I would never think of getting in a cab in my hometown of Chicago and asking for a lift to Indianapolis, Iowa City or Milwaukee. But when I'm outside the U.S. without a rental car, I sometimes resort to long-distance taxi rides as a way of getting from point A to point B. On ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Stories
The World According To A Costa Rican Cab Driver
I would never think of getting in a cab in my hometown of Chicago and asking for a lift to Indianapolis, Iowa City or Milwaukee. But when I'm outside the U.S. without a rental car, I sometimes resort to long-distance taxi rides as a way of getting from point A to point B. On ...In Oaxaca, A Place For Friends
Sundays in Oaxaca are quiet. The stores are closed; the streets empty.
There is buzz around the churches, as families mill in and out dressed in their Sunday best. Near the Zocalo, children play with oversized balloons, pushing them high into the sky.
But ...Monkeys Are Big Business At Manuel Antonio National Park In Costa Rica
It was 6 a.m. and I was hiking alone in the lush, tropical forest below the Hotel Parador near Manuel Antonio National Park in Costa Rica when I heard a noise that stopped me dead in my tracks. It was a deep, throaty guttural call that almost sounded like an animal clearing ...Releasing My Inner Gringo In Costa Rica
I try not to be the stereotypical ugly gringo when I'm in Latin America. I tolerate leisurely or downright rude service, I use my poor but functional Spanish, and I try to go with the flow, bearing in mind that things are just different south of the border. But no matter how ...City Of Light
"Would you push five for me?" asks the woman. "I'm having trouble with my hands today."
I poke the black button next to the cutout number and my knees plié at the jerk of the taut cables. I stare at the numbered panel of the elevator, waiting for the digits to ...An Unforgettable Coffee Tour At Finca Rosa Blanca In Costa Rica
Coffee! It's the most addictive drug in the world. Many of us could barely function without it, but have you ever toured a coffee plantation? I hadn't until I stumbled upon a coffee plantation and inn called Finca Rosa Blanca near San Jose last week. We were set to arrive in ...Wickland: The Only Ghost Tour Reality TV Hasn't Found - Yet
The new Syfy channel show "Ghost Mine" is, geographically, a new low for the genre, suggesting that the torrent of paranormal reality programs has exhausted every haunted site above the earth's surface and left no above-ground spirit unquestioned in the presence of a ...Meet The American Man Who Is Walking Across Turkey
Matt Krause swears that he isn't crazy. But some of his friends and family members would beg to differ, even though the 43-year-old California native has safely completed two-thirds of a 1,305-mile walk across Turkey.
I read about Krause's plan to cross Turkey on foot in ...Traveling Couple Hits 20 Countries In 312 Days On 3 Minutes Of Video
In a quest to tackle 30 must-have travel experiences before they turn 30, career breakers Gerard & Kieu of GQ trippin traveled 108,371 kilometers (67,338 miles) in 312 days through 20 countries for one adventure of a lifetime.
Shooting 1,266 videos along the way, ...
Intense National Geographic Series, 'Locked Up Abroad,' Documents Inept Travelers
Last week's arrest of diaper-wearing cocaine smugglers at JFK proved more laughable than horrifying to those not directly involved. Drug busts are in the media so often, we rarely pay attention to them. They're certainly not something I care about.
Yet, I've recently ...Lost And Found: How Uncertainty Makes Travel Memorable
As the bus begins to pull away from the bus stop in Chania, I catch the old man's eye again, giving him a thumbs-up through the window. He stares back blankly – then leaps to his feet, waving his arms, pointing, shouting. I raise my hands in an uncomprehending ...Waiting In The Pythion Of Time
One of my prime New Year's resolutions for this year is to put together an anthology of selected pieces from my own writing career. With 30 years of narrative stories and reflective essays to sift through, I figure there must be enough material for at least a ...A Traveler In The Foreign Service: A Guys Road Trip To Transylvania
In the Foreign Service, it's easy to calculate who your best friends are. They're the people who will come visit you in places like Khartoum, Yekaterinburg or Bujumbura. Diplomats who get posted to London, Paris, Rome and a handful of other cushy places find themselves ...Daniel Suelo, The Man Who Quit Money, On Living And Traveling For Free
Daniel Suelo is easily the most famous homeless person in America. His story has been featured in Details, ABC News, BBC, The Daily Mail, the Guardian, the Oregonian, and a host of other publications. And last year, a division of Penguin Books published a book about Suelo's ...Drink, Pray And Polka In Underrated Milwaukee
It's Friday night and I'm at a brewery tour in Milwaukee drinking beer. Good beer – not the mass-produced crap that Milwaukee is famous for. Tom Martin, our guide at the Milwaukee Brewing Company, takes a moment to state the obvious for the benefit of out-of-towners ...Vagabond Tales: How Traveling Helps You Realize You Look Weird
When I was 4 years old I had my picture taken by a large group of Japanese tourists.
While this in and of itself is slightly strange, the curious part of the story is where it happened. I was seated with my family – mom, dad, and infant baby sister – while ...Why I Visited Mesa Verde National Park Instead Of The Warren Jeffs Polygamy Compound
On my last morning in southwest Colorado, I went to the public library in Mancos to decide if I should spend my last hours in the state trying to track down polygamists at the Warren Jeffs compound just outside town or if should visit Mesa Verde National Park.
"The Jeffs ...Hiking Arches National Park In Winter With A Pair Of Worn Out Sneakers
How did I end up on the ass end of the famous Delicate Arch rock formation at Arches National Park in Utah? That's the question I asked myself one afternoon last week as I was standing on the slippery base of the arch in completely inappropriate sneakers, looking down at the ...Want A National Park All To Yourself? Visit Canyonlands National Park In Winter
It was 12 degrees as we stood before the Mesa Arch in Utah's Canyonlands National Park early on a Monday morning in January waiting for the sun to rise. But we weren't complaining because we knew that we had this wild and magnificent place almost all to ourselves.
...Monument Valley, Utah: Hollywood's Wild West
The road unfolds downhill, straight as an arrow, and appears to dead end at an otherworldly collection of sandstone buttes and mesas. We've all been here before, even if we've never stepped foot in the state of Utah. If you find yourself driving south on Utah Route 163, you ...
