The phylloxera swept across the terraced hills of Otok Brać – Island of Brać – in the early 1900s, invading the soil.  Native to North America, the tiny yellow aphids traveled across the sea to Europe in the late 1800s, feeding on vino roots and spreading their wine death...

     Just the other day I was sitting around with some friends talking about old trips we have taken. During the conversation we started talking about the interesting people we have meet. Even though I have not traveled around the world I have still meet amazing...

We hitched a ride out of Central Havana to the seaside town made famous by Ernest Hemingway to research a couple of articles I’m working on. The driver barreled up a dusty road speckled with potholes, noting, “This is the best road in town,” and dropped us off on a forlorn corner, pointing...

Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday—A Collage/Essay—for Valparaiso and James Henkel

             Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday/ Who could hang a name on you?/

             When you change with every new day/ Still I'm gonna miss you

Landing in Valparaiso was easy...

At this point i'm feeling pretty good about my decision to fly. True the 8 seater plane is much more costly than the train and a bit more risky, but it gave me an extra two days in the mountains, and the passenger list has opened up an interesting opportunity. Confirmed on the flight are; six...

My 14 year old niece and I don’t have the best relationship. Even since the first time we met, we’ve circled each other with instinctive caution. For me, she’s a malcriada: her mom and grandmother let her get away with everything. She’s a picky eater, so they let her eat cake for dinner. She...

When departing or embarking Guyana (Co-operative Republic of Guyana), I always love to look down from the window of the iron bird, at the endless flora and fauna.

Guyana possesses over 800 varieties of documented birds, and...

Once upon a time, the villagers were forced to leave their homes.  First the Russians came and took all the able bodied men and put them away in Siberia.  Then the Germans came and moved all the women, children, and elderly to Belarus.  As a little boy and his family were leaving,...

A young Brazilian man yelled frantically, "how much do you cost for the day?"  in Portuguese. My eyes darted about searching for the source of the sounds. I studied my periphery. My feet began to move faster, hoping to escape the insufferable noise. I sensed the cries were directed toward me, and...

After I got my lazy butt out of Dublin, I've seen some wonderful areas around Ireland. I traveled first to Cork (the second biggest city in Ireland), and while it's still a city it at least had some greenery and even a river flowing through it, so it wasn't grey and gloomy like Dublin.

From Cork I...