Recently, I was at a small art event attended by the usual gang of hippies, hipsters, activists, anarchists, crust-punks, free-gans and the like. One of their number had recently attended Al Gore’s school for activism on global warming. As part of the evening’s entertainment, the Goreista...

Recently, I was at a small art event attended by the usual gang of hippies, hipsters, activists, anarchists, crust-punks, free-gans and the like. One of their number had recently attended Al Gore’s school for activism on global warming. As part of the evening’s entertainment, the Goreista...

My graduate adviser keeps a post card collection, which he recently shared with me. What you see here is a post card from the Food Stuffs International, Inc.Visitor Center in Cincinnati, Ohio..

This smiling older lady is sitting behind her welcome desk, a giant distorted globe ringed with ketchup...

This spring I’m being let loose into the world again, the first time being when I graduated from college in 2003. The immanence of graduation from my master’s program brings up all kinds of conflicting emotions. I yo-yo from elation to despair, sometimes multiple times in the course of a single...

Here is a link to an article I just had published in Brave New Traveler. Check it out.

http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/02/29/4-lessons-learned-from-the-camino-del-santiago-pilgrimage/#comment-55909

This is a poem I wrote a while ago while traveling in Ecuador. I thought I'd share it here, since it has not yet seen the light of day.

We are a hemisphere shift and two time zones apart

(plus daylight savings time).

Crossing the equator feel like nothing, really.

At...

Travel sharpens the focus of memory. Entire years of my childhood bleed and run into one another, but many of my memories of family travel have stayed fresh. From our earliest vacations as a family, what I remember most clearly revolves around being in the car. For me, planned vacation activities paled...

Unlike Americans, the British are not known for the straightness, whiteness, and brightness of their teeth. Until I went to England, though, I never really put much stock in the stereotype. Sure, I laughed when Mike Myers lampooned British teeth in Austin Powers, but otherwise I always assumed it...

Before I went to Japan, I had been told that the toilet situation was something to be experienced first hand. I heard tell of toilets with heated seats and shower toilets that give a refreshing rinse after you do your business. These toilets are the stuff of legend, and I looked for them every...

“I love spring! The flowers are blossoming, the air is so refreshing. Hey honey, I have an idea. Let’s go out to the park and take pictures of the trees.”

 “What a good idea! I’ll get my hat.”

 Do the people of Tokyo share one collective brain? Is that why so many people are out...

A few months ago David Brooks wrote a column entitled “The Odyssey Years”. In it, he describes a new life phase that takes place between adolescence and adulthood. During this phase, he says, “20-somethings go to school and take breaks from school. They live with friends and they live at...

Here's a link to my other blog.  It's called Wanderphilia. What's up right now are some pictures and stories from my recent trip to Japan.