I awoke in the grey pre-dawn to a sky full of clouds and my spirits dampened just like the deck outside. I felt sure that my hike was going to be drab and dreary, full of wind and chills. Across the road, the lake sat still and quiet like the clouds above. The hills across…
Category: travel essay
travel essay: hiking cinqueterre
It was early morning in La Spezia when we dragged ourselves out of bed and headed toward the train station. “Seven tickets to Riomaggiore,” we asked. Maybe in Italian. I don’t remember… we tried our best. No one else was up in the city. Our thirty five closest friends were still abed at our hotel,…
travel essay: transiting the panama canal
We sit, anchored at what we call Flamenco, an expanse of Pacific Ocean filled with container ships, yachts, car carriers, junkers, the greenpeace sailboat, and other various ships. Panama City is in the distance, a hazy mirage of skyscrapers glinting in the afternoon sun. A hot breeze wafts across the water – one that’s just…
travel essay: sittin’ on the dock of the lake
I’m reminiscing in this travel essay. When I was a child, my parents and extended family rented a lakeside lodge in Jamaica Point, Maine for two summers. I was maybe nine or ten when we first got it. I always wished we could have continued going, but the owners sold a few summers later and…
travel essay: il foro romano
It’s early when we leave the flat, despite my jet lag. I can’t wait to get out into the city and explore the ancient ruins of Il Foro Romano. After stopping for an espresso, we head to the Colosseum. There’s no line and we get right in. We wander slowly through the exhibit, peering closely…
travel essay: bubble-netting whales
It’s a calm morning in the waters of Southeast Alaska. There isn’t a ripple in the water, except for the circle of bubbles that come to the surface not twenty feet from our bow. Everyone is silent, save for a quick whisper here and there. Suddenly, the world erupts in a spray of splashes, screams,…
travel essay: ancient ruins and hopes and dreams
i don’t think i have ever written about greece and turkey, except for maybe a post or two back *ages* ago when i was transitioning my website over from mac. greece is amazing; athens is not beautiful and that’s why i love it. istanbul is beautiful, ranks as one of my top five cities in…
travel essay: what i want
i had a moment last week when i was looking through some old posts, and i came across one that talked about what i most wanted out of life. it was back when i was in the midst of a very unfruitful job search, wasn’t fulfilled with my life, hated all three of my jobs…
travel essay: sand dollar beach
It’s early in the morning but the sun is still hot and high. I catch a zodiac across the shallow channel to the beach and slip my sandals off in the golden sand. I’ve got my Nikon slung across my shoulders and my iPhone camera in my pocket. I know it’s at least a thirty…
travel essay: barra’s beach airport
Barra, a tiny island at the lower tip of the Outer Hebrides island chain, on the west coast of Scotland, has an interesting airport with a fun fact: it’s single runway is actually the beach. Barra’s beach airport is the only beach airport with regularly scheduled flights. There are only two flights in per day,…