From the Chiang Khong district in extreme northern Thailand, very near the point at which the borders with Myanmar and Laos meet, my tour group left Thailand, took a bus across the Fourth Thai-Laos Friendship Bridge to enter Laos, got our visas, then boarded a Laotian slow boat (that's the actual name for the type…

About 20 miles south of Luang Prabang, Laos...Wow.While the rest of my tour group was content to enjoy the three pools at the bottom of the falls (not that I could blame them: just a couple of minutes in the waters was a great relief from the heat and humidity), I felt led to ignore…

On Friday, 14 July, 2017, I spent nearly the entire day touring, visiting four temples and one museum. I feel that it's only natural that I'll grow accustomed to these spectacular Angkorian-era temples at some point, but there are so many and they vary so widely in terms of style, materials, subject, condition, etc., that…

So many blanks to fill in here! Next big batch of traveling needs to be a road trip in the U.S., likely focused on hitting national parks. Beyond filling in these large areas of unvisited states, a road trip means traveling without the many pains of flying. Of course, driving has plenty of its its…

Spent portions of five days in San Antonio, my first-ever visit to the city. The city's beauty -- especially those areas outside of the main tourist hub downtown -- impressed me. Here are shots I took over several days along the River Walk, which surprised me by being so much more than the crowded restaurant…

Here's the update I sent to family and friends soon after an encounter with quite agitated and heavily-armed military personnel in Jordan: ----- So I had an exciting morning that featured a very tense and worrying confrontation with the Jordan military. I briefly wondered seriously whether I was about to be shot. Woke up early…

   Too much of a good thing. Perhaps unsurprisingly, that's how twenty days in New Orleans eventually came to feel. And I'm not talking about the after effects of partying or drunkenness as I engaged in only staid, middle aged versions of the former and (sadly) none of the latter. I enjoyed my time here,…

Idea I've taken up with very little thought: quick updates to a single post throughout the day. Probably a dumb idea. Probably a project I'll quickly abandon or simply forget about. But I'll get started and see how it goes. Climbed into taxi from airport to hotel feeling in desperate need of a nap. But…