The Mother Of All Road Trips (II): A Schoolboy Fantasy

September 16, 2019

Almost all epic travels begin in innocence.  The prospective miseries, perils and vagaries of a journey are dwarfed by promise: of discovery, breathless tales, companionship, of besting challenges.  So it was that four school-leavers from an Indian boarding school began dreaming of a Eurasian crossing in the winter of 1965. Our imaginations were aflame with … More The Mother Of All Road Trips (II): A Schoolboy Fantasy

The Mother of All Road Trips: Beyond Route 66 (I)

September 1, 2019

Got a fantasy road trip squirreled away in the imagination?  Tiptoeing the spine of the Rockies? Tracing the shores of the Great Lakes?  Driving US Route 1 the length of the Eastern Seaboard?  The fantasy jaunt of the American soul would have to be a ramble down U.S. Route 66 – in a tail-finned convertible … More The Mother of All Road Trips: Beyond Route 66 (I)

Traipser Rule of Thumb: One Soul Salutes Another

July 31, 2019

You cannot embark on any daily traipse for more than a few steps before engaging in a universal social ritual: the act of greeting.  Customary though it be, this practice, full of possibility, possesses enormous significance whether in encounter with neighbor, stranger or even stray dog.  Echoing the Hippocratic oath, the rule of thumb for … More Traipser Rule of Thumb: One Soul Salutes Another

Helsingborg Hostel: Baltic Straits, Wedding Straits

July 12, 2019

In the city of Helsingborg, a ferry ride across from Helsingor (or, ‘Elsinore’, if you’re drafting a tragedy called ‘Hamlet, Prince of Denmark’), there was once a youth hostel on the northern edge of town midst wooded grounds.  It sat on a rise looking down on the city, on the straits to the Baltic Sea, … More Helsingborg Hostel: Baltic Straits, Wedding Straits

A City Called ‘Fair Winds’: What the Streets Are Saying

July 1, 2019

If, having been whisked to a secret southern metropolis and you were there set free on the streets, you’d be forgiven for believing you’d found yourself in Brussels, Vienna or Berlin.  In truth you would be in the Paris of Latin America, Buenos Aires, whose name translates as ‘Fair Winds’.  Famous for bumpy politics, for … More A City Called ‘Fair Winds’: What the Streets Are Saying

Weirdness in the Death Zone: A Tale of the Odd-Number Sardine

June 14, 2019

They’re up there still.  Hundreds of tents pitched in the rubble field at base camp on Everest.  Climbers – some, at best bricoleurs – and their Sherpa guides wait for that window of clear days before the monsoon that offers some chance of summiting the mother of all mountains, Chomolungma, 29,035’ of rock, icefall, crevasses, … More Weirdness in the Death Zone: A Tale of the Odd-Number Sardine