The U.S. Coast Guard would be appalled, but drinking while adrift is a daily scene off the coast of Nha Trang, Vietnam. The “floating bar” is part of a popular all-day boat trip to outlying islands and it works like this: Shortly after lunch, a crewmember swims maybe 100 feet away from the boat with […]
The Benefits of Moments of Travel Misery
“There is little favorable to be said about poverty,” wrote Nelson Mandela in his book Long Walk to Freedom, “but it was often an incubator of true friendship.” I first read this line (and book) about 15 years ago, and I remember it sometimes in my moments of misery on the road. No, it’s not that […]
Paul Theroux and “Despair is the Armchair”
On most days of the year in the Colombian city of Bucaramanga, you can spot paragliders in the distance sailing along the valley’s edge. Or, if you take a bus up from the city to the mountainside itself, you can sit and watch folks gallop off the grassy slope right in front of your eyes. […]
10 Photos: Faces in Egypt the Night President Hosni Mubarak Resigned
On February 11, 2011, at 6:00 p.m., it was announced that Egypt’s president of 30 years, Hosni Mubarak, had vacated his position. At that moment tens of thousands of Egyptians were gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, participating in the 18th day of protest demanding political change in Egypt. Many demonstrators had come prepared to die […]