Everything I needed to know about traveling, I could have learned from Ed Stafford’s Walking the Amazon: 860 Days. One Step at a Time. He’s the first man to have walked the Amazon, a little journey that took him just over two years. I’ve spent the last several days reading the book. I’m sure Ed…
What’s to Fear in Guayaquil?
I was hesitant to fly in to Guayaquil for an overnight stay before departing for the Galapagos Islands, mostly because some Ecuadorians I volunteered with at a kitchen supplying lunches for the elderly kept telling me I would be mugged there. “Don’t go to Guayaquil.” “You won’t like Guayaquil.” The U.S. State Department’s cautions about…
Venetian Calm and Venetian Crowds
A trip to Venice introduces some Venetian calm and Venetian crowds to visitors.
Venice: What I Learned from My Gondola Ride
Can Venice and a pricey gondola ride possibly live up to the hype? The Bashful Adventurer finds out.
Tony Horwitz, A Voyage Long and Strange, Columbus Day, Pocahontas, Etc.
Encountering Christopher Columbus in her travels, the Bashful Adventurer picks up a copy of A Voyage Long and Strange to learn more about the New World.
East and West Together: Happy Unity Day, Germany!
In this time of global tumult, it’s easy to forget that democratic movements generated a little anxiety at points before. Hard to believe it’s been 23 years since the Berlin Wall came down in November 1989. East and West Germany were reunited officially in 1990, and the occasion is now observed on October 3. I’m…
Cold Spring, N.Y.: Geo. Washington Drank Here
The Bashful Adventurer gets away to Cold Spring, NY and learns some history about the first president of the United States
Getting Out of the House and Staying Put
I travel because I want to try out different lives. Could I remember the names of all the trees and remedies to become a shaman? Would throwing my slop into the streets of medieval Rouen be too much for me? Could I ease into a laid-back work ethic as a resident of Rome? Would I…
Escaped from the Shackles: Happy Independence Day, Belize!
Belize finally escaped British colonization 31 years ago and became independent on September 21, 1981. The “new” nation had earned its name (a change from British Honduras) in 1973, but its freedom would take a bit longer, tangled as it was in Central American politics (most notably, Guatemala’s claim for a chunk of Belize) and…
Are Historical Sites Honest about Slavery?
The global tumult of the last week—the killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and global unrest stemming, allegedly, from disgust with a video about Muslims made by a film maker in the United States—makes the celebration of the U.S. Constitution just a little more poignant. Travel, for me, has always made history lessons come…