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Letter From The Editor

  • Travel or Meet Your Demise Trying

    I’m looking for three or four guinea pigs for a project. I want to demonstrate how someone could step out of the rat race, liquidate their assets, and set off traveling the world. I’m looking for a reader who has already decided to dump it all and go, but who needs a little kick in [...]

  • Traveling into 2013

    I’m looking out at 2013 from the middle of the world. China dubbed itself the Middle Kingdom for a reason: as far as the eastern half of Asia goes, it’s in the middle of everything. I am in the center of this monstrosity, right near the Yangtze River, which bifurcates China into its northern and southern halves. I look at a map of Asia and feel as if I’m in the center of a massive span of geography, I see paths of travel shooting off in all directions: east to Korea, north to Russia, west to Kazakhstan, south to Malaysia.

  • Continued Travels Around the Hinterlands of China

    I’ve probably spent more time in China than any other country on earth besides the one I grew up in. China is so big, diverse, and ever-changing that it’s impossible to ever truly have your bearings here. Constructing a concept of this land is like trying to nail a piece of jello to the wall: it just can’t be done. Like India, the USA, Mexico, or Russia, you can never “do” China. The size and cultural/ political/ economic dynamism are just too much. But I can say that I’m more familiar with this country than any the 50 or so others that I’ve experienced.