On a recent vagabonding extravaganza, I took a recess from Western society for 10 months to explore the world. During this rebellion, I found myself enticed by the Indonesian archipelago, and of course, the ever-alluring …
September 17, 2012
Travel off the Beaten Path
Nusa Lembongan, Indonesia: The Untold Story
Greenland: The Beauty of Climate Change
I looked out the window of the plane as it approached the southeast end of Greenland at twenty-odd thousand feet and was happy to see the cloud cover was clearing. I could see the coastline …
September 14, 2012
Baja Wine Country
When he was growing up in coastal Southern California back in the mid '50s, Jay Dworsky had absolutely no idea that he might end up becoming involved in the farming of grapes, let alone in …
September 13, 2012
Lake Tekapo, New Zealand
For those looking for an off-the-beaten-path excursion in New Zealand, I’d recommend visiting Lake Tekapo, in the center of the country's South Island. The small town is a cluster of homes and motels at the …
September 8, 2012
Omiš, Croatia
Maya, my three-year-old Border collie mix, and I had been traveling through Europe. We had started in Athens, and now we were in Split, Croatia, at a dog-friendly B&B. The owners said that almost anything …
August 24, 2012
Close Encounters in CA's High Desert
I may have had some lunatic notions in my day, but I can assure you that none of them have been implanted or otherwise suggested by extraterrestrials. Not a one. George Van Tassel, however, can’t …
August 11, 2012
MONA: World's Most Unconventional Museum
It just opened on January 21, 2011, and already it's the most talked-about museum in the world. And who could have guessed? David Walsh, the eccentric pro gambler and millionaire founder of MONA, or the …
August 7, 2012
A Different Kind of Honeymoon
After spending a week running around the island of Borneo, including stops in traditional villages of Sabah, Malaysia, and the primary rainforests of Brunei, we arrived in the capital of Indonesia at 3 a.m. Waking, …
August 7, 2012
Into the Czech Beer Abyss...
A dark, ominous hallway leads to a door. Silence. Not a sound. I open the door to find a series of steep wooden stairs spiraling downward. Is this a trap? My mind starts to wander. …
July 31, 2012
At the World’s End: Centralia, the Burning Town
In May 1962, an ill-advised trash fire set light to the veins of coal running beneath the small mining town of Centralia, PA, and sparked a dangerous inferno that has raged ever since. Despite various …
July 30, 2012
Joshua Tree: More than Just Camping
There isn’t anything spectacular about the town visually. Like many desert towns, the buildings along the main drag are old, unkempt and often vacant. There are few sidewalks, and no trees or landscaping that would …
July 27, 2012