The full title of Chapter 7 in Rick Steves’ Travel as a Political Act is “Europe: Not ‘Hard on Drugs’ or ‘Soft on Drugs,’ but Smart on Drugs.” It’s an awful title in my opinion, but it’s an interesting topic. Rick is a strong advocate for the legalization of marijuana in the United States. He…
Perhaps a post about where I’m thinking of going isn’t an imagined adventure so much as it is a plan for a real journey. But I’m posting this under “Imagined Adventures” because right now I’m imagining these trips over the next year.
Chapter 5 of Rick Steves’ Travel as a Political Act is about Denmark. I visited Denmark in 2012 and really fell in love with it. I didn’t look upon my visit to Denmark as a political act, so it was interesting to get Rick’s perspective. (This is the fourth part of my series of chapter-by-chapter…
Chapter 3 of Rick Steves’ Travel as a Political Act covers a broad range of topics: economics, diversity and immigration, the refugee crisis, sex, drugs, alcohol, nudity, and the wide range of European passions for their culture. I will only touch on a few of these topics here. (This is the third part of my…
In 2014 I traveled in the former Yugoslavia. I wrote about my walking tour of Sarajevo with someone who had grown up during the siege there in the 1990s. And I wrote about three of the local people I met in Mostar, people who almost made me forget about the beautiful bridge that is the…
I recently finished reading Rick Steves’ Travel as a Political Act. Originally published in 2009, its third edition was released last month. I found the book provocative and illuminating. I learned a lot and found much to ponder. This is the first part of my series of chapter-by-chapter reviews of Rick’s book. See the tag…
Go look at these photos and videos. Then we’ll talk.
Shamefully, I am writing this nearly three months after returning home from South America. Once I fell behind with blogging my trip, I never got caught up. And then, after I got home and organized all my photos, I needed a little break. I went to Mexico for a week and even got those blog…
I started this post a few days ago when I was in Mexico City, but I just couldn’t get it finished while I was still away. My itinerary was completely disorganized. I had made no advance plans, read no guide books, and put together no list of must-sees. So I was just winging it, and…
The hike from hell So on a hill above Tepoztlan is this pyramid.
Christmas in Tepoztlan At one point yesterday, as I was wandering aimlessly around Tepoztlan thinking about what I should do next, I let go. I let go of the need to do anything next. Of the need to have an agenda. I can’t recall when I’ve ever done this before on a vacation. But this is…
Evening in Tepoztlan I arrived at my Airbnb a little before 9:00 last night. It was already dark. After I got settled, I decided to take a walk to the center to see if I could get some food. I hadn’t eaten much all day and I was hungry. My airbnb host, Francisco, told me…
