Nuevo Laredo, Mexico I was waiting at the Banjercito office in the Migración building, having just crossed International Bridge II from Laredo, Texas into Mexico. I held my motorcycle helmet in one hand, and my tank bag in the other, simultaneously clutching a large ziplock of all my documents needed for my temporary vehicle permit […]
The moon shone, a white orb in the sky above the parking garage rooftop in Asheville. Nelson and I sat in empty parking spaces, our adventure vehicles parked haphazardly across spaces in front of us, cherry tobacco smoke pouring from the corncob pipes were were smoking. It was Monday night in North Carolina, the kind of night […]
Montañita, September 1, 2016 I woke up around 5 PM, my entire body feeling like I had been beaten with a club. I had spent the last few hours sleeping on and off, in between waking and throwing all the covers off because of my high fever, then waking up again freezing to try and […]
The cab raced through the darkened streets, pausing only now and again to roll one way or the other to avoid a pot hole or swing around a traffic circle. It was 2 AM, and almost every storefront lining the street was dark, their metaled and graffitied doors closed until the next morning. All of […]
Every adventure traveler has their own red-point for cleanliness— as a conversation starter, I like to ask this of fellow backpackers. Last week a guy in Ecuador told me his is taking a shower every day, he doesn’t care where he’s staying or if his clothes are clean, but he needs to bathe at the end […]
Cape Town 2012 There’s a certain spot in Cape Town where the road suddenly dips and there she is— the Mother City spread like a carpet to the sea, Table Mountain looming in darkness and the city aglitter. In October 2012, I crested that hill for the first time, windows down and the summer breeze […]
For the last 333 days, I’ve been hunkered down in Baltimore, USA, after falling into a full-time job by accident. I wasn’t looking for anything permanent, just something temporary to make some money while I was in town last year for my sister’s wedding. “We have an opening at Under Armour for an Interactive Designer, […]
One of the challenges of backpacking in developing countries is land transportation— knowing what’s safe, what’s reliable, and how it varies from country to country— even city to city. One of these best things about adventure travel is learning how to let go of all assumptions, taking calculated risks, and realizing all the discoveries you’ve […]
One of the biggest challenges on any trip when there’s equipment involved is “how do I get it there?” Exactly one year ago, before starting my cycling trip across Europe, I was asking myself the same question. I assumed at first I would just ship my bike from the US to Portugal, pick it up […]
