With barely a day to catch my breath, debrief, and plan the next leg of my trip, I was right back at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, checking in on East African Airways, en route to Juba, the capital of South Sudan. "Safari njema" ("Have a good journey"), Samuel, the gregarious Merlin driver with a smile as big as all outdoors exclaimed as I made my way through the customs line... Once inside the main cabin, it struck me -- I was the only Caucasian on the flight. It didn't make a difference to me (and I'd like to think that [View Full Entry]

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Turkana, Northern Kenya … “This is Africa!” Not sure if it stems from the residual joy of the recent election of our 44th President or the exotic, challenging allure of Mount Kilimanjaro, but going to Kenya has always been very high on my travel wish list. And now, this wish has come true! As part of my induction at Merlin ("Medical Emergency Relief InterNational"), the NGO that I have recently begun working for, I am spending the next two weeks in Eastern Africa to get a visual appreciation and a general sense of some of our p [View Full Entry]

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Anyone who has ever traveled with an infamous "buddy pass" before knows all about the uncertainty tied with this type of traveling, which often times leads to frustration... The sweet sight of a smiling gate agent who hands you a boarding pass at the last minute is one of life's greatest relief! Though I certainly can't complain, having had the opportunity to travel the world with such perks, my "buddy pass experience" in Lima has not been so fortunate. To give you some boring, yet unfortunately important background, Delta only has one flight out of Lima to the States (Atlanta) per [View Full Entry]

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Despite a strong persuasive attempt by Ines, Aldo, myself and the skillful bartender at the restaurant mixing potent pisco sours, Paul managed to make his flight back to the States... We said our "adios" and once again, I was back on my own, eagerly anticipating the rest of my trip. After a few more obligatory beverages accompanying the much-needed catch up reunion with Ines and Aldo, I traced the next part of my route, which involved a stop over in Arequipa on my way to the popular Cusco - the lauch pad for Machu Pichu. A few beers later, and after [View Full Entry]

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While most friends back in the States were grilling out, watching fireworks and celebrating independence day, Jordan, Paul and I made history on our own...well, sort of. Quite fittingly, July 4th was Peru´s second annual ¨Friends Day¨which, as part of a new social campaign, falls on the first Saturday in July. Mostly a marketing strategy put on by a local beer company, this day actually symbolized a whole lot for me and my two best friends. Some would call it irony - either way, it happened on the culmination of quite an adventure... Fresh off the bus in Idyllic Huaraz, which [View Full Entry]

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Since the very first time I picked up a surfing magazine, and for as long as I can remember, I have always dreamed of heading to Northern Peru to surf Chicama, the world´s longest wave.... Well, 15 years later, this dream finally came through - and not only did it happen, but I was able to share it with my two best friends - I could not have asked for a better experience. So I left Mancora, heading South on an overnight bus to Trujillo to meet up with Paul and Jordan who were doing the same thing, except heading North [View Full Entry]

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Well... It´s been a while since I last logged on to this blog and I was surprised to learn that I still actually have an account and that my profile hadn´t become obsolete! I just assumed that with the increasing preponderance of new online social networks, I´d have to subscribe to the latest electronic medium to share and document my travel experiences... But this makes it much easier. And obviously, please don´t feel obligated to read any of this stuff - it just helps me to keep an ongoing documentation of my travels and a good way to go back and [View Full Entry]

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"Aisle or Window Sir?" the friendly lady at the Eva Air counter in Bangkok asked me with a welcoming smile. Hmmmm? This is one of the many existential conundrums that I have never been able to answer consistently. It seems that every time, my mind vacillates between one or the other. I would have plenty of time to experience both options on my long LONG way back home to New York. In fact, I did just that. More than 36 hours later, 5 successful take offs and landings, a cornucopia of airplane rations and cheesy movies, having gone full circle around [View Full Entry]

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"You hope, and you dream. But you never believe that something's gonna happen for you. Not like it does in the movies. And when it actually does, you want it to feel different, more visceral, more real. I was waiting for it to hit me." - Richard in THE BEACH Just when I thought that this trip could not get any better, it somehow does. After Cambodia, I was fully content with anything thrown my way. I felt like I had seen and experienced enough to keep my mind and memories flowing for years. So when I decided to head [View Full Entry]

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I have never felt as captivated by one country as I did in Cambodia. The past few days have truly changed my life - one of the most inspiring experiences ever. The following words and pictures do not nearly do it justice… From Bangkok, the bus journey is absolutely heinous! The lonely planet rightfully describes the trip as unreliable and averaging between 8 to 15 hours. Well, as I’ve learned the hard way, it’s always best and safest to go with the longer time estimates. Under a clear and hot and muggy sky, our bus left Bangkok around 8: 30 am [View Full Entry]

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