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Vagabonding pioneer Ed Buryn on what indie travel was like in the 1960s and 1970s
Vagabonding pioneer Ed Buryn on what indie travel was like in the 1960s and 1970s (encore)
9 Outtakes from The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton
1) On authenticity Now suppose some loon comes up and says: “Have you found the real Asia?” It is all real as far as I can see. Though certainly a lot of it has been corrupted by the West. Neither Victorian Darjeeling nor the Kennedy-era Oberoi can be called ideal Asia. I remember Deki Lhalungpa…
Remembering the legacy of three years spent teaching science in South Central Los Angeles, 1964-1967
My father, George Potts, taught science at Fremont High in south-central Los Angeles from 1964-1967. In the popular imagination this corner of urban America is associated with the 1965 Watts Riots, but I grew up knowing, despite media/historical stereotypes, that the young people of this community helped my father (who at the time wasn’t sure…
9 essential nuggets of Kevin Kelly travel advice (as well as life-advice that can apply to travel)
I’ve featured author and digital-culture pioneer Kevin Kelly in a number of podcast episodes over the years — in large part because he is so insightful on topics like travel, technology, and life in general. The opportunity to participate in one of Kevin’s “Walk and Talk” sojourns in Thailand was a big highlight for me…
Why We Travel: Happiness, curiosity, wonder, sex, healing, and other motivations for hitting the road
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Journalist and broadcaster Ash Bhardwaj on the motivations of travel.
On the inexpressible way modern art museums fire the imagination (even if you don’t know art history)
Though I’ve never aspired to be a visual artist — or even studied art history in a formal way — I’ve always been enchanted, as a traveler, by modern art museums. I recall being so fascinated by what I saw at the 1997 Gwangju Biennale in Korea that, more than one decade later, I bought…
Grand cathedrals have a way of reminding us of the impermanence of what we see and experience
Kiki and I visited the Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-Strasbourg in Alsace, France, the same week I watched Orson Welles’s quirky 1973 essay-film F for Fake, where, in the context of another French cathedral, Welles noted: This has been standing here for centuries. But, it is without signature. …It might be just this one anonymous glory, of all…
“Marco Polo Didn’t Go There” featured on the “Travel Writing Stairs” of Saxony’s Kerkermeister Pension
It was very cool to see my book Marco Polo Didn’t Go There alongside titles by the likes of Anthony Bourdain, Orhan Pamuk, and William Least Heat-Moon (as well as Marco Polo himself) on the Kerkermeister Pension’s “Travel Writing Stairs” in Auerbach, Saxony. The Kerkermeister Pension is run by teacher and world traveler Adam Lee…
A list of “best of” lists where Vagabonding landed on the list (South Asia edition)
Earlier this year, I posted a “partial list of ‘best of’ lists where Vagabonding landed on the list,” which outlined where my debut book had appeared on various “best of travel” roundups in recent years. While this included a “10 Must Read Books for Every Travel Lover” list from India Today, I did not realize…
Here’s why the first paper copy of Vagabonding is in a display case in Bangkok’s Atlanta Hotel
The first copy of Vagabonding I ever held in my hands sits in this display case at The Atlanta Hotel in Thailand. The story of how it ended up there is inseparable from the tale of my own travels in that part of the world. As was the reflexive habit among young budget wanderers passing…
Before Sunrise (redo): Screenwriter Kim Krizan on what led up to the classic travel-romance movie
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Kim Krizan, who cowrote Before Sunrise with director Richard Linklater, talks about the travels (and historical moment) that influenced the movie