I was driving in the opposite direction that I were supposed to be going. I didn’t know this at the time, blissfully ignorant of our impending doom. I was riding with a scruffy, silver-maned old man in the darkening night, listening…
Language is a living, breathing entity. I imagine it to be like a geological creature, formed by layers and layers of sediment dating back through time. Analyze a particular section of the language, and you can learn about the history…
The world becomes smaller when you travel. I don’t mean that in the proverbial sense, where meeting new people from different countries and learning about their cultures exposes us to the idea that we are all much more similar than…
I’ve definitely encountered my share of sketchy food abroad. From clandestine dog meat in rural Guangxi to nationally famous duck blood soup in Nanjing, China can offer as many culinary feats of strength as you desire. Bar the dog meat,…
Bali is predominately, and dominantly, Hindu. And while all other islands in the Indonesian archipelago are majority Muslim, Bali still vehemently maintains its religious practices that date back to the 1st century A.D. A Balinese Tradition Take Nyepi, the holy day…
Many people take pride in learning languages like Chinese, Arabic or Russian. These are considered some of the most difficult languages for foreign speakers to learn, and students may attempt them to challenge themselves and impress others. When I first…
The origin of Chinatowns in the United States is an interesting one. According to my professor of Chinese history, virtually all second or more generation Chinese people in the United States are from Taishan (台山), a small region in the…
This is the second part in my series on hiking China’s Yellow Mountains. Start from the beginning here. This is the last time I’ll be talking about the Yellow Mountains. For now at least… This mountain range in the Anhui…
Inspiration comes when we least expect it. Conversations at a bar, on the street, or in a hostel lobby might one day fester in your mind and send you on a half-baked adventure flying by the seat of your pants.…
The main appeal for staying in hostels is the likelihood of getting to know the most spectacular of world travelers and grand individuals. I’ve met an English banker turned stuntman who spent six months training at the Shaolin temple; a Swiss…