If you were one of the richest people in your country, and you had to build a vacation home in your home country, where would you build it? I think I’d go for a beach mansion in California. Somewhere beautiful and dramatic — maybe Santa Barbara. Well, the Duke of Westminster is one of the …
After the shipwreck, we were taken from Komodo Island to the port town of Labuan Bajo on the island of Flores. Lonely Planet describes Labuan Bajo as “the next big thing” in Indonesia travel. I think there are two kinds of places you can describe as “next big things” — either places that are fantastic …
Stranded in Indonesia? There are Worse Places than Labuan Bajo. Read More »
As our bus hurtles down the road to the beach town of Mui Ne, Vietnam, my friends and I have abandoned the laptops and guidebooks in our laps. The reason? We’re unable to drag our eyes away from the landscape unfolding before us. How can this place exist? In Vietnam, nonetheless? It looks like the …
I have fallen in love with the riverside town of Kampot, Cambodia. What is it about this place? Is it the crumbling architecture? Is it the French influence, from the lampposts to the baguette carts? Is it the peaceful riverfront and the walkability? Is it the fact that everywhere has free WiFi? Seriously, though, more …
Kampot: I Want To Bottle This Town And Drink It. Read More »
You know what’s worse than being woken up by a rooster? Being woken up by a cow and baby who are currently having a scream-off. “Moooooo.” “Waaaaaah!” “MOOOOOOOO.” “WAAAAAAAAAH!” Welcome to Si Phan Don. I came to Laos’s Four Thousand Islands, or Si Phan Don, knowing very little about them. I knew they were nestled …
I’m at a tiny gas station in the Bolaven Plateau of Southern Laos, trying to explain to the woman how much of the magenta liquid I need. I point to my nearly-empty fuel gauge; she hands me the hose to hold while she cranks the manual pump. And then I have to figure out how …
Off the Beaten Path in Laos: The Bolaven Plateau Read More »
Lake Quannapowitt, located 10 miles north of Boston in the town of Wakefield, is the see-and-be-seen place of the suburbs. I grew up down the street in Reading, and to this day, I can’t walk the lake without running into someone I know. Usually, someone’s mom. The lake measures a perfect three and a quarter …