The year was 1945. The United States and the rest of the world had been at war for years, and the casualties were mounting. After defeating Germany, all eyes turned to the Pacific theater. America was making headway in the hopscotch war for tiny islands, and the top brass was beginning plans for an invasion …
Any car can drive on any road, as long as the driver is determined enough. Travel has taught me this lesson time and time again, and the drive to the sapphire lakes of Band-e Amir, Afghanistan’s first national park, is yet more proof. The road begins innocently enough. Fresh black asphalt cuts through the sparse …
In February 2013 I was invited to be part of the media pool which covered the Yukon Quest sled dog race which starts in Whitehose, Yukon and finishes in Fairbanks, Alaska by way of Dawson City. I knew next to nothing about dog sledding before my visit, but left fascinated by this little known sport. …
2013 was an epic year for me in terms of travel. I took 84 flights and set foot in 44 different countries and territories on 5 different continents. I visited 73 new world heritage sites and probably another 20 which I had visited previously. I didn’t even count the number of miles I traveled by …
Latitude: 23° 50.5338′ N Longitude: 15° 51.4997′ W No one knew what to expect in Western Sahara. Last year, the West Africa trip ended in Senegal, so even the staff didn’t know what to expect. It isn’t a place that most people even know about, and the name doesn’t really lend itself to much more …
Latitude: 30° 25.2′ N Longitude: 9° 37.72′ W Our arrival in Morocco marks the last day of our trip. Most of the countries we visited on this tour had very low numbers of tourists. Morocco was one of the exceptions. Because of that, I assumed that going through customs and immigration for Morocco would be …
Latitude: 28° 30.4763’ S Longitude: 15° 34.7887’ E A day at sea for a passenger vessel is a challenge for the crew. You have a group of people who are stuck in a small space with nothing to do. There is no television. Internet and telephone connectivity is either non-existent or severely limited. On larger …
Latitude: 33° 54.2614′ S Longitude: 18° 24.9283′ E Checking passengers on to a ship is not the same as checking into a hotel. You can’t just have people check-in willy nilly over the course of a day. There are issues with security, immigration, and the port authority, so the first day is usually at a …
Latitude: 13° 21.6551’ S Longitude: 12° 20.2529’ E Thoughts On the Map of Africa The map of Africa is one of the most nonsensical and artificial things on Earth. With the exception of the recent border between Sudan and South Sudan, every one of the lines on the map was drawn by European powers without …