| Excerpt | Country | Date |
|---|---|---|
 …Travel stories from sailing the Cooks to Samoa… DRAFT It’s such a horrible thing, a mind without a heart. I wonder what travel is for, or what it should be for; and I know. I travel for knowledge. To acquire language. To build identity by the whole world; … Continue reading Going Home |
Thursday, October 3, 2013 | |
 …Travel stories from Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora… The first captain Rob I knew was aboard the Canadian boat in the Panama Canal. Now I was in Tahiti, and this new captain Rob had been also at the announcement board at Marina Taina where everyone posts information about things … Continue reading Credence in Tahiti |
Saturday, September 14, 2013 | |
 …Travel stories from sailing in French Polynesia… His speak was theatrical. That is the word to describe it. It was not flamboyant, and it wasn’t filled with emotion–it was plainly theatrical. He spoke for a stage, or more precisely for a lecture hall, and his runty but upheld stature … Continue reading A Seafarer Jinxing |
Saturday, August 3, 2013 | |
 …Travel stories from sailing in the Marquesas… I was reading when the spinnaker began to fold over on itself. I looked at Lido’s passive features, calm as Sunday as he stood at the helm, turning the wheel to find the wind. It was a remarkably blue day on a … Continue reading Marquesian Marooning |
Friday, July 5, 2013 | |
 …Travel stories from sailing across the Pacific Ocean… May 28th San Cristobal, Galapagos Dangerous incident. Jeopardizes entire Pacific crossing. Family was sitting in cabin eating potato and eggs in a basket breakfast when bow of cruise ship slowly came about, bulk pushed by wind, poorly tended … Continue reading On the Sea |
Monday, June 24, 2013 | |
 …Travel stories from the Galapagos Island San Cristobal… With me everything is poop. Dirk pointed it out as we mashed together a string of conversations while he and Lido returned the bottle of rum to its natural state of emptiness. “You expect these people to pay for your crap?” … Continue reading Voyage of the Beagle |
Monday, May 27, 2013 | |
 …Travel stories sailing to the Galapagos… The following are a collection of thoughts thunk out during the 3 weeks between the Playita de Amador anchorage in Panama City and the Galapagos Island of San Cristobal. On Panama City 1 To friends and new arrivals at Playita anchorage … Continue reading Sairam Meditations |
Saturday, May 11, 2013 | |
 …Travel stories about crewing across the Pacific Ocean… Chapter 1 – Coming Full Circle in Panama 03.14.13 When I had set my feet on land, I was immediately swaying back and forth in time with an earthen sea that no longer required my body to adapt. In a boat’s … Continue reading Crew Chapters | The Search to Crew a Sailboat Across the Pacific |
Monday, April 15, 2013 | |
 …Travel stories sailing boat hitchhiking from Colombia to Panama… Out in the harbor among a few dozen vessels anchored and bobbing slightly in the water was a catamaran and a man aboard frantically moving about from bow to stern. He grabbed pieces of equipment and moved them. He reached … Continue reading Sailing Worth Gray |
Wednesday, March 13, 2013 | |
 …Travel stories from hitchhiking to Cartagena, Colombia… It’s about language. It’s about learning who you are. It’s about not getting comfortable with one way of life because you want to actively acknowledge all its possibilities. It’s not about indecision but about understanding the world from different perspectives before important … Continue reading Tell Me On to Cartagena! |
Monday, March 4, 2013 | |
 …Travel stories from hitchhiking home… The plane lifted off the tarmac and again I had it in my mind that some hiccup draft or lateral gust would smash into the fuselage with enough latent power to direct the aircraft harsh into the ground or some building, and it would … Continue reading A Painting of Principle |
Sunday, February 17, 2013 | |
 …Travel stories from hitchhiking in Venezuelan beaches and mountains… Hitchhiking out of Caracas Take the blue line 3 in the direction of ‘La Rinconada’, and debark at ‘Mercado’. Walk to the highway, and follow it south to the gas station. Ask for rides to Maracay. Among … Continue reading Changing Elevations: From the Caribbean to the Andes |
Thursday, September 13, 2012 | |
 …Travel stories from visiting Caracas, Venezuela… There are many types of bananas in the Caribbean. I take to the Manzano bananas, which are stout and thick. Unfortunately, in the United States you will find that Cavendish bananas have a monopoly in the market, and that you will be hard-pressed … Continue reading Caracas |
Monday, September 3, 2012 | |
 …Travel stories from hitchhiking to Caracas, Venezuela… When I awoke we were in President Figueiredo, 100 kilometers north of Manaus. I thanked the couple that had broken my 6 hour streak of waiting back at Manaus’ northern exit. That night I found a waterfall by which I pitched my … Continue reading Corazon de mi Patria |
Wednesday, August 29, 2012 | |
