“Philly? Why would I ever want to go to Philly?” Until now, characters I knew to be from there shaped my narrow-minded impression of Philly. Rocky, a...
Watching four women lazily swivel around in ergonomically correct office chairs, singing, while two bald dancers writhe on the floor in front of them, I...
At some point I started thinking about cowboys as wild American explorers, but maybe I’m romantically forcing that idea a bit because that’s what I fancy...
My friend Ragan and I crossed the Mongolian Desert for a week eating nothing but pickled cabbage, potatoes and the occasional found bag of crushed airline...
It’s one thing to be naked around your best friend; it’s a whole other deal to accidentally touch each other’s bare skin, especially when you’re trying...
“Stick your tongue on it. Go on.” Besides bored kids in winter, does anyone ever follow this suggestion? Yet here I was in remote Mongolia, holding...
First, let’s get it straight. It’s spelled BOTH ways. Piedmont is how most English speakers say it; Piemonte is how the Italians pronounce it. And me. I...
Seamus met two charming, well-dressed guys on the steps of the Duomo with credentials around their necks. Before the afternoon was over we were out €40, two...
Tales of an ancient forest deep on the border of Poland and Belarus ping across my consciousness like a tiny flight recorder begging to be found. Maybe just a...
In today's installment of "Should I Visit This Tourist Attraction?" I go to the Salt Mines of Wieliczka so you don't have to (unless you want to). About...
Stay in a Medieval Castle in Cong, Ireland
February 22
Nine years ago, when I first visited Ireland we stopped in a bucolic little town called Cong, made famous by the 1950s John Wayne movie The Quiet Man. Because...
My Heart Really DID Go On in Belfast
March 27
A family reunion was propelling the return to our ancestral homeland, but what was really burning a hole in my travel guide was a visit to the new, huge,...