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First adventure today was heading down to church, which had probably 80 people, some in traditional colorful clothing, and others in Columbia vests and similar. A lot of songs were sung, some of which I knew, and a lot of Spanish was spoken, very little of which I could translate for myself on the fly. […] Landing in Cusco is an amazing experience for at least two reasons: the approach, and the altitude shock. The approach brings you low (maybe 500 feet) above numerous ridges, and after floating over the final ridge the plane banks hard to the left, goes full flaps, and drops to the runway. I’m not sure a […] Not sure if any good can be expected of an 8-hour overnight flight, but then LAN does include good hot meals, still surprising to this American traveler. So after crossing turbulent Mexico, skirting Central America, and shooting the gap between the Galapagos and Ecuador, I arrived in cool, humid, foggy, gray Lima. The fog plus […] I don’t know how anyone could land at LAX at night without being somewhat staggered by the breadth, depth, and overwhelming nature of human accomplishment. A giant grid, with rows and columns as far as can be seen, teeming with cars, water, electricity, and, of course, people. I’m not saying it looks nice, but it […] SFO is amazing. From the intersecting sets of double runways with a constant stream of takeoffs and landings, to the upgraded interior, with a “napa farms market” in terminal 2 offering kara’s cupcakes, mini-macaroons, and natural spring water bottled very nearby, at mt. palomar, san diego county. (Wait, how do they still have water in […] An interesting thing about travel is the way it changes you before you go. Normally mundane events, like lunchtime, a commute, or a phone call, take on more meaning as they are occurring before, and hopefully in contrast to, the GREAT BIG UNKNOWN that is waiting for a traveler. Even after preparing as thoroughly as […] 762 days after my last post, it’s time to fire up this blog again! The occasion? Well, it’s not as if nothing of significance has happened over the last two years. Quite the opposite: our family has doubled its number of children (from one to two, but doubling may still be understating the impact), survived […] If internet news is like a bottomless bag of M&M’s, these reads are a good sit down meal that will leave you filled for hours afterward. Join the Slow Internet movement (not related to your ISP’s intermittent but ongoing movement of the same name). The Vitamin Myth – Why We Think We Need Supplements – […] Some of these are pretty long, but they’re all the best. Every last one of them. The Pixar Theory – This might be the ultimate Theory Of Everything. Jon Negroni posits that all Pixar movies come from the same universe, and are actually all part of one story, maybe even with a moral. (Jon Negroni) […] After a couple amazing weeks in Europe and a long, jet-lagged 4th of July weekend, Weekly Best Reads is struggling to recover its mojo. Luckily, there were still a few great reads from the last few weeks: Mysterious Radio Bursts Come From Outside Our Galaxy – Seriously, what are these? (John Timmer for Ars Technica) […] |