What I Saw on the Front Lines of the World’s Worst Man-Made Environmental Disaster
It was as a dissatisfied and corralled tourist that I laid eyes upon the Aral Sea remnant for the…
Category: Travel Dispatches
Karakalpaks and Being the Winner of Geopolitical Musical Chairs
The men who built the pyramids: a culture that had survived for 3,000 years—they’re all gone. ‘Egyptians’ today are…
Silk Road Romance and How a Great History Was Lost to a Warlord
Among the most romantic notions perhaps ever produced by the human race has to be the experiment in distributed…
Has Travel Really Changed, or Am I Changing?
The headline is a bit of a lie—travel is changing undoubtedly. Thank you for intercepting this dispatch, the first…
Spain Suffers from (and Revels in) a Distinct Lack of Urgency
What would a Google or TripAdvisor review of an average American restaurant be if an appetizer order took 45…
Traversing the Battle Lines Between Islam and Christianity–also Rock Climbing
In my last dispatch, I teased I was visiting the Spanish region of Aragon, and that I would perhaps…
Whether to Go Back to Countries Visited and Loved, or Seek New Lands
I am in Spain for a month. Early indications are—beautiful, fulfilling, peaceful. In a region few reference, to see…
Fondly Remembering the Fine Character of the Indian People
Provided they aren’t traumatic, bad memories always fade away long before good memories, and of the character of the…
Getting Used to Unanswered Questions
In my book, I wrote that a traveler has to quickly accommodate him or herself to the idea and…
Living in the Dharma-Ending Age
The total canon of Buddhism is vast, with dozens of sutras containing millions of words of the Tathagata (one…
Entering India to Search for Siddharta
From the days long before the Portuguese and the British plugged India all unwillingly into the European colonial world,…
Days in the Caucasus, Autumn
Banine, the Azeri-French author who has appeared in a number of these dispatches recently, wrote her memoir entitled Days in…
Crossing the Talysh Mountains and Meeting the People There
The south of Azerbaijan touches the Caspian Sea, the Talysh, or Hyrcanian Mountains, and the regional power of Iran.…
Azeri Modernity Remains Steeped in Tradition – Take Rap for Example
In this staple of Baku’s skyline, I saw a bagel bar posting advertisements for pumpkin spice lattes, and a…
Breaking Down Baku Azerbaijan’s Glittering Oil Palace
According to a tweet from the Finance Minister, Azerbaijan’s non-oil-and-gas sector grew to 9.6% of GDP in 2023. That…
Dahar: One of the Best Regions in North Africa
I’m by no means an expert in North Africa, but as my trip in Tunisia reached a half-way point,…
Modernity Without Progress or Tradition
In Tunisia I can only say that I observed a strange society that had seemingly severed most links to…
Cultural Salesmanship in the Developed and Developing Worlds
The degree to which a nation or a people hang onto their cultural characteristics, particularly those they developed in…
Ever Been to Tunisia?
On certain occasions, one simply must visit a country which one has no knowledge of. Scrolling through plane tickets…
Rain in the Desert
PC: Andrew Corbley © Regarding the human experience, I always say that it’s best and most productive when you…