Please Feed The Cats While I'm Out

“I came here for two weeks…that was six years ago.” – Robin, Wharariki Beach Holiday Park “I came here for a week’s vacation…that was about five years ago.” – Roland, Coronet Peak Ski Resort, Queenstown “I visited for a couple weeks fifteen years ago. I went home, packed, came back, got a job, and IContinue reading “Kiweeks”

33: Australia* Crikey * This entry was edited and posted after my return to America. G’day from the home of vegemite and road-ragin’ ‘roos, Ernie and Hads! The land down undah – Australia! Aussieland! OZZZZ! Well, I’ve got a new name for it, ya mongrels, and that name is, well, meh. That’s right. Meh. Now don’tContinue reading “Havin’ A Whinge”

32: Indonesia I was beginning to lose faith, if I’m being honest. I’d started in the beach party town of Seminyak, then drove north to Ubud, famed for its laid back yoga vibe, its Sacred Monkey Forest, its destination rice terraces. I’d continued on to the mountains of Kintamani, with hopes of watching sunrise fromContinue reading “Paradise Found”

31: Bangkok, Ayutthaya, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Phi Phi, Krabi Chiyo from Thailand, Ernie and Hads! I don’t know where to begin with Thailand, guys, except to say that I promise promise promise to try to make this the shortest written entry in some time – hell, maybe ever. The fact is, if I wanted toContinue reading “Thailand”

30: Phnom Penh & Siem Reap “With our thoughts, we make the world.” – Buddha Buddhism. So peaceful and inviting and, on its surface, so much more appealing to me than most other religions. Their idols always have a little smile, like they’ve finally found that elusive enlightenment. Many are presented in a state ofContinue reading “Cambodia”

29: Hanoi, Cat Ba, Hoi An, Danang, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). This ain’t your father’s father’s Vietnam. Xin Chào, Ernie and Hadley! Well, guys, I think we can all agree that India was a bit of a ginormous bummer. I wanted out so badly I flew with a concussion, a gashed hand, injured ribs,Continue reading “‘Nam”

27: Holy Shiva It’s not the heat, it’s the humanity. Namaste, Ernie and Hadley! It’s been far too long since I dropped you cats a note, and I send this with hopes that real Spring is finally in the air, allowing you both to shed those winter coats anywhere you damn well please – after all, it’sContinue reading “India”

26: Cape Town “Someday you’ll leave this world behind, so live a life you will remember.” – The Nights, by Michael and Robert Silverman The morning I left Malawi, I’d been drying my washed clothes on the thatched roof of my hut at Mabuya Camp in Lilongwe. They dried just in time for the skiesContinue reading “SOUTH AFRICA”

25: Malawi “It is foolish and hazardous not to dance in Africa.” – Dan Eldon In Zambia, children wrote songs about me, and Peter Dodd Day was just announced by Youth For Green Environment & Sustainable Development. Both of those things are true, Mom, I swear. So raise your hand if you’re at all surprised that I wouldContinue reading “Malawi Wowie”

24: The Road from Zambia to Malawi A Long Story About A Long Journey Michigan Lisa was carrying enough luggage on her solo tour of Africa to make a Kardashian blush, never mind a backpacker, so when she dropped her gear in the driveway of Natwange Backpackers while we waited for a taxi that wouldContinue reading “Road Rage”