On this Palm Sunday, marvel at the varied images of Jesus depicted in churches and other places around the world. Sometimes he is a baby with the face of someone far more mature, sometimes he is an adult, sometimes with white skin, sometimes not. I am always surprised that societies try to remake him in…
Category: Adventuring
Are You Too Scared to Take a Subway?
Travel like You Live There Subway systems can be intimidating, especially if you are navigating in a new city while using a different language—one in which you are not fluent. All sorts of fears surface—will I be robbed, pushed on the tracks, doomed to riding in circles because I don’t know where to get…
Practical Picchu
What You Need to Know before Heading to Peru The weather at Machu Picchu is temperamental: cloudy one minute, sunny the next. How to cope? Layer your clothing. Photo credit: M. Ciavardini Fresh from a long weekend spent ascending Machu Picchu, I offer these suggestions for bashful and other adventurers planning a visit: To prepare,…
Running across History
Taking in Nuggets of Information A monument to the soldiers of the Confederacy in Arlington National Cemetery. A visitor might marvel at its size given the cause for which the soldiers were fighting. Photo credit: L, Tripoli Traveling back in time: On Feb. 22, 1862, Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as president of the Confederate States…
Buy a Stamp, Write a Postcard, Send a Memory
Visiting Post Offices On Feb. 20, 1792, George Washington signed a bill establishing the U.S. Post Office. Still going strong after 223 years despite wind, sleet, snow, email, the U.S. Postal Service is worth a visit. We all love to complain about it—snail mail, no mail, slow service—but who doesn’t love receiving a Valentine or…
Seeing the Titanic in Las Vegas
Are Disaster Museums Appropriate? Seeing a large portion of the doomed ship Titanic in the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas, a part of me thinks that no part of this boat should have been brought back to solid ground. Yes, the story of the Titanic is an interesting one of hubris, fate, class, decorum. When…
Escape to Las Vegas Step 1: Beat the Snow
Opportunities at the Airport when You Get There Early Waiting for a flight? Get a makeover! Or a new book! Or a handbag. Airport shopping involves far more than overpriced tee shirts these days. Here, Terminal 4 at JFK. Photo credit: M. Ciavardini The Brawny Sherpa is one of those get-to-the-airport-well-in-advance types, and as much…
Navigating as a Functional Illiterate
Signs Matter when Travelers Can’t Read or Speak a Language Finding my way around Moscow when I don’t speak Russian and can’t read the Cyrillic alphabet becomes a bit of a fun challenge. Navigating the subway system, I am careful to count how many stops until I get off since I won’t be able…
Embracing Winter
Because January is not cold enough in the mainland United States, the Bashful Adventurer embraces winter and heads to Iceland
The Wild Backstory
Although my idea of “roughing it” involves having to walk from my cabin to a clubhouse for dinner, I still enjoy books about more rugged adventures involving far more outdoorsiness than I am ever likely to pursue. I sometimes imagine that I’ll move more toward this type of travel and, truth-be-told, I have over the…