When I left home for college, one of my biggest (and most secret) fears was that I would never find a place to get a proper haircut in a new city—I had the same stylist (I use that word purposely) for 18 years of my life. Our doctor-patient relationship was so good, she even came […]

(Xun Zhou, China) Everyone likes to save money, right? Of course, that’s why American’s invented Walmart and people worldwide flock to Ikea. During my visit to Xun Zhou, I got a pretty good lesson in why those stores are so cheap.

When you wake up in the morning intent on joining a pro-democracy march in China, its one of those things that sounds impressive to brag home about. Images of angry, weapon yielding masses, Molotov cocktails, and a single man standing in front of an advancing line of tanks are thrown around liberally. I wasn’t sure if I was exactly ready to stare down a tank, but this morning I was ready to stand up and demand democracy from those crazy communists in China.

So, I put on my best fitting running shoes, protective long pants, and of course, grabbed my camera before heading out of the door.

I will finish up my official work with Rotary International as a Rotary Ambassador this coming week. While I am shedding one ‘ambassador’ title, I’ve just recently gained another. I’ve officially become a ‘minted’ Mentos Ambassador.

On the road my Macbook laptop is a photo editor, video assistant, digital databank, my global communication link to the world, and the only way I can call me mom. Two weeks ago. My little computer shut off and never turned back on. What happened next was nothing short of an epiphany.

In traveling, sometimes the simplest things offer a window of insight into the way a culture thinks and can offer some reflection on one’s own culture. In the case of Japan, they don’t have public trashcans.

Six months ago I quit my job, sold most of my possessions and packed up my car headed west with the goal of circling the globe in two years or so (I eventually sold my car…and used a plane to cross the Pacific Ocean). My strategy for my around-the-world trip is a bit different […]

The biggest winner at this year’s Academy Awards is that Martin Scorsese finally got the Oscar he deserves. I’m totally with them on this one, but I’m a bit disappointed in The Departed as the “Best” Picture of the Year. I’m even more disappointed in my home country…

Thank you for all the friendly notes, comments and updates! It’s been a really wonderful few days reading all your emails— replies are on their way. It really does mean a lot to hear from you!
It’s also come to my attention that thanks to our friends at Microsoft (I’m not even going to be nice, […]