chavofraser

Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay in producing this entry. Yes, I was otherwise occupied – visiting family and friends, getting resettled in the Bay Area, work, the Sierras, band practice/shows, watching Ken Burns' Baseball, Charlie Rose, and Twin Peaks + life in general. I also felt that I needed to ruminate on China. Over the last several months, I have read several pertinent books – all highly recommended: The Search for Modern China by Jonathan Spence China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power by Rob Gifford The Good Earth by Pearl Buck Why the West Rules for Now by Ian Morris Oracle Bones: A Journey Through Time in China by Peter Hessler Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig (not on China per se but certainly related) I ... read more

Hi folks - greetings from Kunming! Just wanted to fill you in on my travels. What follows is the blog post on Nepal. I visited Nepal for about a month - April 6th through May 5th. I was in Kathmandu at the beginning and end of my trip.........and in the middle I trekked the Annapurna Circuit (spending a few days in Pokhara before and after the hike). Please check out some pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8870546@N03/collections/72157626534287405/ Whereas my time in India was more about learning tabla and Vipassana meditation, my stint in Nepal was more about connecting with people and communing with nature. I made several new foreigner and Nepali friends and had the chance to visit a former roommate, Sarah O. (as I like to call her). Sarah and I were roomies in Atlanta almost 15 years a ... read more

Hi everyone! Here's the blog post on Kolkata and the tabla. To bring you up to date, I arrived in Kolkata on February 1st and was here until February 16th. I then did a ten-day Vipassana meditation course in Bodh Gaya - you can read all about that by following this link: http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Bihar/Bodh-Gaya/blog-582949.html I returned to Kolkata on March 1st and I leave for Nepal on April 5th - today! While in Kolkata I did many things - most were related to music. Please check out some pics and videos as they will help you follow along: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8870546@N03/sets/72157625862949459/ I've structured this post a little differently than previous ones - first, I'd like to talk some about Kolk... read more

Hi folks! I usually try to keep the mood fairly light in these posts but I did want to say that I'll be sending positive thoughts to the folks in Japan - I hope the recovery effort happens as quickly and as safely as possible. So here's the blog entry on South India. This is a bit of backtrack from the last entry on Bodh Gaya. I'm now taking you back to the month of January. I arrived in Mumbai on January 4th, then proceeded to Goa, Gokarna/Kudle Beach, Hampi, and Hyderabad (left January 31st for Kolkata). India is usually an up-and-down experience for me and this stint wasn't an exception. Here are some pics for you: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8870546@N03/collections/72157625640034891/ I knew immediately upon arrival in Mumbai that I was in India: url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... read more

Hiya folks! Sorry for the delay. Things have been kind of hectic with sightseeing, Vipassana courses, tabla lessons, and all. So I'm just now getting around to the first official travel blog post - yes, two months into the trip. In this post, I will cover my Vipassana course (February 16-27) in Bodh Gaya. There will then be a bit of backtracking as the next post will cover the month of January I spent in South India. I just wanted to talk about the Vipassana first.......while it's fresh in my mind (I wasn't allowed to write anything down during the retreat). And the post after that will likely explore Kolkata and the tabla. So here are some pics for you: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8870546@N03/sets/72157626179020876/ Also, y'all are gonna have to show me some love (or hate or something) if ... read more

Hi folks! So this isn't one of my typical travel blog entries but please bear with me and hopefully it will make sense as you read on. I spent a good portion of 2010 working and saving money for the trip I'm currently on and also processing the trip that I took in 2009. I also watched a lot of movies, read quite a few books, and watched all episodes of The Wire - highly recommended, by the way. It was a bit of an up-and-down year for me - glad to be home, not so sure if I was glad to be home, feeling a bit clueless, uncertain about things, happy again, etc. (you know the drill!) Probably the most notable Bay Area event of 2010 was the Giants winning the World Series. What follows ... read more

Hiya folks! It's been a while but just wanted to fill you in on the rest of my trip and my assimilation back into normal American society. San Francisco is still kinda normal, right? In this post, I hope to help us collectively wrap our heads around my trip's "deeper meaning". I may allude to things I've mentioned in previous posts but keep in mind that this is a wrap-up, yo! So! After leaving Rome, I spent 3 weeks with my family and then returned to the Bay Area shortly after the New Year. I was really glad to be in one place after all my travels and here's that place: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_jersey The Garden State seems to get a bad rap but let's think about its contributions to the world, even just in the musical realm....Frank ... read more

What's up peeps! Brian (or as my nephew has taken to calling me - Farmer Pickles) here. Are you ready for the post on Italy?! Sorry but if you really want to motivate a two-year-old, you've got to make it sound like the most fun thing *ever*. So are you ready for the post on Italy?! Yay!!!!! Well, alright then! I've got some pics up here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8870546@N03/collections/ And I've included some pics of my family but they are marked for friends and family only - if you'd like to see those too, please join flickr and send me (chavofraser) a friend request. I promise that you will have a cuteness attack when you see my nephew. So Italy! To be honest, I was pretty ready to be at home by the time I got to Italy. ... read more

Hi folks! I am back in the U.S. and very glad about it too. I can't describe the joy I felt at hearing my first nonrhotic accent at JFK: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonrhotic I think I hit a little bit of a wall in Vienna and Italy. I enjoyed both but I just really needed some down time - mainly just to process all that I had experienced. Right now, I'm resting and relaxing in New Jersey - I'll more than likely be back in the Bay Area after the New Year. After the last post on Romania, I visited Budapest for about 10 days, Vienna for about 5, and then Italy for about 2 weeks (Venice, Florence, and Rome). Here are some pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8870546@N03/collections/ I'm not going to touch Italy as it deserves its own post. Hopefully, I'll ... read more

Hi folks! Greetings from Budapest. I know I said that I probably wouldn't do another blog entry before I returned to the States but I felt that I would forget some stuff by that point so here ya go. And here are some pics for you: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8870546@N03/collections/ I finally got around to organizing my pics by country - enjoy! After Bulgaria, I made my way through Romania visiting Bucharest, Sinaia, Braşov, Bran, Sibiu, Sighişoara, and Cluj-Napoca. In the last post, you may recall that I said that I might not use any more "words" to describe my experiences but I simply couldn't resist using this particular "word" for Romania - I'm sorry, I'm addicted to words! I realize that I've sold these "words" kind of hard in the past so I will try to take it ... read more