In the lost paradise isles of the Turks and Caicos an empty curve of icing-sugar sand gives way to the salty tongue of turquoise surf. Distant white caps crash mute on the barrier reef, where dolphin and stingray cruise in endless procession. The island of Providenciales and the smaller cayes are host to upper crust resorts and the posh vacation homes of Bruce Willis, Donna Karan, and my friends...
I normally stick to recommending classics of travel literature, but I’m going to break my own habit because I enjoyed this book so much. This slim first novel from renowned poet Forrest Gander punches well above its weight in ounces. It’s the perfect size for the side pocket of your backpack, and great travel reading because, like poetry, you’ll find yourself returning to it...
Vagabond Dreams Outtakes are “deleted scenes” from my book. Think of them as a “Special Features” disc of outtakes and curios… We come back changed because travel exposes us to new ways of knowing and seeing. But it’s more than that. In the same way that physical exercise strengthens the body, solitary travel and the pains and hardships that accompany it hone...
A thin mist broke over pale green rice fields in a wet hill-wrapped bowl in the Shan Highlands of northern Burma. An ox chewed its cud. Smoke rose from bamboo huts on the fringes, and longyi-clad men swung slow-motion sickles in garden plots. From over the next hill came the plaintive cry of the train from Mandalay, winding laboriously from village to village, overloaded with...
In keeping with yesterday’s entry on the Anthropology of Drink, I’d like to share with you the Top 3 strangest “local” drinks I’ve consumed on my travels. It’s a rogue list of tipples sure to turn even the most determined of stomachs — although I remain convinced that a few of them truly are an acquired taste… 1) Airag (Mongolia) – At the top...
I’m a firm believer that a nation’s drink is shaped by its landscape and climate, and that its drink in turn shapes its culture. According to my theory, the world can be neatly divided into several distinct zones of booze… The UK and Ireland are home to warming whiskeys, dark heavy ales and stouts. Just the thing for when the perpetual damp soaks through your bones: a sip...
Ten years after its original release — and at least eight years since second-hand copies began fetching astronomical prices on eBay — the bible of overlanding is available once more. It’s no longer an underground secret of expedition professionals, because independent travel should be accessible to anyone. Whether you’re planning a weekend excursion close to home or a major crossing...
Vagabond Dreams Outtakes are “deleted scenes” from my book. Think of them as a “Special Features” disc of outtakes and curios. This incident took place in Guatemala… On Saturday nights musicians played in the Park. The mournful brassy wail of their trumpets was the soul of Latin America expressed as a dirge. It reverberated with an ache that struck my soul...
Endless dunes shimmered beneath a heat haze. We wound around them at a plodding camel’s pace, roped together in a caravan that evoked images of Silk Road trading expeditions. Sand blew up and swirled into my eyes; it crunched between my teeth and coated my lips. I pulled my broad hat down low and tied a bandanna across my mouth and nose. Beneath a long sleeved white shirt my arms were...
The Landscape: Stony Adriatic islands scattered along the length of Croatia’s coast. Coarse green shrubs and olive trees whose thin leaves flash silver undersides to the breeze. Translucent blue: a breath would cloud that water of glass. Light has a clarity there that is like no place else, and it provokes a clarity of thought. Priorities and needs slip so easily into place. You realize the...