This Thursday, I’m traveling to a place that should have yellow caution tape around it. According to the news, according to family and friends, according to the U.S. State Department, if I’m looking for danger: non-essential travel to Chihuahua, Mexico is the way to...
Danger Zones & Dark Sides
ROUGH SURF AND EASY WHALES – Dancing with a Stranger at Cape Flattery
Being open when we travel is like standing atop a cliff, enlivening but risky. One year ago tonight, friends and I celebrated my memoir with a release party. To mark that anniversary, I'm sharing with you a story that never made it into They Only Eat Their Husbands: A...
EVERYBODY’S GOTTA GO SOMETIME – Bathroom Survival Stories for World Travelers
Whenever I write or read about travel, I focus on adventure, learning, beauty, maybe even making a difference. But whenever I talk about travel, whether with global trekkers or homebodies, at some point we end up giggling and gasping over the same subject: bathrooms....
“WHAT ARE YOU?” – The Ancestral Traveler Within
I recently answered a question on the Soul Pancake blog that hit at the heart of a subject I ponder often. The question was, “What question do you hate the most?” “What are you?" I've answered this question a lot throughout my life. In part, my answer was: "What are...
LEARNING TO BREATHE: How Adventure Helped me through a Personal Crisis – by Guest Trekker Kim Kircher
DRESS REHEARSALS Adventures are like dress rehearsals for the real thing. I have spent my life careening from one adventure to the next - always looking for the next big trip to tick off my list. Whether climbing Kilimanjaro, trekking through Bhutan or scuba diving...
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DOESN’T DISCRIMINATE – Cara’s book excerpt on the “Gender Equal” blog
When Indian activist Rita Banerji asked me to post an excerpt from my memoir on her blog, Gender Equal, I didn't just feel humbled - I almost felt ashamed. Gender Equal seeks to raise awareness of global gender inequities. The blog is an initiative of the 50 Million...
INVASION OF THE BODY SCANNERS – And Other Close Encounters of the TSA Kind
The thing that has excited me most about the controversy over the Transportation Security Administration’s new enhanced screening is that it has found people on both ends of the political spectrum agreeing on something. It turns out a lot of people, liberal or...
TREKKING IN THAILAND (by guest trekker Jen Reeder)
"In Pattaya, it is hookers. Here, it is treks," a stranger said to me in a restaurant in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It was an unusual pick-up line, but factually right on the money. Just as the beach-town of Pattaya was known for prostitution, the mountain town of Chiang...
Where Did the Minoan Ghosts Go?
I was walking through a ghost town with no ghosts. Maybe that’s why it never whispered any clear answers. Ancient Akrotiri was a city of 30-thousand souls, until they vanished, every last one of them. In about 1650 BC, the ancient Minoan town of Akrotiri was buried...
IT HAPPENS – The Trouble with Worms in Africa
“It’s not contagious,” I repeated, as friends backed away from me in horror. I couldn’t resist telling a travel tale involving skin-tunneling parasites. In turn, my friends couldn’t resist shifting back just a hair, although they insisted they understood there was no...