Cool Hand Luke is my favorite film. The unrepentant Luke is locked in the work house, his mother comes to visit. She sucks the smoke from a cigarette and…
Strong for his age, tanned and weathered, Diego. A man with four rental cabins on a bluff, their balconies pointed to the infinite expanse of the cold Pacific…
The Russian winter is long and fraught with snowstorms, it would be a dereliction of one’s duties to not have a shovel at hand.
On my second day in Singapore David got me out of the hostel to explore the city. We had lunch with friends and, after a long walk in…
The sign said it was 5.1 km to the top, fabulous views guaranteed! This was a chance to do something unusual so I decided to take it. Around…
Agus and I were sitting on his front porch drinking Balinese coffee around midday. His three year old daughter had just wondered off and I had something on…
Olga was my liaison when I moved to a commune in rural Ukraine. She made introductions and showed me how I would earn my keep. Weeding the garden,…
Like all the other tourists in Thailand we rented a fleet of scooters. I have a motorcycle license and I’ve been riding for years. I’m the exception. Most…
Even the most challenging American skiffs look effortless compared to the boats in Thailand. The propeller, mounted ten feet behind the boat, is attached to a small car…
I left Russia the same way I came, friendless. I’ve thought about that time often. Is the Russian culture non-conducive to friendship? Did I do something wrong? Do…
Every day hundreds of people, like Michael here, partake in a South East Asia ritual: they learn to drive a scooter. Like your first legal drink it’s a…
It would be a mistake to assume that this guy is protected, the rope is there to lower tree limbs. This man’s life is in his own hands,…
I met Joseph when he came over to use our WiFi. He brought some thank-you-beer and we kickstarted the night. Later, at the bar, Omri asked, So Joseph,…
There’s a cliche among people who travel in South East Asia. Same Same But Different. Or, more often, Same Same. The saying epitomizes a lack of appreciation for the local culture…
Martin sat next to me on the bus from Bangkok. I knew he was German so when we introduced ourselves, I used his mother tongue. It’s nice to…
I met Sergej at a hostel in Kiev. He was the only other guy in the room when I got there so I introduced myself. Once I heard…
The United Arab Emirates is a country of immigrants and expats. 80% of the population was born somewhere else. The men in this picture come from places like…
Misha is a Ukrainian from the historic city of Lviv. We met online on a language exchange website. You find someone interesting, exchange your Skype names then practice…
Sam has cool tattoos, I don’t think he’ll regret them when he’s fifty. But it’s impossible to know for certain because I’ll never see Sam again. He is…
Denmark is ranked as the happiest country often enough that they get to brag about it. The way Americans brag about their military or Brasil their football teams. Unfortunately,…
Captain Major lives in Key Largo on a sailboat called Sea Remedy. He’s a retired airline mechanic, grandfather, and the man I wrote about in my college entrance…
In the summer of 2015 I volunteered at a hostel in Kiev, Ukraine. Most guests arrived in groups so I was happy when Benny showed up alone. That…
My picture has one major failing: the scooter this family is packaged onto is a fancy model. The equivalent of picking up the kids from school in a…
This man is a ridiculously photogenic Cambodian Tuk Tuk driver. This puts him in a special class, as Cambodian Tuk Tuks are the most elegant. In Thailand they remind…