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Ugly Americans (and non-Americans) on the road, and how to avoid being one
Vagabonding audio companion: Obnoxious travelers (and how to avoid being one)
On sharing a truck with 11 other people (plus chickens & yams) in Vanuatu
The video below doesn’t contain a narrative arc — it’s just a series of slice-of-life moments from a half-day cage-truck trip around the northern rim of Malekula Island, en route to the isolated Big Nambas village of Tenmaru. Rough as dirt track looks, it was the only through-road on that part of the island. Buying…
Notes on my (never published) first travel book, part IV: On recounting dialogues
When I teach my travel memoir classes each summer in Paris, I often do a lecture based on Thomas Swick’s “Roads Less Traveled: Why so much travel writing is so boring.” This essay astutely outlines seven key things that tend to be missing from generic travel stories, including imagination, insight, and humor. Swick notes that…
To keep cultural traditions active, Vanuatu kastom dances are sometimes performed for tourists
This photo of “kastom” dancers was taken our second full day of traveling through Malekula Island (and its surrounding islets) in the Vanuatu archipelago. Kastom is a pidgin word (a play on the English word “custom”) that refers to traditional art, ceremonies, religion, and magic in Melanesia. This troupe of men and boys from the…
Notes on my (never published) first travel book, part III: On depicting other people
Having touched on the task of depicting myself as a character in the pages of Pilgrims in a Sliding World (my never-finished first attempt at writing a travel book), I will now examine the task of depicting other people in nonfiction writing. Indeed, just as the “I character’ is a selective persona that doesn’t comprehensively…
Exploring the chill, euphoriant ritual of drinking kava at an Uripiv, Vanuatu nakamal
I’d heard of the ritual of drinking kava before I traveled to Vanuatu, but I didn’t realize how pervasive the practice was (particularly among men) until I traveled to the outer reaches of the archipelago. Made from the emulsified bush-roots of Piper methysticum (roughly, “intoxicating pepper”) and mixed with water before being filtered with a…
What you discover when you walk down every single street in New York City (encore)
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Matt Green walked across America, then walked down every street in NYC. This is his story.
Notes on my (never published) first travel book, part II: The author is a character
When teaching my creative writing classes in Paris, I typically begin my memoir-themed craft lecture by writing these words on the whiteboard: Author | Character / Narrator The vertical line between “Author” and “Character/Narrator” is in part meant to underscore the fact that – in analyzing a person’s writing – we’re not talking about the…
In places like Uripiv, Vanuatu, “locavore” isn’t a lifestyle choice; it’s the only way to eat
Although the word “locavore” has something of an upscale-foodie connotation in the US, to “eat foods grown locally whenever possible” (as Merriam-Webster defines it) is pretty much the only option for people who live in the outer islands of Vanuatu. After the 16-hour ferry ride from Efate to Malekula, Kiki and I boarded one more…
What’s the Best Way to Explore Kenya? Join a Local Hiking Club.
Rolf sought an authentic experience, and found it in Lets Drift, “an exuberant Kenyan-centered enterprise” of people living in and near Nairobi.
Notes on my (never published) first travel book, part I: Pilgrims in a Sliding World
For almost as long as I’ve been making my living as a writer, I’ve been telling folks about the role that failure has played in my development as an author. Specifically, my failure to write an insightful and coherent book about my first vagabonding experience – an eight-month van journey around North America undertaken when…