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…
Tag: Blog
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…
Hunting for Porcini Mushrooms in the Mountains of Piedmont
On a gloomy, cloudy morning in the Italian region of Piemonte, I climbed into a car with my uncle…
Marriage in a Foreign Land
Marriage in a foreign country can be really difficult because all of a sudden you have two governments involved…
3 Months in Italy and How Being a Digital Nomad Sometimes Requires Settling Down
I don’t think anyone needs anymore details about COVID-19. I want to take this blog post to start talking…
Adventuring in the Qian Shan Mountains
An older, distant China is, as I mentioned earlier, quite hard to find here in the Northeast. But this…