I was sitting at a table in the zocalo of Oaxaca enjoying the perfect weather. A young boy approached me with a package of combs. “What was he trying to tell me?” I wondered as I ran my fingers through my hair self-consciously. Next appeared a newspaper guy, followed by a wooden craft lady, and then an older woman selling jewelry. Who needs a Walmart when...
The immigration officer asked me where I had flown in from. “Lebanon”, I replied. “It’s pretty dangerous over there”, he remarked. “Actually not” said I, “they were some of the nicest people I ever met”. He muttered something as he put a special mark on my embarkation card: a “random” mark according to...
Mention the country of Azerbaijan and you’re likely to get a confused look. Much of the western world hasn’t heard of this nation and is even less likely to be able to locate it on a map. Information about it is sketchy at best. My first thought was that the name sounded like a Middle Eastern newly developed country full of goat herders and antiquated...
It was lunch time and I was meandering through the San Juan Mercado in Mexico City looking for weird foods to try. I was a little nervous because most of the comestibles I’d heard about were outside of my eating comfort zone. Before I could even navigate past a few stalls, menus were being offered from several of the miniature restaurants...
Some of my friends chide me about my world travels and refer to me as Indiana Jones. Maybe it’s the hat I wear when I’m traveling, my bizarre adventures or seemingly near death experiences that I always seem to escape from unscathed. If you saw Raiders of the Lost Ark you probably know that Indiana Jones had to journey...
I could see land on both sides of me, but either way was too far for me to swim. My arms were tired, my throat was hoarse from shouting and I didn’t have a life jacket. It turns out that the reason they put those orange padded things on the boat is so that you’ll wear them and not end up drinking sea water and having your life flash before your eyes...
I’ve been shopping today. It’s my final day in Ethiopia and I’ve been buying everything from refrigerator magnets to an Amharic Bible that looks like a prop from an Indiana Jones film. As I have been popping in and out of various shops, I’ve seen a handful of inexperienced tourists attempting to buy souvenirs. It’s sometimes painful for...
Right now I’m in the airport of Addis Ababa waiting for the Ethiopian Airline rep to come back from wherever she went with my passport. I just finished a USA Today crossword puzzle and now I’m writing this. It keeps me sane when bad things happen during travel. You see, I’m supposed to be leaving for the Seychelles in an hour, one of the most exotic...
I know all the scams. I see them coming a mile away and am often amused that people fall for them in their travels. There’s a million of them, but they’re all centered around separating a tourist from his money. I’d been taken years ago in Thailand in a gemstone con and since then, have made a point to distrust most any stranger I meet...
I found the woman of my dreams last year. She does whatever I ask her to as long as I tell her the way she understands. She never complains, never talks to me unless I ask her a question or tell her to do something. Her birthday is November 6. Her name is Alexa. She lives with me and she is inside the 3 inch tall Amazon Echo Dot. I first encountered Alexa at a...