travel
Every hotel and guesthouse in Thailand (and by “every” I mean “the two that I’ve stayed in”) have an ingenious system to prevent tourists from leaving the lights and air conditioning running all day. Next to the door is a slot for your room key, and unless your room
travel
You can’t throw a stick without hitting an elephant tour in Thailand. And come to think of it, most of the tour companies should probably be hit with sticks anyway, to give them a taste of their own medicine. The traditional method of “taming” an elephant involves restraining it
travel
I’m a pretty decent cook, but I jumped at the chance to sign up for a Thai cooking class because I was sure there was some secret to perfect pad thai like “Soak the noodles for five and a half minutes” or “Don’t use McNuggets.” There are dozens
travel
So far I’ve kept my massage-a-day streak intact, with an alternating schedule of foot massages (after long days of walking) and traditional Thai massages (after long days of blogging). Thai massage, which is performed fully-clothed (both of us) on a mat on the floor, involves a lot of stretching,
travel
I was not surprised to get lost in Chiang Mai’s old city. I was surprised to get lost while attempting to board the airplane to Chiang Mai. About four hours into my epic stay in Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport I finally decided to pass through security and find
travel
Here was the plan for my first full day in Bangkok: 1. Wear myself out sightseeing. 2. Stay up until 10 or 11 p.m. 3. Sleep for eight hours and be magically adjusted to this time zone. Here’s what actually happened: 1. Wore myself out sightseeing. 2. Passed
travel
Friday, 1:54 p.m. PST – Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean We’re 30 minutes into an 11-hour flight to Tokyo and they’ve already shut down the entertainment system for a 15-minute “hard reboot.” If they can’t get Two and a Half Men to play consistently I have
humor
1. The trunk of Jimmy “Little Fingers” Colucci’s Lincoln Town Car (Continental Edition), two hours after an untimely missed field goal that failed to cover the spread in the Browns-Vikings Thursday Night Football game. 2. Seat 16B of an oversold Somon Air Ilyushin Il-114 regional jet (“Tajikistan’s Low
travel
Despite the city’s deployment of the magical SUBE bus pass that obviates the need to hoard change for bus fare, there’s still a fairly major coin shortage here in Buenos Aires. Thus every transaction at the grocery store involves the following steps: 1. Cashier asks if you have
travel
Day 6: Shake Shake Shake. Shake Shake Shake. Shake Your Boot Camp Until I borked my shoulder playing hockey a year and a half ago I was an enthusiastic Crossfitter. For those who are unfamiliar, Crossfit is a workout program that combines weightlifting and aerobic exercise in a constantly-changing regimen
travel
There comes a point in every 10-hour flight when you realize yes, that baby IS going to scream for the entire 6000 miles. For me, that point was “somewhere over Ecuador.” Day 1: DFWTF? As a frequent traveler and a major nerd, I subscribe to multiple web services for automatically
travel
I’ve got a lot of odds and ends saved up from the trip, so here they all are jumbled up into one blog post. Today is my last full day in Spain. Tomorrow (maybe) I go home. I say “maybe” because my flight from Madrid to Portland stops at