 …Travel stories from Manaus, Brazil… “But real adventures, I reflected, do not happen to people who remain at home: they must be sought abroad.” -James Joyce, The Dubliners The woman took my hand and examined it closely, turning it into the light and then away. She adjusted … Continue reading Green Amazon: The Tropical Lesion |
Tuesday, August 14, 2012 | |
 …Travel stories from an Amazon riverboat in Brazil… Damn it this woman will not shut the fuck up. It has been two days and still it seems like the same argument that started before we even left Santarem. It all happens the same way; I’m in my hammock minding … Continue reading Green Amazon: The Riverboat |
Wednesday, August 8, 2012 | |
 …Travel stories from squatting in Brazil… He was a crooner and a painter in his younger years, but now at 73 years old he spent his days sitting on a bench in the wind that came off the river through the courtyard entrance of his museum. He wore sleeveless collared … Continue reading Green Amazon: The Old Man and the Hippy |
Thursday, August 2, 2012 | |
 …Travel stories from hitchhiking the Transamazonica Highway in Brazil’s Amazon… How to hitchhike west out of Brasilia Brasilia is a very centralized city, and hitchhiking out of it is simple. As anywhere, you can walk. But maybe it’s hot, and you have the 4.50 Reais to take a bus … Continue reading Green Amazon: The Dirt Road |
Monday, July 30, 2012 | |
 …Travel stories from hitchhiking in Brazil… Hitchhiking out of Rio de Janeiro toward Belo Horizonte Find a bus, or use your feet, to get to the Rodoviaria, the main bus terminal, which is called “Novo Rio”. From the main entrance, that is, the entrance opposite the one adjacent to … Continue reading I Would Like to Thank the Obamas of Brazil |
Sunday, July 15, 2012 | |
 …Travel stories from breaking hearts in Brazil… Maybe a linear telling of this story is not the noblest way to paint havoc. Things have happened and I have learned that life, it seems, is sometimes bittersweet, and to the purest definition of the word, such that bittersweet here describes … Continue reading Scruntiny of Madness, Kings and Vagabonds |
Wednesday, July 11, 2012 | |
 …Travel stories from hitchhiking in Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay… “The way to hunt is for as long as you live against as long as there is you and colors and canvas, and to write as long as you can live and there is pencil and paper or … Continue reading The Middle Parts |
Tuesday, June 12, 2012 | |
 …Travel stories from hitchhiking in Bolivia to Uyuni… “Dear Lord, we thank you for this food, and for this company. We beseech you to watch over our friends in their way, that they may make their destination under your watchful eye. And let your own light shine through their … Continue reading The Search for Johnny Tito |
Friday, April 6, 2012 | |
 …Travel stories from hitchhiking to La Paz, Bolivia… With one hand he held mine, and the other gripped my shoulder. “You know, just watch after her,” said Edson. “She’s my sister.” He was looking at the ground and shaking his head side to side. “Take care of her,” he … Continue reading Hitchhiking to The Soldier of Luke 10:30-37 |
Wednesday, March 28, 2012 | |
 …Travel stories about love in Lima, Peru… Kissing sideways makes sense between us. I grab around her waist and we spin around. She becomes the only thing in focus, and the rest of the world is blotted out in a wisp. Her chocolaty eyes look at me and I … Continue reading Tagging Along |
Wednesday, March 14, 2012 | |
 …Travel stories in Argentina… Ghostly white and wrinkled hands, cupped and looking up more than I looking down into them they, they were wet. Hate me, hate me hate me. Why can’t you just hate me? Hate me and I can break and crack and fall, then time’s boundaries … Continue reading Brazil but for Pebbles |
Friday, February 10, 2012 | |
 …Travel stories from hitchhiking to Buenos Aires, Argentina… Heading North I found an Irish pub whose name was just that, “Irish Pub.” There was also “del Turismo Chocolates.” Ushuaia had its authentic parts, particularly the container stockpiles and the west part of town, but I did not stay … Continue reading Occasions of Argentinian Asado |
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 | |
 …Travel stories from hitchhiking to Ushuaia, Argentina in Patagonia… When I arrived to the town of Perito Moreno, a crossroads of sorts, I couldn’t have imagined how quickly I’d make it to Argentina’s southern parks. The road south was deserted, and the wind was so powerful it bent my … Continue reading The Patagonia Saga – Part Two: From the Pampa to the Bottom |
Wednesday, January 11, 2012 | |
 …Travel stories from hitchhiking in Patagonia… Austral means “southern”, although the term seems to be applied rather sparingly around here. You could say that “Carretera Austral”, carretera meaning highway, indicates any part of Chile’s southern highway that exists as dirt or gravel. Stretching itself over 1,000 kilometers from just … Continue reading The Patagonia Saga – Part One: Carretera Austral |
