If you’re reading Passenger Conners, you have at least an inkling of what a transformative year 2010 has been for me: I’m traveling the world, unemployed by choice, homeless by plan and living a dream. It’s not been a bad year, I say. But I have no real desire to […]
My first night in Hanoi, we sat at a sidewalk bia ho’i, a local hangout favored for drinking lots of home-brewed beers while perched on minuscule plastic stools a mere 6 inches off the ground. We were a bit puzzled by bia ho’i protocol, but decided to roll with it […]
“Madame! Madame!”Their pleading cries (sounding like “Ma-DOM”) greet me like clockwork every morning, within minutes – but more often seconds – after I set foot outside my bungalow door. And more often than not, I smile and shake my still bleary-eyed head, “No, thank you.” First, it’s the fruit vendors. […]
I took out a broom and swept the floors of my beach bungalow in Vietnam yesterday. It was the first time I’d done any real manner of cleaning in 2+ months – the gift, I suppose, of living out of hotels and guesthouses. And yes, I’m still staying at a […]
During a severe state of utter travel delirium (Maldives to Hanoi, 5 planes, 24 hours) I was inspired by the hardcore intensity, madness and hilarity of the Indian airport system and in what I’d like to consider an inspired moment, composed the following: (to be sung to the tune of […]
Years ago, while working as a freelancer, one of my regular gigs involved writing beach reviews for the world’s best stretches of sand and surf. Year after year the Maldives made the list, and with each new stint of research my obsession with seeing what’s widely believed to be the […]
It started with my “trendy kurta,” and I’m not putting that in quotes to be funny – the receipt from the mall in Darjeeling labeled it as such. I’m happy to report I hadn’t purchased any old kurta – the traditional, long, loose top worn by women across India – […]
There’s a heck of a lot to be said for sitting and watching the sea. And even moreso when the sea is the Arabian, and you’re watching it perched high above on a rocky red cliff in Varkala, India. But seriously, back to the sea. If you stare long enough […]
Let’s just say you’ve been in India for a few weeks, amassed a bunch of souvenirs for (mostly) yourself and others, and don’t want to lug your new booty around the subcontinent. You head to the post office, with goods in tow. Ask for a shipping box and are met […]
I found myself under a shiny half moon, in the midst of a desert in Pushkar, India, surrounded on all sides by the shadows of thousands of camel silhouettes and the harrowing braying noises that these funny-looking beasts make when they’re happy, mad, or just going to the bathroom. Smoke […]
Call me “Old One-Shoe, Brokeback Val.” Really, you can. And I dig it. Because that’s the short of my story in Fethiye. And because of the short, I’ve come to understand a good, long lesson. Arriving in the seaside town of Fethiye, I exhaled a sigh of relief on a […]
A few things ought to be noted, right off the bat. First, it’s not technically my computer (the bestest most brilliant friend, Alex Hillman) has generously loaned it to me for the Journey. This makes my predicament all the more woeful, as I suffer from an acute case of an […]