No matter where you go, there’s always danger in being oblivious. Quicksand, scams, and plain old disease wait for those who don’t know any better. But travel also plunges us into a healthy oblivion — the sort of state that reminds us just how little knowledge we carry with us.

I could spend all day starting at unintelligible signs.

There will always be local gossip to … Read more »

It used to be that just about every advance in technology was accompanied by someone deciding to take it around the world — bikes, cars, balloons, boats, you name it. Maybe it’s technology that’s changed, maybe it’s us, in either case the round the world trip has become a touch routine by yesterday’s standards.

Sure you could grab an iPad and jump on a … Read more »

Within the backpacker lexicon there is a certain unwritten assumption that everything must be done on the most severe cheap. That all corners must be cut, as one must go without as much as possible to become this Champion of Cheap.

One of the first lessons we learn on the road is that travel is not … Read more »

“The habituation of workers to the assembly line was made easier by another innovation of the early twentieth century: consumer debt. As Jackson Lears has argued, through the installment plan previously unthinkable acquisitions became thinkable, and more than thinkable: it became normal to carry debt. The display of a new car bought on installment became a sign that one was trustworthy. In a wholesale transformation of the old Puritan moralism, expressed by Benjamin Franklin (admittedly … Read more »

Spring is just around the corner, as are a handful of festivals in Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and South America. If you’re looking for a break, but want to avoid typical Spring Break destinations, here are the spots to hit in late March through early May:

The BVI Spring Regatta lures sailors and landlubbers to the British Virgin Islands to watch sailing … Read more »

The news is full these days about a “green revolution.” Is it really the wave of the future? Or is it actually a return to the past, when living in harmony with the environment was standard practice?

The Tokyo expat magazine Metropolis published excerpts from a new work titled Just Enough: Lessons in Living Green from Traditional Japan.

Author Azby Brown also produced dazzling drawings of rural life in Japan, from houses to ordinary … Read more »

Ko Phangan, Thailand

Not many years ago (in the grand scheme of things), most of us were in diapers, not yet knowing what country we were from or even what a country. We didn’t yet know we were Christian, Muslim, Skeptical, or whatever. We didn’t know we were Republican or … Read more »

As I noted in last week’s column, I am now on the ground, quite literally, in Jacmel, Haiti. Here I lie in my REI tent that I purchased off of craigslist last week, in a field next to the United Nations outpost, across from the small airport where large white helicopters emblazoned with the letters ‘UN’ arrive and depart daily. I share this field with the two Canadian founders of Shelters International Disaster Relief and … Read more »

Initiation ceremony — it conjures images of torchlight processions, Masonic robes, fratboys with paddle bruises, Navy SEALs hoisting logs. Initiation ceremonies mark a transition from one place to another, and it’s often more of a psychological step than a physical one.

While settling into what I’ll call  “India mode” over the past two weeks, I’ve been trying to observe the initiation rites of travel — the tiny events … Read more »

One of the gifts of aiming big is that sometimes, you actually reach your goals.  It’s all too easy to fall into the idea that if you’ve never done something before, well, then, you probably can’t do it at all, or at least not right away.  You’ve never lived abroad?  Best not to jump into it; maybe start with living in a different state.  Can’t run? Stay out of triathlons.

Or, you could throw caution … Read more »