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 | |
 …A travel story of Christmas abroad… The orange light of southern Chile’s 9 p.m. sun beamed through the kitchen window. It bounced off the laminate Christmas-themed table cloth, and draped itself over the utensils, napkins and bread crumbs. I watched as the rays gleamed over the stubby hand that … Continue reading Navidad at Casa Solis |
Monday, December 26, 2011 | |
 …A Story on How to Hitchhike… The “central region,” as the area of Santiago is called, is calido; it’s hot. Hitching out of a big city is already demanding as is, but with a heavy pack made heavier by the fact of departure from where good friends are, and … Continue reading The Anatomy of a Chilean Hitch |
Sunday, December 18, 2011 | |
 …Travel stories from Santiago, Chile and the U.S. embassy… Casa de Seba & Julie Seba and Julie were our hosts. They drank Escudo beer while Sammy and I savored the home brew they’d gifted us. I felt appreciation for their hospitality, despite the strange silences in between enthusiastic … Continue reading Santiago |
Monday, December 12, 2011 | |
 …Travel stories from hitchhiking in Chile to Chiloe… Tiny lapping waves of an incoming tide moved toward the house, as though some giant entity were swimming below the bay water’s surface. Through the bright window panes of the pinewood house I could see the salt water circulating in the … Continue reading Chilean Southern Hospitality, Rain or Shine |
Friday, December 2, 2011 | |
 …Travel stories from hitchhiking in Chile… The Chilean Miner The 80’s music that constantly stifled the air in Rodrigo’s apartment seemed to echo in my ear as I walked out from Arica. Out on the pavement, my shoes and legs blasted by wisps of sand blown across the … Continue reading Miner, Stars, Cuartel, Protest and Old Friends |
Tuesday, November 15, 2011 | |
 …Travel stories from trying to cross Bolivia’s border… I can no longer swing my umbrella; it is broken. The weak plastic of the curved handle finally snapped. Also, the zipper of the external pouch of my backpack is busted. The zipper on my hoodie is broken as well. I … Continue reading Borders |
Monday, October 24, 2011 | |
 …Travel stories from hitchhiking to Cuzco, Peru, and Machu Picchu… I woke to the uniform moan of the thousand roosters’ call, a symphonic cacophony; dull, but uninterrupted. There was a thick fog that lay over most of the river bed, the floating moisture licking the rocks wet. There was … Continue reading Mischief and Misery in Cusco |
Friday, October 14, 2011 | |
 …Travel stories from Lima, Peru… CHAPTER 16 – Welcome to Pariwana The tall German gleamed at me, leaning in closely. “Are you into mustard and mayonnaise?” He asked with a sinister smile. I hesitated. “I’m not quite sure if I understand the slang.” The German pulled out two plastic packets, … Continue reading The Final Lima Chapters: Pariwana, Mistura, Fountains and Mayra |
Monday, October 3, 2011 | |
 …Travel stories: Living in Lima… CHAPTER 8 – Of Vice and Virtue “September is coming,” she said. “Yes, September’s next month,” I agreed. August is a cold month in Lima. The gray skies don’t let up. The streets are wet from the constant misty rain, but it never seems … Continue reading The Lima Chapters, continued |
Friday, September 2, 2011 | |
 …Travel stories from Lima, Peru… CHAPTER 1 – Limatimes Solidarity Franco’s eyes hid behind his glasses, the bent light reflecting back at me through a thick lens. His curly black hair shivered when he shook a nod in the affirmative. “Yes, it is illegal.” The long wrinkled tube of … Continue reading The Lima Chapters |
Monday, June 27, 2011 | |
 …Travel stories tripping in Lima… Nicolai has a collection of music that more than suits my taste; it brings me into my past. Coldplay puts me into a room littered with markings or random souvenirs nailed to the walls. Two skylights are in the slanting ceilings and red blankets … Continue reading Tripping in The House of No Ends |
Tuesday, May 31, 2011 | |
 …Travel stories from hitchhiking in Peruvian Altiplanos… Pucallpa behind me like a fading wake, the long mounting road into the Andes and out of the jungles of the Amazon began to beckon. A sign on the side of the road suggests that the working man’s world is engrained in … Continue reading Righteous Discussing in the Pampas and The Tricky Cold Rails |
Sunday, May 22, 2011 | |
 …Travel stories from hitchhiking to the Peruvian Amazon… People my age are thinking about their retirement. I can’t even see past a few days. Every once in a while the social conventions tickle at my neck, trying to get my attention. Social conventions like career, planning, master’s, security, raising … Continue reading Déjà Vu-ing to the Amazon: The Wood Trailer, Jesus, Girls, and Firemen |
Sunday, May 15, 2011 | |
 …Travel stories from hitchhiking in the Peruvian Andes… Abraham has hosted many travelers through that wonderful little website called couchsurfing. I was not the first hitchhiker he welcomed. He in fact has had two others, one French and one Polish. He didn’t like the Polish one because that hitcher … Continue reading The Shameless Negotiator Goes Alpine |
