Ray, a bearded New Yorker who had recently dropped out of college to travel the world, was convinced that southern Laos was turning into a horrific cesspool of death and disease. “I’m telling you,” he said to me as we stood outside the small ice-cream stand near the Phonsavanh Hotel in Pakse. “Cholera is completely...

Southeast Asia is has long been a standard on the backpacking circuit and you’ll be hard pressed to find a country that doesn’t have it’s share of well worn boot tracks between hostels and suggested highlights. Laos is no exception. It is, perhaps, less traversed than Thailand and Vietnam, which sandwich it’s long narrow countryside...

When we're away from home, it's tempting to cut loose and forget our inhibitions. A recent piece in The Guardian UK points out the dangers in partying: Vang Vieng, Laos: the world's most unlikely party town . The article explores how the small Lao town has blown up into a hotspot on the Southeast Asia...

Bangkok, Thailand It is 8:00 p.m. in Cairo and I've just crawled out of bed to tend to this blog. I have a fever and am feeling pretty darn miserable. My creativity feels stunted and, given that all I want to do right now is lay back down with the blanket pulled over me, I...

Recent weeks have seen me travel out to Bermuda for World Hum , across Kansas for The Believer , and off to Russia for Afar ; articles about these experiences will debut in coming months. Here's what else has been going on for me in the travel-publishing world: My Italian publisher, Ponte alle Grazie ,...