Author Archives: admin

Everyone’s life reaches a point where the important memories, people, and places of their pasts are little more than ghosts, wispy semblances of their former fullness. In few places has this truth reverberated through me more than it did in the abandoned apartment above a dilapidated strip club in Okayama Prefecture, Japan.

Cycling through backwoods Malaysia, buying fresh seafood at a chaotic Hokkien fish market, sitting on the floor eating Indian food with my hands, elbow-to-elbow with hundreds of traditionally dressed Indians, watching a bizarre devil-purging fire-walking ceremony, drinking Toddy and rice wine over a traditional Chinese steamboat dinner, singing songs with people from eight different countries [...]

An irritating, itchy, painful bump on my cheek momentarily draws my attention away from the offensively hot breeze blowing across my perch on a bamboo floor in Mae Sariang, Thailand. A day earlier, a bee spiraled to its demise and my discomfort, leaving a stinger in my face as a souvenir. We are on the [...]

Cassie has my Kindle in one hand, grumbling at Scrabble words that refuse to cooperate. In the other hand is a large Gurkha beer, only 150 Nepalese rupees. We take turns grabbing it, and we’re like a sitcom version of a young couple pretending to be an old couple. Our two layers of blankets cover [...]

The flimsy aluminum heater glowed red, a taunting hint of warmth in a cold, cold place. “Don’t catch your scarf on fire!” shouted Cassie. Suzi leaped backward from a candle but indignantly insisted she was being very careful and that she was in no danger whatsoever of igniting herself. History apparently was on Cassie’s side, [...]

I have a confession: I’m completely overwhelmed right now. I’m overwhelmed by writing this. I’m overwhelmed trying to capture and write about the multitude of rich experiences as fast as they slip through my fingers like the hot desert sands in Jaisalmer. I’m overwhelmed by the stark realities I see every day. The adorable puppy [...]

A political row had erupted over the Mulliperiyar Dam, a 100+ year old dam controlling the water supply for much of Kerala and neighboring Tamil Nadu. The Kerala government was convinced that the dam was in dangerous condition, at risk of collapsing at any moment and threatening the lives of 3.5 million people.

The next day brought more rain from the tropical storm, and Cassie and I took turns feeling ill while Bharath played doctor. By evening, we were all feeling well enough to go to the other performance at the cultural center: Katakhali. We walked down to meet our driver and decided to walk into town instead [...]

Men with chainsaws again cleared the tree from the road, and a few smaller cars began to sneak by, their passengers holding the power line up while the driver navigated underneath. Someone held it up long enough for us to squeeze through, and we were on our way again. A few miles down the road, [...]

A wave of debilitating nausea swept over me and I started sweating as we finished up at the tiger reserve and headed back to the hotel. Bharath had seen advertisements for a kalaripayattu demonstration, a traditional Keralan martial arts performance and was excited to see it. I felt pretty miserable by this point and had [...]