TobyThe Girl Who Was Afraid of Everything. (A break from the usual—story time!) *** Once there was a girl who was afraid of everything. She […]
Latest Blogs
When You Don’t Want to be Friendly and Open and Curious
That’s okay. It’s normal. Go ahead and hermit. I stare resolutely out the window of my Uber at the windy Cape Town day, quite […]
The Rough and Wrinkled Side of Adventure
Sunday, 23 April. Porto, Portugal. Welcome to the world of unplanned adventure. It’s messy. It’s unphotogenic. It’s wild-ish. It’s kind-hearted French tourists warning you that […]
Some Things I Like (About Travel)
Lisbon, Portugal. Saturday afternoon, somewhere far from the city center. I like this cafe, edged in fading sunlight, that flanks a nondescript park. I […]
The Strangeness
“There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.” — Robert Louis Stevenson Sorry, Robert Stevenson, on two counts. First, […]
An Artist’s Statement, Kind of
In addition to the travel, culture, and adventure writing I focus on here, I also dabble in poetry, fiction, and other creative writing. Through these […]
How I’m Overcoming the Tension of Teaching Storytelling in Africa
In my first workshop meeting, I share a TED Talk by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and she discusses how throughout history those in power—especially […]
The Wild-Tame Peculiarity of Safari (and 10 Wild Photos)
Sabi Sand Game Reserve, Mpumalanga, South Africa A male leopard wakes from his nap and stretches lazily. Three safari cars—Land Rovers, I think—have parked just […]
Don’t Take My Word For It
Everything I have ever written, everything I will ever write, represents an infinitesimal slice (mine) of an infinitely complex whole. I may speak of the […]
When the World is in Chaos: Dance
“Yougottadance. Aslongasthemusicplays. Yougotta dance. Don’teventhinkwhy. Starttothink, yourfeetstop. Yourfeetstop, wegetstuck. Wegetstuck, you’restuck. Sodon’tpayanymind, nomatterhowdumb. Yougottakeepthestep. Yougottalimberup. Yougottaloosenwhatyoubolteddown. Yougottauseallyougot. Weknowyou’re tired, tiredandscared. Happenstoeveryone, okay? Justdon’tletyourfeetstop.” ― Haruki […]