Austin is a city unlike any other in Texas. With it’s west coast vibe, music scene and hipster culture, there’s a lot of different travel choices you won’t find in Houston or Dallas. Gentrification is the buzzword the locals use for the new spaces popping up as older properties are repurposed, remodeled, or rebranded to fit with the city’s...
I was taking a selfie outside Jon Bon Jovi’s childhood home in New Jersey. The place looked like all the other houses nearby, except Jon had grown up there, learned to play the guitar and had later given the house away in a rock and roll contest. I felt a little like George Carlin’s character in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure when he pops in to check...
Back to the Future is considered by many to be one of the best movies ever made. Besides a great story-line, the film is full of endearing characters, great comedic moments, adventure and it’s a movie that never fails to entertain me. I love visiting filming locations and I was in the perfect place to visit the best BTTF spots, Los Angeles. DeLorean from BTTF –...
The water was a little rough as we rounded Kamala Point on the south coast of Kauai. I knew there was a reason the place looked familiar. After all, it WAS the same spot where Harrison Ford’s character got marooned with Anne Heche in the film 6 days 7 nights. Our boat crew grabbed two 5-gallon buckets from the hold and I assumed one of the girls in the back had...
“I found her” my travel partner exclaimed. We were wandering through a Liverpool cemetery looking for one of the most recognized names in music; a person whom Paul McCartney had claimed he’d made up, but happened to share the same name as the woman on a gravestone at the very church where John and Paul had met: Eleanor Rigby. Eleanor Rigby’s Name Can be...
I had been scouring the museum for Arrangement in grey and black no. 1, and wanted to ask someone where it was, but wasn’t really sure how to say it in French. It was 9 am in Paris and I was still exhausted from my red-eye flight from Ethiopia. My brain wasn’t working. You’ve seen photos of this painting. It’s been called the Victorian Mona Lisa and is one of the...
Most experienced travelers have made mistakes that have taught them valuable lessons of what to never do again. Traveling in an unfamiliar place and having your guard down can always be a little risky. A seasoned traveler knows that “when life throws you lemons, make margaritas”. Drawing from past experiences can teach us how to travel better in the...
Japan. It’s a mystical country unlike any other destination in Asia. With a sense of style that far surpasses its neighbors, exotic foods, and an island chain that extends almost 2,000 miles, Japan is full of surprises. It could take a lifetime to discover all this wondrous country has to offer, so where do you go on your first visit? Here’s my list of awesome things...
When I first heard of Chimp Haven, I was more than surprised. This chimpanzee sanctuary is the largest in the world and is located in Louisiana, a state known for very strict wild animal laws. I love primates. My travels have taken me to Madagascar to see lemurs in the wild, Malaysia to visit orangutans, and I even have tracked silver backed gorillas in The Congo...
THE SHOCKING TRUE STORY When I first met Rudy I thought he might be missing an eye. I was at a pirate party for a mutual friend and as we were talking I noticed his pirate eye patch didn’t really look like a costume eye patch at all. Rather, the leather looked like it might be grafted into his skin. The more I looked at it, the more I wondered whether he was wearing...