TobyDo you ever experience moments of sudden and unanticipated gratitude? I do—every day. Thanksgiving, for me, is a lovely excuse to eat good food with […]
Category: Europe
Johnny Cash and Slow Travel
8:15 a.m. Self-Service Restaurant “Mediterraneo.” Grandi Navi Veloci ferry from Tangier to Barcelona. I look up from my breakfast—a somewhat sad assortment of boxed orange […]
Zen & the Motorcycle Passenger
Sorrento Coast, Italy (Mom, you’ll want to skip this one.) The headlights of oncoming cars are a blur as we race down the center line […]
3 Macabre Stories that Capture the Essence of Napoli
Climbing hundreds of stairs for a good view, as per usual. Thursday, 1 September, Napoli, Italy The weather was a bit mercurial, and we took […]
La Notte della Taranta—or, Where I was on Saturday
A post shared by Toby Israel (@tobyintheworld) on Aug 29, 2016 at 5:32am PDT On the road to Melpignano Melpignano, Puglia, Italy; Saturday, 8:00 p.m. […]
This Is Why We Walk—Maybe
Ancient Practice in the Modern Landscape Sixteen kilometers of open road. No turns. No twists. The trees are thick on either side, and I’m […]
Did You Find What You Were Looking For? (Camino Reflections, Part 10000)
My last visit to London, in July of this year, I had dinner with a former classmate. We had taken “Intro to Buddhism” together. I […]
The Modern-Day Renunciate
Sobrado de Monxes Cathedral, Galicia, Spain. He asked if there was water nearby. The two dogs, attached to his belt by lengths of thick rope, […]