Ownership, Opportunism, and Open Doors

In Washington there are new, shiny apartment buildings going up in neighborhoods that haven’t enjoyed growth for decades. That isn’t to say that they enjoy this particular brand of development; the influx of wealthy young professionals into black, working class communities is always a bumpy transition. In every glass-walled, terraced condo building that opens, a row of restaurant and shopping chains sprouts up in the street-level storefronts, like invasive mushrooms popping up between the roots of a non-native tree transplanted into a forest.

Reflections and Inscriptions

I wrote this over a year ago. It had been 14 days since I was in Asia, and it sums up many of my thoughts about this whole over-arching experience.

Asia is gone to me, snuffed out in a way I anticipated but didn’t fully acknowledge. And I feel a sense of loss. I miss having no preconceived notion of what I will find around the next corner. I miss the signs of life that are unavoidable on the street, in every window. I miss the interactivity that comes from being a curiosity.

Dibbly Dobbly* to celebrity

A rare occurrence in India: across the street from our hotel is a clean and well-groomed public park. We sit around a perfect little stone table, shuffle our deck and naively expect to play a few rounds of 3-card. We just about manage to sort our hand when a yellow shirted man, armed with a wooden stick, starts to disperse the crowd that is growing around us at an alarming rate. What seemed like an oasis of quiet and calm turns out to harbor innumerable, curious and animated young boys and men.

What moves Simon (or not)?

After a twenty-four hour journey, our friend Simon arrives in New Delhi. He spends the next day acquainting himself with India and picking up a few bits and bobs for his three week holiday. At 1 a.m, Simon boards a train to Patna,  delayed by two hours and scheduled to arrive at 3p.m.

Mind over Elvis

My leg is furiously shaking in an Elvis like manner and my left finger tips dig into the rock while my right hand frantically grabs for anything that can work as my next hold. Panic is written all over this desperate scene. I am half way up a 30m sea-cliff climb and about 1.5 meters above my last safety. If I can’t figure out my next move I will fall at least three meters, with rope drag probably five.

Malaysia Truly Asia

I am about to place my order for two Samosas, my mouth watering and stomach growling, as a man shoots into my field of vision. “Come join us for the open house – free food!” He points to a row of large tents, where a colorful mix of people weave their way past food stands.

Two people, one rhythm

I like my travel partner, I mean I’m married to her. Together for nearly ten years – long distance relationship for five, married about three and traveling almost one – life together is an adventure.

KA-POW!

Check out our updated route map! By clicking on a location marker, you can find out more details about our journey.

A less appetising choice of cuisine.

The best and the worst of travel is often found in the food. I’ve been surprised and put off by a deep-fried baby chicken -beak and all- on my breakfast plate and humored by the delight found by others indulging in offal barbecue. Thai food on the other hand, is a consistent display of food genius, opposite to both the disasters and consistently good, yet mundane.

Epic Nujiang

“Do you guys think it’s a bad omen that we are starting our trek on Friday the 13th?”, asks BJ with a grin. Well prepared with our sneakers and Everest worthy thermal blankets, we embark on a three day hike out of the Nujiang Valley.

How I won the lottery

Employed by the bank of China she had fantastic benefits – shuttle service to work, shopping vouchers galore and a salary that allowed her to buy an apartment at age 26 – a mere dream for the majority of China’s workforce. And then she quit. SF and her husband are visibly agitated as they remember her regular 24 hour working days and tell of colleagues who sleep in the lobby at work. There is simply too little time to go home. As if emphasis is needed, they site this year’s ten stress related suicides at a Foxconn factory and assure me that this is not uncommon in China.