Originally published June 30th, 2008 Because I prefer to write content that will remain relevant for more than a few days, I don’t usually write about current affairs. We’re also coming out of World Domination Week, with the launch of my manifesto and everything related to that. But I decided to postpone what I had…
Read MoreI’m heading out on my next overseas adventure early tomorrow morning. I’m going on an independent journey through the Baltics (Latvia, Estonia, Finland), over to St. Petersburg in Russia, and then on to a couple of other exciting stops that I’ll discuss later. To get to my starting point, I’m using the second half of…
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I arrived in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after trekking through Jordan and Israel. Flying on Gulf Air, I stopped off in Bahrain for six hours, where I persuaded the immigration guy to let me into the country for a while even though I was in transit. Total cost: $10 for a one-day visa. Six…
Read MoreClick to enlarge photos. I went to Benin many times between 2003 and 2005—probably about five visits in total. Each time I went, I got more and more comfortable with French, my second language, and more and more comfortable with Francophone Africa, which is a different cultural experience on its own. The first visit was…
Read MoreSometimes it seems that wherever I go in the world, I’m always too early or too late to the party. One week ago today I was hanging out in Beirut, Lebanon, walking all over what I found to be a beautiful city, stopping for cappuccino along the waterfront and then having 40-cent falafel for lunch.…
Read MoreTrip Update: I haven’t had a lot of time to post reports from my trip to South America and the Middle East, so while I’m hanging out in transit today, I thought I’d post this report instead of the usual Wednesday work essay. We’ll go back to regularly scheduled programming next week. If you are…
Read MoreAfter I leave India and go to Tokyo, I pick up my OneWorld Round-the-World ticket at the American Airlines counter in Narita airport. This ticket has 20 flight segments, which is the maximum you’re allowed under OneWorld rules. Like most tickets these days, any Round-the-World ticket under 17 segments is issued as an e-ticket. When…
Read MorePart I – Getting to India Part II – India Travel Journal I After traveling around by land during my first week in India, I arrive in Calcutta on a late-night Kingfisher Airlines flight from Hyderabad. The flight is great, and serves as a good model for what U.S. airlines could learn from if they…
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Part of what I go in search of while traveling are moments of personal discovery combined with a sense of wonder at the world. I’m not looking for places no one has ever set foot in before—it’s hard to find many Star Alliance flights to those few places still left in the world—but I am…
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Before heading out to Africa via a 24-hour layover in Copenhagen, I checked all my sources for low-cost hotel options. I found absolutely nothing, so I moved on to hostel and guesthouse searching. The best deal I could find anywhere in the city was $99 a night—not what I usually consider a budget price for…
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I think a lot about distant places, but to be honest, I’ve never really given much thought to the small country called Montenegro. I’m not sure why– after all, it is the world’s youngest country, having just voted for independence from Serbia in 2006. That in itself is interesting to someone like me, but for…
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