"Pain?" she remarked, quite matter-of-factly considering that my face had twisted into a grimace. I think this was the only word the Thai woman knew in English. Her right leg was wrapped under my left one, and her arm...

Taipei lacks the charm of San Francisco, the beauty of Paris, and the glitz of Singapore. But beneath the formless, polluted skies, the monotonous cement buildings and the noisy road construction, there is the heartbeat of a young, independent...

Thailand opened a new airport about 20 miles east of the city today. The Suvarnabhumi airport is thanks to the ousted prime minister, who spent nearly $US4 billion to build the modern airport, and open it ahead of schedule....

Crack!! My friend, John R., broke the shell on the coconut. We had been working on removing the husk and outer casing of this land mollusk for quite a while. About 30 minutes ago Matt had found what appeared...

As I was carving up an onion this evening, I was reminded of our group's time in Cambodia. At the risk of sounding poetic, let me explain. From the outside, Cambodia looks like an onion: plain enough, perhaps even...

The swarming hum of motor bikes dampens as the door to "Blue Bar" shuts behind us. We navigate the red sofas and smooth-stone floor to our seats where, before long, we are enjoying mango+strawberry smoothies. We relax and pull...

Abram and I had intentionally scheduled our flight from from Singapore through Honolulu. A by-product of this scheduling was a five-hour layover in Tokyo-Narita International Airport (NRT). That was just enough time to duck out through customs, leave our...

It's early in the morning and the sun is reaching through the smog, crowning the city with a brown halo. Holding on tightly to the railing of the express river bus as it spews down the Chao Phraya river,...

The diesel fumes spray into our faces leaving behind a filmy residue on our sweaty skin. The wind from the herk-and-jerk of the vehicle feels nearly refreshing after walking in the sun all day. I close my eyes. Pop...

Food is cheap. I mean, when you think about it, restaurants in the U.S. are so expensive because of the additional costs (overhead) added on to the cost of the food: salaries, benefits and unemployment taxes, decorations, property taxes,...

Overpowering. Blistering and clausterphobic. Intense. And I love every minute of it. Shopping in Thailand is an glazing experience for the foreign traveler. It doesn't matter if you're shopping for grilled duck or mango wood chopsticks -- the adventure...

Sitting in my padded cell here on the 24th floor of the Bangkok Westin Grande, I see that I have surrounded myself with comfort to try to ease the pain somehow or prevent the suffering of my mortal flesh. A...

Our experience in Chiangmai is hard to describe. Don't get me wrong: there was nothing negative about it. In fact, it was delightful in almost every way. But it was so different than what we expected. Put yourself in...

From Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Benjamin is the perfect model of Asian self-effacing. Him and his friend Kwang-Leon fetched us from the airport in the middle of the night (not getting bed until 2AM). Our accomodations are basic, by American...

The 747 is a beast of a plane. Over one million components. A transoceanic flight range of 8,400 miles. The largest load capacity of existing commerical aircraft. It is the Queen Mary of the skies. Abram and I grabbed...

With the quick spark of ignition, a whiff of Jet-A, and the thunderous hum of 4 Pratt and Whitney's, our sky chariot spun up on the tarmac at San Fran. Johnnie P. and I were Asia-bound. Asia-bound on a trip...

Abram and I cooled our heels in the Singapore Airlines Silver Kris lounge overlooking the tarmac. We've got an hour or so to kill here at San Francisco International Airport before we take off for Hong Kong. My morning...

It doesn't get much more exciting! I just bought tickets for a whirlwind tour of Southeast Asia -- ultimately to see some friends that live in Chiang Mai and spend time with one of my favorite travel buddies, Abram...