Chronicles
Trip reviews and journal entries.
Walking the Plank Road in the Sky: A Lesson in Overcoming Fear
Think of something you fear. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Conjure up the images, sounds and smells that accompany that fear. Did your hands start to sweat? Or your stomach turn flips? That’s how I felt whenever I thought about doing the Plank Road in the sky on a...
The mostly overlooked, but greatly underestimated Mount Heng
A sixty-degree incline of stone stairs stood in front of me – 103 stairs to be exact. Atop the stairs was Beiyue Hall, a splendid Daoist temple halfway up Mount Heng in the Shanxi province of China. Mount Heng, or Hengshan, is one of the five sacred mountains of...
37 Things Backpacking has taught me to be grateful for
I’ve lived outside the US for over 7 years. Most Thanksgivings, I was fortunate enough to spend time with other expats. Often, somewhere between carving the turkey and seconds of cranberry sauce, someone would inevitably bring up what they are thankful for. I...
How to eat Scorpion in Beijing
In the heart of Beijing, off the side of one of its busiest streets, lies a peculiar market. It’s where tourists go to test the saying that the Chinese will eat anything with four legs and isn’t a table. Actually, the saying shouldn’t be restricted to only four legs,...
Inside the Mountain that Eats Men: A Photo Tour of the Potosi mines
The deep thud of the blast ripples along the stone walls of the mineshaft. The walls are laced with moisture, the liquid appearing out of nowhere and everywhere. The explosion brings with it a light breeze and the earth shakes around me. It is hot, damp and hard to...