You can tell a lot about a city by the way people use its parks. Not the tourist parks, but the parks locals use to the hilt, the ones with flea markets and music and playgrounds — in this case, a crazy wooden structure with ropes to balance on. Sundays in the summertime, Berliners flockContinue reading “Mauerpark on a Sunday”
Category Archives: Travel
Worst hostel mates: The all-stars
I’ve been sleeping in international hostels for over 13 years now. I’ve traveled solo since I was 20 years old, all over the globe, and every trip makes me a little more savvy. But if you’re staying in a hostel, there’s not necessarily much you can do to ensure that your hostel mates are quietContinue reading “Worst hostel mates: The all-stars”
Selma’s Shanghai
A few years ago, I went to Edinburgh and decided it was one of my favorite cities in the world for its own sake. I didn’t do a whole lot there, other than drink really good Scotch for not very much money and admire the architecture. I tried to connect with this Chinese girl SelmaContinue reading “Selma’s Shanghai”
Crashing Shanghai Fashion Week
I decide I’m going to Shanghai Fashion Week to try to get them to photograph me for my rad street style. From what I observed yesterday after I stumbled into the heart of Shanghai Fashion Week totally by accident, people like to take photos of you if you’re dressed in something crazy. Like a mink coat withContinue reading “Crashing Shanghai Fashion Week”
Ad hoc tea in Shanghai
I went out to find an ATM, leaving behind my camera because ATMs are hardly film-worthy. On my way a Chinese guy flagged me down and asked me to take a photo of him and a smiling Chinese girl in front of a Chinese sign that apparently was film-worthy. I snapped the photo, handed backContinue reading “Ad hoc tea in Shanghai”
Wandering Shanghai
Shanghai is less terrible than I expected, since the air pollution seems to have lifted long enough to let in sunlight, but still, walking around by myself makes me want to be basically anywhere else. Especially when I wander into the minority art exhibit of the Shanghai Museum and stare at the traditional dresses ofContinue reading “Wandering Shanghai”
Arriving in China
The quiet orderliness of my arrival into China is weirding me out. It’s so easy, routine. Nothing like I remember from 14 years ago at the boarder crossing from Hong Kong to mainland China, nothing whatsoever like being pressed forward in an untamed crowd of human flesh towards an official stamp in your passport. I smile. The agents smileContinue reading “Arriving in China”
Nelson on a migraine
I make it within five blocks and 20 minutes of the opening event at Coldsmoke Powder Fest in Nelson, British Columbia, which I’m supposed to be covering for Out There Monthly, and I realize I’m getting a migraine. To the point that I can’t see. Did I mention this particular event I’m supposed to beContinue reading “Nelson on a migraine”
Starting home
I’m staring at the clock on my cell phone on a street populated with nothing but black storefronts and groaning garbage trucks, and I’m starting to panic. I’ve been waiting for 20 minutes for my taxi to the airport. It’s only five minutes late, but I haven’t scheduled much leeway into my pickup, booked theContinue reading “Starting home”
The caves of Ao Leuk
If you rent a motorcycle, you can find the less touristy spots in Krabi, such as the network of caves near Ao Leuk marked poorly, if at all. The nicest cave near Ao Leuk is Suanoi Cave, and it is not easy to find. It isn’t the largest, or the most visited, but it isContinue reading “The caves of Ao Leuk”
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