Humor

Going to “Romania” with a Gypsy“Du da, du da,” sung the young Gypsy with a drunken smile on his face. “All the du da day!”“Come on man! Sing with me,” he encouraged us. We did sing, and frolic, and continue to make glorious messes of ourselves as we tramped on through the night time streets [...]

The Price of Cheap Food in Antigua Guatemala Went to a restaurant tonight near the market in Antigua, ordered the cheapest item on the menu, and received a hot pot full the flabby, fatty skin of a pig. This was not a specimen of Guatemalan food at its best. A mistranslated menu is one of [...]

On the Benefit of Animal NoisesStrange animal noises coming from deep inside an unspecified hotel room can clear out a noisy hallway in a matter of moments. It is true, if you are prevented from sleeping at night by the unquiet tidings of some spry couple engaging in the initial tidings courtship in the hallway [...]

The Sack of PanamaAlexandre Exquemelin, the pirate surgeon, wrote a firsthand account of Henry Morgan’s attack on Panama City in his classic book, The Buccaneers of America. I read this book with jumping enthusiasm many times while growing up in the empty fields of Upstate New York, as I too wanted to be a pirate [...]

Chinese Food: An experiment in travel fictionIt was my first time in China and I was already nervous about eating the food. Before leaving home, my mother warned me not to eat the vegetables because they are grown in human manure, which could give me hepatitis, my father made jokes about how Chinese cows “meow” [...]

Can Anyone Read Nepali?So I was traveling in the north east of India with Stubbs back in 2005, and I was just standing around in the market watching some ladies buy oranges when a guy with a big old camera came up to me and asked if he could take my picture. I obliged him [...]

Hitchhiking in Japan with Mr. Fuji So I was standing on the side of the road in the mountains of Japan’s Shikoku Island in the middle of spring 2004. I was hitch-hiking the 88 temple Kabo Daishi pilgrimage, and a mini-van nearly ran me over as it quickly stopped to offer me a lift. I [...]

The Hobo and the Swiss Army FairySwiss Army Knife Revisited. . . and a playful rebuttal to Ubertramp.com ‘s article Swiss Army Knives: Just Another Travel Rip-OffI love my Swiss Army knife. It is a real one too, and has Victorinox etched into the blade and the Swiss flag stamped proudly on its handle. I [...]

Wade from Vagabond Journey.com is a CheaterDear Sirs,I regret to inform you of the fact that Wade from VagabondJourney.com is a cheater. It really pangs my heart to disclose this uncomfortable information in such a callous, impersonal way; but, it is true, the above mentioned cheated in your 2007 travel writing contest. In September of [...]