Today I have a photo for you from a rare sunny day at Ocean Beach and a quick preview of my next post on surfing… Don’t worry it’s not a first hand account from me. I hate deep, open water! It’s an unconventional account from an experience surfer of tackling fears in the form of a notorious surf…
Visiting the Apartheid Museum — Johannesburg, South Africa
To enter the Apartheid Museum you’re given a ticket. That ticket assigns you a classification and therefore the gate through which you are allowed to enter, Whites or Non-Whites. It’s a poignant way to begin learning about this unparalleled period of South Africa’s history. What struck me initially on my visit was just how much of the…
The Kenya Most Travelers Don’t See
Kenya is known for many things, including amazing landscapes, stunning wildlife, Maasai tribes, and even picturesque beaches, but Kenya is also known for producing world class runners. Iten is the center of Kenya’s training grounds for long distance runners. “Sitting at the edge of a high plateau about 200 miles northwest of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, Iten…
Truffle Troubles in Southwest France
January isn’t necessarily an ideal time to travel to Europe. All the holiday lights have come down, and it’s still pretty darn cold, even in most of southern Europe. I can still think of one reason that would quickly convince me to board a plane (and buy a warmer coat!) in January — truffle season…
My San Francisco Commute in Pictures
Sitting for hours in traffic is miserable. It seems to turn otherwise normal people into something wild and animalistic, forever jockeying for position amidst a never ending stream of cars, but never actually seeming to get anywhere. Every morning before work, and every evening after work? No thank you. One of the huge draws for…
The Curated Commute — The Birth of a “San Francisco Treat”
Learn a little about the birth of an iconic American product in 1940s San Francisco… If you suspected from the title that the San Francisco treat was rice-a-roni, well then you’d be right. Today’s featured podcast is a little shorter than normal, but still a lot of fun. It’s from NPR Morning Edition’s series called…
Utter Darkness Every Night in North Korea
The sky fades to black. No, it’s not some cheesy opening line to a play, but the truth each night for a nation of approximately 23 million people. This unbelievable NASA satellite image shows the almost complete darkness that envelopes North Korea each night. The contrast from neighboring South Korea is dramatic, to say the…
The Allegory of California by Diego Rivera in San Francisco
This is the second post in a series where I’ll be visiting all four Diego Rivera frescos located in the Bay area. The first fresco I visited is located maybe a mile or so from my apartment, and as a long time fan of Rivera’s work, I was very excited to discover it right around the…
Next Time in Medellin, Colombia
A friend recently asked me to describe the most beautiful place I’ve visited… It’s such a hard question, but I completely understand the desire to ask it because I love to know the answer to the same question from fellow travelers. But, there are so many beautiful places in the world! Southern Europe, especially the…
The Curated Commute – Breaking News from Easter Island
The Curated Commute is a series where I pick interesting podcasts or other audio treats to accompany you on your commute. Hopefully they’ll entertain you and maybe even help you learn a little something while you’re en route… *** You might be surprised to hear that new things are being discovered (and theorized) about the moai…
