trip reports

9 essays

Notes on a Full Life, Live from CX 883
Originally posted on August 20, 2009 — Hi everyone. I’m high on life and writing in from the Cathay Pacific LAX-HKG flight.
Adventures in Yemen
Upon my arrival in Sana’a, the capital city of Yemen , it took a while to get underway. Immigration was uneventful and I had met the guy who would serve as my guide for the next three days, but
Adventures in Somaliland
On my last trip, I made it to a country I’d been wondering about ever since beginning my quest more than five years ago: Somalia . Technically, I went to Somaliland , also known as the safe part
The Havana Half-Marathon: Adventures on a Small Island
Last weekend, I finally made it to Cuba ! It was a significant trip for me, since Cuba was my final country in all of the Americas. I now have only 19 total countries remaining, and this was an especi
Interesting Facts on Visiting Angola
Chances are, you probably won’t be visiting Angola anytime soon … but it’s always good to be prepared. Here’s a starting point. *** 1. The capital city of Luanda is now the mos
For the Love of Airports
There are those who say that airports are all the same; that travel has become standardized and sterilized. This view holds that airports exist merely to take passengers from one place to another, and
Visit to Tiger Kingdom
Thanks to some fun travel hacking that led to a better-than-free side trip to Thailand, I took a couple days off at the end of my Belarus-to-Algeria adventure . I’ve been to Thailand a dozen tim
Free Trip to Thailand: Travel Hacking Case Study
When I haven’t been contemplating the puzzle of how to do everything , I’ve been planning my final international trip of the year. Yes, it’s only July, but come September, I hit the
Equatorial Guinea on $508 a Day
A few people asked me to say more about the high cost of visiting Equatorial Guinea . Yes, a basic hotel room really does cost $400-500 a night, and sometimes much more. There are no hostels with merr