One of the most vivid shocks for first-time travelers in the developing world is witnessing the human capacity to load vehicles with far more people or supplies than one would think is logistically possible. I still recall the amazement I felt when I first witnessed a family of five perched atop a single 100cc motorcycle...

Above : Korean condom packaging . The above snapshot of a box of Korean condoms is a relic of Newley Purnell's recent trip to Seoul. Newley's brief commentary says it all: There is so much to analyze on this box of Korean condoms that I don’t even know where to start. The copy on the...

Travelers often obsess about change and modernization in the communities they visit (the phrase "it was so much better here 20 years ago" is a common refrain, even among travelers who weren't around 20 years ago), but what they often overlook is the fact that their hosts have a stake in that change. Indeed, modernization...

Here are a couple of bizarre signs I've discovered from online travelers in recent weeks. First, from Newley and Mechum Purnell , here's a Korean sign that makes me homesick for "Konglish": And, from BoingBoing , here's a Chinese sign that makes me wonder just how "nutrious" it is to order that beef penis soup:...