From the Frontline of Travel, Lust & Adventure

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  • Traveling With A Fake Husband Through Pakistan

    I am traveling in Pakistan with a stranger I met on a layover in Hong Kong. Within minutes of meeting each other, we knew we could travel together. We hatched a plan over lukewarm Tiger Beer while sitting on Smurf size chairs in Hanoi. Out of respect for Islamic values and as precaution, we will […]

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  • A storm, a selfie and kite-surfing in Mona Vale

    We rented a beach house but we didn’t consider the weather or check the surf condition. It’s been overcast and chilly. The current is too strong and too rough for beginning surfers on long boards. Our surf house dream is punctured by tiny shards of irony, or lack of planning. None of us seemed to […]

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  • That BOLD Declaration to the Universe

    This is a strange new territory. I’ve been writing but unable to post. I’ve been actively pitching publication and major sites and awkward side effect is I have to hold back a lot of what I’ve been writing. Everyone wants something new. Which means I spend a lot of time writing, re-writing and of course […]

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  • Fantasies. 50 Guys in 50 States. Naked Happy Hours.

    Fantasies. I have lots and lots of them; I hope you do too. Most of mine has to do with time, space and impossibly cute animals. I’ve been thinking a lot about time, commitment, how to make it all (an encompassing A L L) happen in the days we have, what could wait and what […]

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  • Undercover in NYC. Re-entry. Part 3

    Undercover in NYC…(Where the author finally, at last, accepts the obvious. Lets not talk about why it took her so long. She feels plenty dumb)…Part 3 I went on a poorly conceived 3-day camping trip in the Catskills with a friend. Wilderness, campfire and star filled sky were what I had in mind. Except my […]

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  • Anywhere but here…The problem w/ re-entry, part 2

    Anywhere but here…(The author squirms in extreme discomfort and restraints are necessary to prevent her from doing something bad)…Part 2 I’m not the anywhere but here girl, that is not what this is. I can do this. I can stay put… I can do this. All the bits of Zen and happiness and light I […]

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  • After a long stint traveling, the problem with re-entry (part 1)

    The problem with re-entry…(Where the author is pleased to return home and discovers for the nth time the problems with home)…Part 1 The joy of sleeping in my own bed again. Six-months on the road is long. To shower in a bathroom where the shower is separate from the toilet holds unparalleled joy. A bathtub. […]

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  • Sylvia and I, vol 23

      I had to take Sylvia to the shop today, a monthly maintenance check and a bath. We navigated all the way there by sight —- we haven’t been to this part of town since the day I brought her home. I left her there while Andrew and his crew looked her over; I wondered […]

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  • Barefoot Cafe

    I roam around Hanoi on my 125cc motorbike (Sylvia is her name) and alternate cafes for offices. Today’s office is actually called The KAfe. The crowd is a mixture of Vietnamese and expats. The blond wood is too hip and the cupcakes too Western for those came searching for Graham Green’s Vietnam. The coffee is […]

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  • No Eye Contact, No Snack!

    Here in Hanoi, there are two different kinds of street vendors. The one with a stall or a shop front, however small they might be, they are stationary. The stall might be occupying part of the alley, blocking traffic, and the menu could be vinyl letters on the outside of the building just above the […]

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  • 5 hours in Hong Kong

    It’s been 15 years when I was in Hong Kong last. On a 5 hour layover, I thought I pop in and see what I see…come on, lets go explore. There is a train ($100HK round-trip) that takes you straight from the airport into the city. Back in 2000, the airport was still new, an extension […]

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  • The Most Inappropriate Time to Consider Mao

    The year was 1947. My grandfather’s company sent him to the province of Taiwan for a conference. He brought my grandmother along for a bit of vacation. Their first born, my uncle Edward, still in diapers, was left with his grandmother, my great-grandmother. Then the news came. Stay. Don’t come home. Shit is hitting the […]

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  • Becoming Local. Ridding a Motorbike in Hanoi.

    This is going to be easy. I mean, how hard could it be? Renting a motorbike while I’m tucked away in Hanoi for a self imposed writer’s residency seems like a sensible thing. I’m a good walker. I can walk pretty far, but how far do I really want to walk in 35ºC heat? I […]

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  • The Morning of the Ascend

    It’s 4am. Darkness, fog and cold linger at High Camp. I barely slept the night before despite having gone to bed at 8pm. Prem (my trekking guide) knocks on my door. This is the first morning in ten days of trekking where he’s come looking for me instead of waiting for me in the dinning […]

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  • Adventure in Putao, Myanmar’s most northern outpost.

    “What are you thinking for the next 10 days?” ” Google Putao and see what you find.” I knew that is where he would want to go even before his text came through. How did I know? We don’t know each other, and yet here we are, rendezvousing in Myanmar. The only measure of you […]

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  • “Do you eat Shan noodles?”

    How do you know if you like a place or if that place is the one you want to return to time and again? What made you choose to eat at the second stall at the night market, run by the beautiful lady with Indian features, very pregnant and a crisp English instead of the […]

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  • Life on the Streets

    Yangon wakes early. I imagine its citizens lie awake in the last remaining night, silently still with ears perked and eyes squinting, waiting for the tiniest sounds of birds and the faintest spot of light. At the first signal of day, they bounce out of bed and head into the streets. It is not even […]

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  • When I am good and ready…

    A single fluorescent tube illuminates this 11 feet by 8 feet room. I stretch across the bed. I wanted to see if I could touch one wall with my feet and the opposite with my hands. Yes, just barely. The AC is good and strong except in a room this small, you are either freezing […]

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  • FIXATION. ADDICTION. OBSESSION.

    OK Sitting at a cafe table in Piazza San Marco, I anxiously turn the box of matches around and around between my thumb and ring finger while gently holding onto a single cigarette. I impatiently wait for the seasoned waiter to bring out the double espresso before I strike the match and take that first […]

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  • Janu, An Entrepreneur’s Secret

      Three years ago I meet a young man on the platform at the Jaipur Train Station, Janu. My arrival in Jaipur was preceded by three long sweaty weeks of solo travel in India where everyone wanted money. Janu is a driver and he was looking for a fare. I knew I was being hustled […]

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The Rickshaw Run

3500km, 3 Wheels, 7 Horse Power, 2 Women, and India. What could go wrong ?! Let's just say a lot of profanity were involved. $16,000+ were raised for charity:water allst

This is Africa

From robbery homicide on an overnight bus to the sold out auction in South Africa. The highs and lows of Africa from a kaleidoscopic points of views.

The Mongol Rally

13000km - 6 weeks - 14 countries - 1/3 around the world. The most insane, ridiculous, badass adventure ever!

Wok the Dog

Each market is a reflection of the culture, the cuisine its psyche. A long term documentary project on food markets around the world. 42 countries, 120 cities, 17 years in the making.

Fetal Position and Drool

What is home? Where is home? A long term project on all the places, beds, lovers, that's been "home," even if it is just for a night.

From the Frontline of Travel, Lust & Adventure

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