From the shores of a Thailand resort town, Rolf explores what happens when you mix rich men, elephants, and polo gear.
Excerpts from a book written by my nephew Cedar, who is 4 years old
My nephew, Cedar, who is four years old and lives on a farm in Kansas, wrote a book for me yesterday. Since he didn’t know how to mail it to me as I make my way through Central America, his mother (my sister) transposed it into an email. I guess I’ll have to wait a…
Update: Fall 2003
Friends and vagabonders, Fall promises to be an exciting season for me this year, as I will be departing to drive across the Americas as part of a Land Rover-supported expedition that will eventually drive around planet Earth along lines of longitude. The name of this expedition (and nonprofit organization) is “Drive Around the World”…
A quick recap of three countries and two states in three weeks
I’ve covered a lot of ground in Asia and North America since my last serious round of blog updates. My return home started in my jungle hometown (now former jungle hometown) of Ranong, where I moved out of my apartment and headed for Bangkok, where — in addition to scoring a cheap one-way China Air…
Remembering the Hippie Trail
Book Review: As David Tomory’s A Season in Heaven reveals, the wanderers of the 1960s and 1970s were creative and intrepid — but they also tended to be petty, competitive, self-ghettoizing, and self-deluding. In short, they had the same charms and weaknesses as any self-conscious, authenticity-seeking counterculture movement of the last half-century.
Update: Summer 2003
Friends and vagabonders, My latest update is short and sweet, in large part because I’ve been posting most of my new information over at my weblog. This summer I’ll be splitting time between Thailand (where I’ve been writing my second book) and Paris (where I’ll be teaching the travel writing section of a creative writing…
What I’m listening to in the jungle
The walls are a bit thin at my residential hotel here in south Thailand, so I can generally hear what’s going on in room 311 next door — whether I want to or not. Usually it’s just some couple having an argument, or an HBO Asia movie blaring too loud — but last night someone…
Notes on possibility (from a visa run to Burma)
This morning, I went on my obligatory monthly visa run to Kawthaung, the small Burmese border town that lies about 20 minutes by boat from my temporary home in Ranong, Thailand. Ranong is where I come to hole up and get my writing done, so I always welcome this visa run, which takes me across…
Update: Spring 2003
Friends and vagabonders, Greetings to you from Thailand, where I have just returned full circle after three months in the United States promoting my book, Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel. My thanks to everyone who came out to say hello at my book events on the West Coast, in the…
Update: January/February, 2003
Friends and vagabonders, After many months of writing and preparation, my Vagabonding guide is now available in bookstores! For comprehensive preview information on the book, go to Vagabonding.net, which will be adding new online content each week, all year long. For daily travel news and links, surf over to my all-new weblog,Vagablogging.net. This “blog” site will…
Toura Incognita
Central Laos has all the makings of travel’s last frontier: An unmapped wilderness, a lost city, and villagers unaccustomed to visitors. What’s at stake when tourists arrive?