We landed in Ho Chi Minh City after struggling not to sleep through a thirteen-hour flight to Tokyo, a three-hour layover full of Japanese snacks, and another five-hour flight to Vietnam. We arrived in the early evening, damp air around us deceptively cool, but the asphalt still radiating warmth from […]
Read More• Asia
Perfect Pitch – Jazz and Baseball in Japan
If someone tells you that they experienced jazz and baseball on their trip, would you be able to correctly identify the country? If you guessed the U.S., try again! I am talking about Japan. The Japanese are crazy about jazz and baseball. The American presence in Japan following WWII left […]
Read MoreNSFW Temples or How Victor and I became Temporary Celebrities
Buckle in, the day has come. This is our very first NSFW post. None of this previous “Asian Massage but no Happy Ending” or “Pot Pizza without Any Actual Pot” nonsense. This post is going to contain the most non-family-friendly pictures so far, at least until we get to posting […]
Read MoreVillage Homestay in India – New Year, Goats, and Bootleg Brandy
Ever since we started seriously traveling, we usually take two weeks either around Thanksgiving or Christmas/New Year for a long trip out of the country. To date, we have celebrated New Year watching fireworks while wearing white and drinking champagne with locals on a beach in Brazil; lost in a […]
Read MoreThe Holy River of Ganges – Food Poisoning, Death, and Scams
Varanasi remains to this day one of the most surreal experiences of my life. Grief and poverty, hope of reincarnation and casual indifference to burning human corpses, all blended within a rigid structure of strict funeral customs makes for a stunning picture to an unindoctrinated Westerner. It is a city unlike any I have ever been to – a place where both live and dead are looking for their next reincarnation.
It is not a place I am likely to forget.