Category: Blog

Browse by category:

  • From Bottles to Brothels: My return to the tour business

    For the first time in four years, I led a tour of my own creation. That’s not completely accurate; My current boss has taken a few of my suggestions and turned them into tours that he’s assigned me to, but this was the first tour since my 2022 Morocco trip where I was responsible for…

    Read more

  • Involuntary Intimacy: A Guide to the Mexico City Metro

    The Mexico City Metro is a subterranean marvel that manages to be simultaneously the greatest bargain in the Western Hemisphere and a claustrophobic’s worst nightmare. To understand the scale of this operation, you have to appreciate that 5.5 million people ride these rails every day. With 9-car trains holding upwards of 3,195 people at peak…

    Read more

  • Adventures in pet sitting: A Study in Urban Diplomacy

    As I mentioned in a previous post, the demographic tide has shifted in San Miguel de Chapultepec. The neighborhood has seen an influx of new residents who, like their counterparts in the trendy Condesa across the way, have brought their dogs in droves. However, while Condesa boasts expansive dog parks where canines can frolic and…

    Read more

  • How I invited Montezuma into my kitchen

    Most people assume I have an iron stomach because I travel the world constantly eating street food. I remember once ordering from a food cart and only later looking down to see an open sewage trough flowing beneath the wheels. It is a strange truth that most of my bouts of food poisoning have occurred…

    Read more

  • The Joy of Staying Put: Three Weeks in Mexico City’s Quiet Corner

    After wrapping up a Puerto Vallarta tour, I traded the coastal humidity for the thin, sophisticated air of Mexico City. I was there for a three-week pet sit—a welcome reprieve from my normally nomadic life. I’d sat for my friend Jason before, but this was a last-minute arrangement. He’d been whisked away for an artist-in-residence…

    Read more

  • A High-Altitude Loop Through Mexico City

    This week I experienced a distinct shift happening in the way Mexicans get around. While Europe has long embraced the iron rail and China continues its breakneck expansion of high-speed transit, Mexico is currently in the midst of its own rail renaissance with 13 passenger projects in the works. Even Florida has joined the fray…

    Read more

  • The only thing on fire in Puerto Vallarta this week was our chef

    While the news was busy spinning tales of unrest, the only thing truly on fire this week was our personal chef. Chef Oscar treated us to three Mexican inspired meals a day. From seafood, the local specialty, to steak prepared arrachera style, it was a week of gluttony that had us all taking photos of…

    Read more

  • From Shenzhen to Kunming: A 10-Day Journey from China’s Skyscrapers to its Karst Peaks

    From the gleaming skyscrapers of Shenzhen to the tranquil riverbanks of Luang Prabang, my recent 10-day journey through Southern China was a whirlwind of high-tech marvels, ancient landscapes, and a few “cultural adjustments.” For those of us used to the “Right of Way,” traveling through China is a masterclass in a different philosophy: the “Right…

    Read more

  • Holidays in Hong Kong: High-Rises, Hounds, and Island Hopping

    Happy New Year, everyone! I’ve just wrapped up another holiday season in Hong Kong, returning to the same house-sit I enjoyed two years ago. Knowing exactly what to expect didn’t make it any less impressive; I once again found myself in a luxury condo in one of the city’s most desirable districts. Life at The…

    Read more