Thursday, May 5, 2011 | |
 …Travel stories from hitchhiking in Ecuador and Peru… A ride out of La Libertad would be a long time coming. In fact, there was no ride. Suppose no rides is possible anywhere. The walk took hours, and by the time I’d decided to stop for another meal, I was … Continue reading CSing, Dirt Roads, and Getting High: To Peru! |
Wednesday, April 27, 2011 | |
 …Travel stories from hitchhiking in Ecuador… The road led east. On my map it looked straight enough. It touched light green, a beige color, and dark beige, and skirted a pastel purple with a little plus sign that read “5300 meters”. But a map can only revel so much. … Continue reading Monkey Search, Feeling The Heat, and Other Stories from the Ecuator |
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 | |
 …Travel story from Quito, Ecuador… Diana was my host in Quito. Her house was always filled with guests. Mostly Argentinians. Diana was an aggressive confrontational feminist who voiced prejudice after prejudice, you know, the kind of person that you can only argue with to argue. Her superiority complex was … Continue reading Eggs and Patriotism |
Tuesday, March 29, 2011 | |
 …Travel stories from hitchhiking in Colombia and Ecuador… Bogota. Sofi and Lucas and I went out on the town one night, bought a bottle of aguadiente, and made merry in the streets. The scene was modern and clean and bizarre. Later, when I had jumped on the transmilenio public … Continue reading Helpful Authorities and Whether Coincidence Plays a Part – The Road to Ecuador |
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 | |
 …Travel stories from hitchhiking in the USA… Three months. Home, Chicago. The real life. The life I oughta live the proverbial ‘they’ suppose. That’s a life in movement in so far as the bankers might be concerned. But it was never for me. Home is where the heart is. … Continue reading Ramblings from the ReRoaded |
Sunday, February 20, 2011 | |
 …Travel stories from Medellin, Colombia… Couchsurfing with Sonya – 2 days I arrived to Sonya’s house after walking through the rest of the sports park, where for the first time in Latin America I found a roller hockey rink, and for the first time ever I saw roller figure … Continue reading 1 City, 4 Saints, and a Homesick Wanderer |
Wednesday, November 10, 2010 | |
 …Travel stories from hitchhiking in Colombia… Cartagena, like I’ve already mentioned, is a jewel. I was amazed to learn that it fell to invading forces at one point, because the walls truly are magnificent. There are also two fortresses proteceting the waterways surrounding the town. I spent some time … Continue reading Of Colombians and The Road |
Friday, October 29, 2010 | |
 …Travel stories from hitchhiking in Panama, the Darrien Gap and Colombia… Where is this voyage taking me in the end? Most of the time, I keep the idea of arriving in Chile in my mind. To tell you the truth, I’m more interested in seeing certain parts of Asia than … Continue reading Panamanian Goodness and Life As A Stowaway |
Saturday, October 23, 2010 | |
 …Travel stories from hitchhiking in Costa Rica and Panama… I write from a small internet café in a large cosmopolitan city called Panama. I don’t have my backpack. It’s in a parking lot somewhere. It’s 8 o’clock at night. I’m going to write fast because unfortunately the damn place … Continue reading Illegal Border Manipulation and Later, Firemen |
Tuesday, October 12, 2010 | |
 …Travel stories from hitchhiking in Nicaragua and Costa Rica… Last I wrote I was in Leon, Nicaragua. I said my goodbyes to Idriss as I hopped off his motorbike on the outskirts of the city. I was once again underway, this time, for the Caribbean coast, where I had … Continue reading Nicaraguan Hitching, Caribbean Vibes, and Beautiful French People |
Tuesday, October 5, 2010 | |
 …A travel story from Tegucigalpa, Honduras and Nicaragua… Leon, Nicaragua is a tall one-story city. The roofs of the high buildings stretch out over the sidewalk so that when it rains the water is escorted directly to the street instead of on the heads of the walkers down below. … Continue reading The Surreal: My Time in Tegucigalpa |
Tuesday, September 7, 2010 | |
 …Travel stories hitchhiking in El Salvador and Honduras… They say: “So much to do in so little time.” In the hitchikers’s case, it’s more like “so much happens in so little time,” regardless of whether it’s necessary that it happen. What does it mean that so much happens? Things … Continue reading When Bridges Collapse and Other Stories |
Monday, August 30, 2010 | |
| Black Smoke City Surf …Travel stories hitchhiking in El Salvador… Amado did not notice our conversation, he was glued to the noticias on the small television screen, and we sat behind him at an old wooden table that, stationary all it’s life, probably had more stories than a novelized encyclopedia. There were other … Continue reading Black Smoke City Surf |
Friday, August 20, 2010 |