A story for the Globetrotters Monthly Challenge — The drive from Kabale is beautiful, up through forests of bamboo, over a mountain pass cut through thick vegetation, and down into the lowlands on the western side. But the pickup truck driver is unhappy because the eight of us in the back don’t fill all the seats. He slows…

A pox on seaplanes and all-inclusive resorts. — To collect ideas on travel destinations, I haunt the travel section of bookstores, gleaning information without buying the books. On one occasion, about four years ago, I picked up the Lonely Planet guide for the Maldives. The quoted daily estimate for staying on the islands was well outside of my…

One of my favorites in the Balkans. — Albania is blessed with an easy Mediterranean climate, and host to both some great beaches and plenty of mountains. It feels threadbare, even compared with some other Balkan nations, but that is part of its attraction. It is cheap enough that the budget traveler can get on quite easily. Infrastructure…

A different side of Egypt On the bus from Alexandria to Cairo, my daughter begins throwing up. It is almost certainly food poisoning from the roadside shawarmas hastily consumed before leaving town. …

The adventure to get to the adventure — During the long, boring months of Covid lockdown, I thought a lot about places I wanted to go that would require extraordinary effort. Iran was at the top of that list, and had been, for many years. But I always put it off, wishfully thinking that Iran and the USA…

A week in an unconventional paradise — Our week-long stay in Kiritimati, the largest atoll in the island nation of Kiribati, was born largely from the need to find a flight connection across the southern Pacific Ocean that didn’t just skip everything. Hopping between island nations in this part of the world is not straightforward and quickly…

You may not be ready for Egypt, but Egypt is always ready for YOU Sitting in a budget hostel common area, the couple says to me, “We consider ourselves experienced travelers, but Egypt just, well, it was just so hard.” It sounds like an admission of defeat. Why do people…

Under the benevolent gaze of the Wangchuck Dynasty There is a great deal I loved about a recent trip my family and I took to Bhutan. But it has its share of political weirdness that had me on the fence most of the time. In this article, I will explore…

Cast adrift in the mundane I will start by recognizing that most of the gripes and worries in my life revolve around ‘first world problems’. Only a small percentage of people on this planet have the luxury to experience the world on their own terms (meaning their travel is neither…