretch: A Day at the Bangkok Races
Every time the packed sky train would stop at Rajadamri station, I’d find myself wistfully staring at a wide swath of manicured lawns and fountains curiously located right in the middle of Bangkok’s downtown of concrete and glass. Strangely, I never saw any people enjoying this veritable...
Don’t Kreng Jai Me! A Brief (and Thoroughly Unreliable) Guide to Working in Thailand
This wasn’t at all the plan. I was supposed to have quit work last September, travel around the world and land in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, living off of savings for another blissful 6 months… But sometimes life takes a detour. So it was that I...
I’ve Been to the Future (And there’s Panda TV!)
It’s the year 2555. People travel high above the ground. The human form has evolved from two distinct sexes into one seamless hodgepodge of androgyny. People no longer cook. You simply imagine what you want to eat and it is instantly available. Yes, I’ve been to the...
Whining (and Dining) That It’s All Over…
Another long driving day takes us across the border into South Africa. Immediately, the difference is tangible. The roads are all paved and the landscape begins to get a little more verdant. Supermarkets are modern and shops selling cappuccino are welcomely plentiful. Food in South Africa is...
Sossusvlei — Where People Disappear in the Sand
A good day’s journey through the Tropic of Capricorn, past tons of ostriches, some zebra and oryx, takes us on our way south to the inexorable end of the trip. The landscape changes from chalky white to sparse yellow grasses. Strange, unexplainable perfect circles of sand amidst...
Swakopmund, Namibia — Where the Desert Meets the Sea
A seven hour drive takes us to Brandberg, the site of famous bushmen rock paintings dating back between two and five thousand years. Today’s lecture is on landscape photography, appropriate as we move into the ever-changing desert landscapes that Namibia has to offer. The scenery has changed...
Smoke and Leather — A Visit to the Himba Village
We drive four hours to the north, along the northwest border of Etosha National Park, passing giraffe, zebra and warthog. We arrive at the small town of Opuwo, where we pick up some supplies to give to the chief of the Himba village we will be visiting....