Leo’s new movie may be fiction, but its portrayal of a crowded travel world is based in fact. Rolf reports — from the unlikeliest of places — on just what is happening.
Turkish Knockout
Rolf retraces the thin threads that led to his being drugged and robbed in the heart of Istanbul.
A Greek romance
At Corfu’s Pink Palace, the ouzo flows, the crockery flies and the libidos run wild.
Fear and loathing in Latvia
Between the fistfights and the Finnish girls, it’s hard to get any writing done.
On the Trans-Siberian Express
Amid an epic Beijing-to-St. Petersburg train trip, Rolf parties with librarians, tracks down the fate of Genghis Khan’s testicles, and (among other things) embarks on a madcap race to catch up with the train after getting stranded on the Mongolian-Siberian border.
Horse races, open spaces and the fate of Genghis Khan’s balls
In his first dispatch from an epic Beijing-St. Petersburg train trip, Rolf explores the mysteries of Mongolia.
Goodbye, Khao San Road
As he leaves Southeast Asia, Rolf reflects on the evolution of the middle-class travel revolution.
Retch-22: Laos in the time of cholera
The official analysis was “diarrhea, with vomiting.” Right.
Searching for Binh Hoa
Hoping to find an obscure Vietnam War killing field, Rolf discovers that some lessons of history teach themselves.
The Barbecue Jesus and other epiphanies
Wandering off the Vietnamese budget travel trail in search of authenticity, Rolf finds that authenticity isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Apocalypse Not: One Month on the Mekong
In a quixotic attempt to re-create Mark Twain’s “Life on the Mississippi” in Southeast Asia, Rolf invests in a Laotian riverboat and attempts to drive it 800 miles to the Cambodian border.