Hello, my name is Nicole, and I am an addict. Hello Nicole. The realization of my addiction came at the point where most addictions come, in a dark, dingy hotel room, alone, surrounded by pink pills. The only difference was that I did not have a needle up my arm and I was not in the center of downtown LA. I was in Puerto Rico, and was in my right, conscious state of mine (which I don't know if that makes it better or worse.) As I laid … [Read more...]
Notes On Ecuador
You open your eyes to find you are sitting in a cloud. The road is winding and as you pass each curve, the clouds gather, closer, until the fog outside the window is fresh and you can almost feel its powder settling into every crevice of your face. Occasionally flashes of green peaks, petals that curl upwards to grab onto the moist air. A comfortably slow conversation with your friend in the seat beside you, melancholic and then bright, like the … [Read more...]
Hangzhou: Marco Polo Called it the Most Magnificent City in the World
When I asked our guide to describe Hangzhou, he said: " We in China say, 'above is heaven; down here Hangzhou." His, were no idle words. They had a ring of truth. Marco Polo, the medieval traveller and the first Westerner to visit Hangzhou, was stunned with its beauty and described it as 'the City of Paradise.' China National Tourism has named it 'China's Best Tourist City' and other organizations have labelled it as 'China's Happiest … [Read more...]
Rambling Through Quebec’s Eastern Townships
I was glad the bus was air conditioned as our group of eight drove on that hot July day, through Quebec's Eastern Townships - a part of Quebec famous for its tourist appeal. I was happy and content. Inside it was cool and comfortable and outside it was a scenic world. The countryside was covered with flowers, greenery as well as cultivated fields. At times we drove through rolling hills; at other times through flat and fertile landscape. As … [Read more...]
Jamaica Works her Magic!
Ingredients: Good People, Outdoor Adventure, Romance, Black Eyed Peas and a bit of Jamaican Rum! (perhaps more than a bit) Getting There Jamaica is conveniently located only about 90 minutes from Miami. A number of airlines make this route daily including American and Delta and Jamaican Airlines flies to other select cities in the USA. When you want a vacation with as little hassle as possible, a vacation in which you leave work somewhere … [Read more...]
Argentina to Chile border crossing in Patagonia
When you're high in the Andes, you can't help but be attuned to the scenery. Breathtaking, snow-capped peaks surround you, water rushes over falls as it hurries down the valleys, lakes brim with emerald water, and the world seems to spin just a little bit slower. Crossing through the Patagonia from Argentina into Chile is one of the best ways to explore the landscape and gives you a glimpse of the spectacular expanse that comprises the … [Read more...]
Unity and Help: The Lesson of the Tortoise
Chances are that you've heard the story of the tortoise and the hare before... at least you've heard ONE version of it. In this classic Aesop folktale, the speedy, cocky hare challenges the slow-poke tortoise to a race, and the tortoise shockingly agrees. The race begins! Halfway through the competition, the hare becomes so overconfident at his giant lead that he takes a nap, dreaming of his glorious and easy victory. When the hare … [Read more...]
An Inspirational Refutation of an Uncomfortable Stereotype
"People try to insult me by saying my success is from a falang (foreigner)," said Nate, smiling as she steered us through the moped-filled traffic, "but it's just me." The story that emerged as Nate (in her taxi-service capacity) drove me from her restaurant to the Phuket bus stop was inspirational. But was also a desperately welcome antidote to the uncomfortable Older-Western-Man-funding-Younger-Thai-Woman situation thick on the … [Read more...]
Too Much Sunlight
Asif, the mid-thirties grizzly of a man, was driving our office's green Land Rover rapidly down the sun-baked and vehicle-beaten dirt road. I, the sole foreigner on our trip, assumed the seat of honor (and obligation), shotgun, while my trusted friend and colleague, Torialai sat behind me. Beside him sat Ustad Raqem, the principal of the elementary school which we were journeying to visit. It was July and each of us therefore had shed our … [Read more...]
Blundering in the Balkans
The sweat dripped down my face as I gyrated to the throbbing techno trying to keep up with a six-foot Serbian bombshell that had taken a keen interest in me, or at least my obvious American appearance. We walked out to the deck of the club, docked on the banks of the river Danube in downtown Belgrade to escape the heat of the nightclub and catch a breath of fresh air. As I took a sip of Jelen Pivo, the standard Serbian beer, my mind was fighting … [Read more...]
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