There is no denying it; I am an apocalyte. A lover of all things bleak and transient, the beauty of decay is in my blood. Find me a ghost town, a derelict asylum, an abandoned …
April 18, 2013
Travel off the Beaten Path
At the World's End: Vulture City, AZ
The World's Edge: Cape Horn
This is a place of extremes. The name alone brings to mind images of explorers and traders in tall sailing ships working their way against horrendous seas and hurricane-strength winds. Set on its own small …
April 11, 2013
Vacation Evolutis
The majority of non-business travel is for one special thing, “Vacation.” The word within the word vacation is "vacate" ("4. an act or an instance of vacating," Merriam-Webster), so by extension looking at it as …
April 8, 2013
Río Lagartos — The Yucatan's Natural Side
When you're in Cancun – and are tired of white sand beaches and turquoise water – drive to Río Lagartos, where you have a chance to see bright pink flamingos, sea turtles, rare birds and …
March 28, 2013
Mexico Beach
Here’s the thing about Mexico Beach: It’s not in Mexico. It’s on the panhandle 20 minutes south of Panama City and just off the tip of Port St. Joe – a little bit of yesterday …
March 26, 2013
Dniprodzerzhynsk
I’m playing with my hair out of nervousness. I never do this. Isn’t this the behavior of a preteen boy, mustering up the courage to ask a girl out on his first date? Yet there’s …
March 11, 2013
Last Stop: Rhyolite, NV
Rolling into the small town of Beatty, Nevada, is a strange experience. One of the few settlements on the edge of the brutal Death Valley, it appears as a welcome rise of gaudy lights after …
March 5, 2013
I Am Rambo in Chiribiquete, Colombia
Strangely, the noxious swarm of mosquitos intent on doing me harm had ebbed, and the growl of the Chiribiquete waterfall (below) no longer sounded, as if its familiarity to my ears after a few hours …
March 4, 2013
The Fetish Market in Lomé, Togo
The fetish market in Togo, Africa, is a one-stop shopping paradise for witch doctors and medicine men – as well as a must-see for tourists. This dusty lot in the center of town covers an …
February 26, 2013
Caution: Whales at Work
Our whale-watching excursion in San Ignacio, Mexico, turned into a close whale encounter in the literal blink of an eye. On the Pacific side of the Baja peninsula, there is a large lagoon where gray …
February 15, 2013
Up a Mangrove Channel in Micronesia
“Whenever you come to a fork in the channel, go left,” the owner of my hotel said as he prepared a kayak for me to paddle into the Mutunnenea Channel in northeastern Kosrae, Micronesia. “Eventually …
February 12, 2013