Observations From Three Weeks in Rishikesh, India: This & That

Free Food With 60,000 Friends at the Golden Temple Free Kitchen in Amritsar

A Golden Temple Sunrise, Sunset and Fireworks Display // Amritsar, India

Sleeping With Pilgrims Inside the Golden Temple, Amritsar

An Ode to the Indian Sleeper Train // Poetry, Stories & Pix

Shiva: My Orphaned Indian Cousin // Interesting People Series

The Bridges of Rishikesh: How do they Not Collapse? // With Videos

Channeling My Inner Fab 4 at the Beatles Ashram // Oms, Art, Music & Abandonment

Jordan Walked From Canada to Mexico | What’s in His Backpack?

Prakesh: The Master of Mathematics // Interesting People Series

Observations From Three Weeks in Rishikesh, India: This & That

It’s the little things that add to a country’s charm…and make any trip abroad such a memorable experience. After 3 weeks in Rishikesh, India, there have been more little things than I can count. Good thing I write them all down…
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London Bridges Falling Down, and Other Iconic British Architecture

From London Bridge to Parliament, Big Ben, the Tower of London and more, the capitol city of England houses some of the most iconic and traditional architecture in the Western world.
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California Route 66: From Needles to Santa Monica – the End of the Road

Sure I finished the drive over a year ago, but this blog post has just been sitting on my computer since then. As I continued on Route 66 from Arizona into California, I found that I really had to eliminate the majority of my final stops due to a dinner …
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Snow, Rain and More Americana on Route 66 in New Mexico and Arizona – This and That

New Mexico When I was in Santa Fe, New Mexico, it actually snowed. But not like back home with big flakes. These were small round balls: almost like hail, but not hail. On Sunday, the south is closed. I think I’m the only person who drives through the desert and …
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Giant Whales and Cadillacs on Route 66 in Oklahoma and Texas – This and That

I had a defective gas pump outside Oklahoma City. First it kept shutting off like it was done even though I had just started pumping. Next, after finally finding a position that kept it on, the thing actually overflowed my gas tank. A man who worked at the gas station …
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Religious Farmers, Smoking in Restaurants and Other Observations

When I asked for directions at a post office in Missouri, the woman actually said to me, “go west young man.” Classic. Store employees are constantly impressed by my New York license plate and how far I’ve driven. Some nights I eat out…others I eat random foods I brought with …
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British GPS’, 50ozs of Coke, Budweiser Brewery Tours and Other Observations

Due to a silly law that any car 1995 or older must be inspected in the city it is registered in, I had to drive back to New York City for an inspection instead of heading directly to Washington, DC to begin my trip. No big deal, but it was …
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Portuguese Streets, Beautiful Buildings and a Lady Gaga Concert in Macau

Located an hour boat ride from Hong Kong, Macau is a completely separate country that feels like a mix between Portugal and Asia. We were originally unsure if we would even go, but after seeing a sign for a Lady Gaga concert at the Venetian hotel and casino we decided …
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Wrapping Up Our Trip in Hong Kong and Macau – This and That

Money in Hong Kong is very weird, with multiple versions of each bill issued by separate banks. At one point I had five different Hong Kong 20 dollar bills in my wallet. The sign next to the line for Hong Kong immigration at the airport read, “Welcome to Hong Kong: …
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Wrapping Up the Trip – Some Final Thoughts

Some quick stats from the trip… Away for 8.5 months or 250 days or 6000 hours or 360,000 minutes Visited 13 countries Took 15 plane rides Needed five visas (India, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia) Spent the Most Time In: India (92 days) … Second place: Thailand (45 days) Spent the …
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Chasing the Naked Thai Thief and Other Thailand Tales – This and That

It feels right to be back in a country where people drive on the left side of the road. After Vietnam, it was a nice change to be back in Thailand where everyone is nice…even the shopkeepers. Shortly after our return I asked a cop for directions and he wrote …
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Goodnight and Goodbye Vietnam – This and That

Everyone on the bus back from Sapa had one of the bracelets the local women give you to mark their territory. On the Halong Bay tour Carrie and I got inked by a squid about to be cooked. The women on the Sapa trek complained that we spent too much …
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Good Morning Vietnam – This and That

Why is it that it can be cold outside, but still 100 degrees in my hotel room? It pretty much rained every day at least a little. Our second night in Ho Chi Min we were trapped in our guesthouse at 9pm when the old lady who runs it went …
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Angkor Wat, Shin Deep Mud and the Killing Fields of Cambodia – This and That

I am obsessed with the way ice is delivered. Every day, a truck or van or bike comes by with a giant block of ice. Street vendors, restaurants and individuals come up, tell the ice man how much they want and he proceeds to saw it off with a rusty …
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Observations From Two Weeks in Laos

It’s amazing all the things that you get used to after traveling for a while…like chickens walking through a restaurant, elephants and cows in the road and 30 people in the back of a pickup. We heard the news about Michael Jackson on a local bus from an English couple …
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Jungle Treks, Cooking Classes and Meditating at a Monastery – This and That

One of the many things that kept us awake and laughing during our night at the local village on our jungle trek was a cat in heat who meow’ed loud and often…especially when it thought the two-stringed instrument Mr. Ton was playing was another cat and would reply to every …
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The Full Moon Party: The Biggest and Best Party in the World – This and That

People in costumes everywhere Our train ride from the Thai border to Surat Thani may have been the buggiest ever. At one point or another we must have had every single type of insect known to man fly, fall or land on us. A guy walking down the aisle of …
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Malaysia and Singapore: Two Countries that Might As Well Be One – This and That

Malaysia I saw a Muslim woman snorkeling with a full burka on We saw the final episode of American Idol in a hotel room in Melaka. This marks the third final I’ve ever seen…once in Panama, once traveling back from Nicaragua in 2007 and now this one. I have no …
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Bail Hais and Bali Lows: This and That

I didn’t notice until I had to pay $50 at the Bali airport to get a visa, but the women at our Phuket hotel totally robbed me. I had 2 $20s, a $10 and a $1 in my wallet that they replaced with 4 $1 bills. I even looked into …
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Living it Up in Southern Thailand…This and That

On our last night in Bangkok, I ate a fried grasshopper. We saw the end of a series of regatta boat races in Krabi. The price difference between an air conditioned room and a non-AC room is usually so small that we have just been treating ourselves. After trying to …
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