Off to Washington State, Home of Pot Tourism?
I am about to break one of my own rules. I usually try very hard to have the last trip’s story up and done before I embark on another. But early Saturday, I’ll fly out to Seattle and then begin a trip to Bellingham and to Vancouver, British Columbia. I […]
Cartagena Lives Up to its Billing as One of the World’s Most Beautiful Cities
As a life-long resident of a small town in the country, I am usually not drawn to cities. I do love the excitement of New York of course, and am awed by the world’s great metropolises, but most of the time I’d rather be out in the country. My trip […]
A Day in Coffee Country with Men Who Live the Bean
I found my essential moment of this exciting trip through prosperous and friendly Colombia…It came while I looked up at the steep green hills of the Corcora Valley while standing on the back of an old Willy’s Jeep, driving down a tree-lined country road. Yes that was it. We were […]
A Day in the Salt Mines
It’s the most popular tourist attraction in Colombia. It’s nearly 600 feet down underground. It was built in 1992 and the 127 miners who helped build it are memorialized with holes drilled behind a cross. It’s the Cathedral of Salt, about an hours drive outside of Bogota. Outside of the […]
After Years of Being Shunned, Colombians Are On the Move
It’s always exciting to be in the company of people who are high on living in a certain place, especially when they’ve changed countries just to live there. Last night we had a large table at the Hilton and Sandro Leopardi told us all about his life’s journey that brought […]
Bogota, Colombia: Nine Million People at 8000 Feet
It was a rather odd time to depart on a flight from JFK–6:55 am. So I tried to nap and then left Deerfield at 1 am for the journey to the airport and after a relaxing five-hour flight, we were driving along the streets of Bogota Colombia. This is my […]
When We Lost Kent St John, We Lost this Blog’s Biggest Fan–But It’s Time to Soldier On
Blogging is not for everyone. It’s hard to keep on doing this in my ninth year–the energy begins to drain away, and the number of readers goes down. It’s a cycle that’s hard to buck, and I’m trying now to be as invigorated as I was when I began this […]
Snowblower Conks Out, Neighbor Comes Through, I Get a New One
Like everyone else in New England, I watched the approaching storm with trepidation. I did the mental checklist in my head, preparing as best I could, getting gas for the snowblower. I was confident I would be ready with my 1970s vintage orange Ariens. We looked out our window at […]
Frank Sinatra Never Had the Thrill of Painting a Room By Himself
I often think of the advantages of not being as rich as Frank Sinatra once was. That’s because when you’re a tremendously wealthy singer and movie star, you don’t get the chance to do things that are very satisfying, even if they feel like work. Whenever I have painting to […]
First the Population Bomb, Now the Birth Dearth
I spent much of my growing up years being deathly afraid. I was terrified of what I’d read in the 1960’s popular book, The Population Bomb by Paul Ehrlich. That book sent me to bed afraid that there would be so many people on earth we would not all be […]
Where the Googlers Are
On Tuesday, I entered the inner sanctum of one of the richest corporations in the world. A year ago,Google bought its own Eighth Avenue building in NYC, for $1.9 billion. It’s one of the biggest buildings in New York, with 3 million square feet of space. At an event for […]
A Joyful Amtrak Ride into the Big City
I had to get down to New York yesterday, as the snow flew around me and reports trickled in of cancelations from the weather. I did the white knuckle dance as far as Springfield’s Chessmen Lounge, where I parked my car and hurried to board Amtrak’s Vermonter into the city. […]
Arabic Music at the Iron Horse Pulls Me In with its Infectious Beat
For as many years as I’ve been a traveling man, I have gravitated toward certain types of music. I especially am drawn to Arabic music, that enchanting pulsing beat that comes with lyrics I can’t understand, adding to the mystique. I discovered an artist named Nasrat Ali Khan a decade […]
The Big Apple: The Center of the Travel Universe
After so many years of visiting the New York Times Travel show this time of year, you’d think it would become old hat. But it’s still invigorating to don the badge and make my way onto the show floor to meet up with so many of the colleagues and friends […]
Playing the Drums Brings Moments of Ecstacy
There is an exhilaration unlike anything else when you’ve just played music with a band–and done it well. I had a moment of triumph last night at my old friend Joe’s house when I took to the full drum set and played two tunes with a spark and precision I […]
Four eBook Publishers Walk Into a Cafe
This morning I joined three of my fellow ebook publishers for a get together around a big table at my favorite Greenfield Cafe, the Brass Buckle. Working on these projects, we tend to go it alone, so I appreciated Jeff Rutherford taking the time to get us all together to […]
Argentina Says We Won’t Pay, And Leaves the Presidential Plane at Home
Argentina is a defiant rogue in financial circles. That’s because in 2001, the country told hundreds of banks, organizations and individuals to take it or leave it. They defaulted on more than $100 million in debt, offering pennies on the dollar to the people who loaned them all the money […]