Articles Archive
You Won’t Regret It!
Approaching Riga International Airport on a dark February evening, I noticed the snow outside for the first time. It was blowing past the wing in ferocious streaks of white. I turned to Jodie, wondering whether to tell her. After all, it had taken some hard convincing to get her to go to Latvia. I recalled [...]
The Dangers of Chinese Hospitality
Food stall offerings. There was a large toad (just below the potatoes, top left), a cows heart, some other things I'm not sure about, some kind of snails, loads of veggies and an Alsatian. The Alsatian wasn't on the menu though. It was simply someone's pet, and bloody big one at that. I decided to [...]
Two Mexicos
It has been said that there is not one Mexico but two: the north and the south, with the City of Mexico defining the border between the two. Northern Mexico resembles the US in its lifestyle, large-scale farming and landscape. The south has more in common with Central America with large indigenous populations, mountainous terrain [...]
Highland Fling - Poptun to San Pedro de Atitlan, Guatemala
Let sleeping dogs lie, El Retiro
The pleasures of Semuc Champay
After two days of cutting across the northern province of Peten on packed chicken buses, I landed in Lanquin. It was a beautiful ride through rainforest, rolling green hills and steep sided valleys. Superbly situated above a bend in a beautiful crystal clear river, El Retiro [...]
Chinese Tourism 101
When my grandmother and I were making plans to travel to China together, all the seniors at her Chinese church thought that she was crazy.
They were all traveling to China as well. But while they were going for two months, my grandma only wanted to go for two weeks (being a Manhattan gal, she [...]
Bugs of Costa Rica
I never tire of spotting new and spectacular insects in Costa Rica–they often have such amazing colors and details or sometimes just awesome size. Or maybe it's the size which reveals the details. Enjoy these photos.
Wasp protecting its nest. Photo James Tracy.
Greetings from Pescara, Italy
Two p.m; I've just rolled out of bed, brewed some espresso, cut myself a piece of fresh apple torte, and sat down to write on this fine Sunday morning in Pescara, Italy.
We are having a kicking time here, if last night was any indication. Tyler took off for the weekend, so it was just [...]
The Cost of Being Poor: Costa Rica vs. the USA
Homeless boys sleeping on the streets on San Jose, Costa Rica
I was musing this morning about the way that in the USA and Canada, the poorest segments of our population pay the most for almost everything. It is very expensive to live as a poor person in the USA (and also Canada to a somewhat [...]
Giving alms to the monks in Luang Prabang, Laos
One of the ways to ëmake merit' in Buddhism is to give alms to the monks. Their food for the day comes from this ritual, held very early in the morning. From what I understand, they are only allowed to eat food given to them on the morning of each day, received either from this [...]
