Today’s post is a guest post from my traveling amigo Paul Sobczak, one of the most intrepidly unique people I know. I can say with some certainty that some of the strangest things I have received in the mail, was sent by Paul. A few years ago, I wrote about Paul’s I Can Eat Glass and…
Don’t Retreat Into Your Phone When the pondering barista slices fruit for smoothies When filling a frustrated space In line in a foreign New York neighborhood When the parks call your name and The sun has declared himself sultan of the Conquered grass, Yesterday called, wishing he had had more time During…
The songs are intrepid—about travel, strangers rendezvousing, searching for meaning in night skies, love, loss and pondering the complicated web of existence we possess individually, yet share communally.You get glimpses of your future when you are young—fledging behind things you are drawn to. When I was newly minted teenager, I dug through a box of…
Ignorance is not bliss in Antigua; it is dangerous. Antigua, Guatemala has a reputation for being “pretty safe.” But expats who live here and in reality know that “stuff goes down” in Antigua. Things can get real—real fast. People are mugged, more frequently pickpocketed, and in much rarer instances, worse. During three years working as…
“Lay off the gin!” screamed the scotch, Moments after the tequila grabbed a bottle of it and Began humping it like a street dog. If I’ve learned one thing from street dogs, it’s do not bite children, for parents enact specific revenge In questions of their kin. But here, amid the peanut shell alluvium, Stands…
“I tell you this will all my heart,” she tells them. “Sometimes our problems choke us and make us feel alone, but I’m here to help you if you ever need it because I love all of you.” “I’m not going to tell you the story of something that happened to my sister,” Doña Marí…
I was never a heavy smoker, but for much of my twenties I was a social smoker at bars and every now and then. Recently, I have just kicked that habit in a “I’m too old for this” type deal. I recently came across a story of how Hookahs helped someone quit smoking cigarettes AND…
A quick search of my laptop shows that I possess seven unfinished drafts of articles about Monterrico, Guatemala. In one abandoned draft from 2008, I lead with, “Nothing by the sea ever lasts. Cars rust in record time. Sand is always in everything. You never get it fully out of your hair. Things rust away.…
Today’s travel tips comes from a Guatemalan friend of mine, Loch Ruiz. Loch’s is originally from Guatemala City, Guatemala. But his time in Antigua, roving with contracting and swelling bands of expatriates, inspired a love of travel in him. That mixed with his natural talent for entrepreneurial thinking has led him to some novel solutions…
Fellow travel bloggers and NYC musicians have all been helping us get to our $10,000 goal to put 55 students in school with The Integral Heart Foundation. That’s 55 individuals stories, each worth hearing and retelling–stories that begin with struggle, but stories that Mick and Debora and everyone at The Integral Heart Foundation are in…
