We went to China's Fujian province to look at trees, and ended up also seeing tulou and tigers and geoparks and...
A deep dive into Southeast China
An Unexpected Invite to Shanghai
Accepting an unsolicited invitation from a complete stranger to speak at a Shanghai conference after I published one single scientific article was objectively crazy.
Temple Run: 72 hours at Cambodia’s Angkor
You are presented with an endless series of open doorways. One will lead you into a slot canyon of carved walls and gnarled trunks. The next leads into a tumbledown courtyard filled with beehive temples. The next has you following the taffy-like trunk and roots of a single behemoth tree.
The floating jungle huts of Thailand’s Cheow Larn Lake
The wooden plank that served as my seat shivered in time with the longboat's naked motor as we shot across Cheow Larn Lake. Sheer limestone cliffs stabbed upwards from the jade water all around us. Every one of the hundred islands was shrouded in jungle trees that were shriveling their way through the dry season.... Continue Reading →
Holy Khao!
The second chapter of my 2024 Thai adventure was full of Khaos - Khao Lak and Khao Sok, that is, southwestern destinations near the ocean and jungle.
Tips for diabetic travel in hot climates
Traveling with Type 1 diabetes is always a delightful challenge, and hot climates can really kick the fun up a notch. Here are some hot tips I've learned from trial and error during my 20-odd years on the road through 40 countries and counting.
Thailand, so hot right now
The perfectly-square Old Town of Chiang Mai is a compact 1.5 miles on each side, yet the density of temples apparently rivals the concentration of churches in Rome.
Japan, Chapter III: Nara to Kinosaki Onsen
My final three days in Japan, which I spent patting wild deer amid temples in Nara, inhaling cheesecake in Osaka, and disintegrating in the volcanic hot spring waters of Kinosaki Onsen.
Japan, Chapter II: Fuji to Kyoto
I'm a firm believer in letting myself be surprised by a destination rather than doing too much research beforehand, which can have either disastrous or amazing results depending on whether I happen to miss or find the highlights.
Japan, Chapter I: to Tokyo
If I had to summarize my impression of Japan after my ten-day visit using only one sentence, it might be this: “I imagine Japan emerged from ancient East Asian culture in a similar way to how shibas somehow evolved from wolves.”
Where do I begin?
On my panicked internal response to the ubiquitous question of "How was your trip?" after I returned from a month traveling through eastern Asia.
Window Seat Odyssey 