2018

Da Berry’s Invisible 40%

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Sometimes in my travels, I learn a little more about a place than meets the eye. The small town of New Iberia is one of those places.  It is one of Louisiana’s oldest and most historic.  Straddling both sides of the beloved Bayou Teche, it is the center of the state’s sugar cane production.  Locals are friendly and affectionately call their town “Da Berry.”  Visitors come to tour the elegant plantation house called  Shadows on the Teche, New Iberia’s charming downtown, and the jungle garden on Avery Island.

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Cool Stuff You Can Buy At A Market Not Near Your House

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Kyoto Japan — pickled radishes

I am not a shopper. But when I travel, I love shopping — not at Zara or Desigual  — but at local markets, where members of the community sell what they grow or make.  Every market visit is an education in local culture and every market is a place to feel connected to the local community. People are happy — or at least hopeful. And that kind of shopping doesn’t require you to buy anything to make you feel good.

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The Painful Loneliness and Glorious Solitude of Traveling Alone

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Cairo, Egypt

“Loneliness expresses the pain of being alone and solitude expresses the glory of being alone.”

                                                                                                         — Paul Tillich, German Philosopher

For most of the past three years, I have traveled the world on my own and, yes, some days I wake up dreading another day alone. I am a social person. I miss my family and friends at home, and I love traveling as a team. So why do I keep traveling the world alone?

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The Chicken Bus to Granada

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Granada’s iconic cathedral

This past year, I have been traveling a little more like a normal tourist than I did when I set out on my travels three years ago. Back then, I made a point to use the transportation used by locals, eat at the night markets and food stalls, and visit every kind of neighborhood. I was reminded of this in Managua when my taxi driver took me to the bus station instead of the meeting place for the tourist shuttle. Continue reading →