travel

Es Un Viaje!

August 11, 2010

Let me start with a short demography lesson. Then a somewhat lengthy story before wrapping things up with the reason for this whole post, and a quick question for you. The Lesson: My 2nd edition Puerto Rico Lonely Planet guidebook says that La Perla, “is not a place to wander into.” Squashed into a small [...]

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Never. Stop. Learning.

July 21, 2010

I’m currently in the Atlanta airport, en route to Puerto Rico. This is the third annual trip I’ve made to the island, to attend La Fiesta de Santiago Apostol in the town of Loiza, and to learn more about the traditional percussion rhythms of Bomba and Plena. Before I get to the point of this [...]

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Free Shirt and the $2 Banana

June 16, 2010

While catching up over drinks recently in San Francisco, a friend and I got into a conversation on the topic of “generosity.” He is convinced that, these days, people everywhere are simply out-for-themselves, difficult to approach and untrustworthy. This is his primary reasoning for staying close to home and not venturing too far away from [...]

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Ghana: Day One

May 5, 2010

Wednesday, October 8, 2003: I haven’t been in Accra for two hours yet and I’m already so overwhelmed by everything I’ve experienced, I don’t think I can remember enough to recollect it all here in words. The plane touched down at Kotoka International Airport at 8:05pm Ghana time. I’d been advised not to accept help [...]

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The reason I may not see age 35

April 11, 2010

Happy Birthday to me! Okay, enough celebration. On to what may keep me from blowing out too many more candles: —– Apparently, there’s an enormous difference between mountain climbing and mountain hiking. One is climbing, done with highly specialized gear and relevant training. The other is hiking, done by unequipped idiots. Apparently, ascending Mount Hua [...]

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Witness to the sacred

March 21, 2010

Halfway through this Thailand trip, and just thinking how much I absolutely love to travel! And how much some people don’t. It’s very difficult to understand how there are some who truly fear the same experiences that have brought about some of my life’s greatest adventures, foods, friends, music and stories. The best of those experiences come [...]

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Pack it up, pack it in . . . in under 8 lbs.!

March 14, 2010

Today I head out on another Thailand adventure! This one is going to be a jam-packed two weeks. . . traveling with Lucinda Vette; visiting the Tycoon Percussion factory in Bangkok; studying traditional instruments again with Inchai Srisuwan (at the Thai Faith and Music Foundation); hanging and making music with my best friend, Benjamin Cloyd, [...]

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Fly for free! Travel Hacking tip #1

March 7, 2010

. . . or, at least, more cheaply. This concept is not a new one to some travelers. But I am continually meeting others that have never thought to try it. It’s a well known fact that airlines regularly overbook flights. Their reasoning is that many passengers, believe it or not, won’t show for their [...]

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You on the WRONG bus, gringo!

February 28, 2010

“No . . . NO, no, no . . .” That was about the extent of my Spanish when I saw the ten-inch kitchen knife appear. It’s 10:30 on a Tuesday morning. I’m en route to the San Juan airport after yet another amazing trip to Puerto Rico. It’s become an annual ritual to fly to [...]

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Surf anywhere- for free!

February 16, 2010

If you know me, you’ve probably heard me raving about this super cool organization called CouchSurfing. CouchSurfing is, in a nutshell, a humongous network (almost 1.7 million strong- check out their stats page) of people offering others a place to stay when traveling. That “place to stay” may actually be a couch. Or it may [...]

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