For liberté, égalité, fraternité

Moving to Paris four years ago turned out to be an unmitigated disaster from which I had to ask my mother to bail me out. (It’s a funny story, maybe I’ll tell it sometime) I have been thinking a lot about the recent attacks and what Paris did for me. All I can say, and …

Cautionary Tales from the Tracks

Siberia, Russia I recently began daydreaming about leaving home again. I decided that for my next trip I should take off for two months. Hopefully that will be enough time to traverse the northern coast of Africa, snake off into the Middle East, blunder my way over northern India into Nepal, and finally re-enter China. …

The Holidays are Coming

Nozawa Onsen, Japan I arrived back home for an 'indeterminate' period of time. I'm yet to discover what that really means. Setting my employment struggles aside, I'm rather glad to be back. This was my first Christmas in two years. Last year I hopped hundreds of miles of local trains* from Sendai to Nozawa Onsen to spend …

The Return of Ghengis Khan

Arvaheer, Mongolia Sitting here entertaining tarte au chocolat for breakfast (Day 4 of the pastry challenge, and no, I'm not bored yet) thinking about my recent trip to Mongolia, I began to wonder. I know for sure that writing retrospectively has advantages. Clarity of perspective for one. I can't imagine I would have been too forgiving …

The Blue Heart of Siberia

Omsk, Russia Standing outside a pseudo-Italian restaurant I waited for my guide to arrive. Drizzle was settling on my eye lashes and inside my bones. A man across the road stood staring, probably at my clear lack of preparation for Omsk weather. I lit a cigarette. Blowing grey smoke into a comparably grey sky, a …