A Poem From Silence Today I can only output, and take no input. I can create and express, but I can’t speak or read or message. These verses burst from me during this day, and they wouldn’t exist without my quiescence. Day 814 1 May 2020 No markets openNo new food. India’s lockdown is no jokePolice scoot byCanes ready… Read More
10 Reasons To Go Bald This Summer For those considering a full shave of their own, and to those questioning my mental stability or degree of boredom, here are ten intentional reasons to grab that razor and get depilated. To read about my real-time emotions and the immediate aftermath of shaving my head, see my related post Bald and Balder. 10… Read More
Bald And Balder As the razor buzzed, I entered that zone of intense adrenaline that can only be accessed by departing my comfort zone. The recollection of these vulnerable moments are comparable to the memory of receiving my tattoo. For a while I had known that 2020 was the year to shave my head. I had expressed this… Read More
Flowing Flowing Flown Options for body movement during India’s COVID-19 nationwide lockdown are severely limited in a city of two million. I’ve had more time than ever to offer to the creative and disciplinary sides of my yoga. I feel impelled to share more on my personal journey with yoga, because I recently uploaded my second yoga… Read More
The Most Chinese Things About China: 16 Quirks And Hints From 18 Years Of Visits China. A country requiring travelers to have open-mindedness and resilience like no other. 22 provinces. Five autonomous regions. 56 ethnicities. 302 living languages. 255 national parks. As Lonely Planet puts it, “You’ll see things you’ve never seen before, eat things you’ve never heard of and drink things that could lift a rocket into orbit.” I… Read More
COVID-19: Less Privileged and More Centered In The Universe As COVID-19 swept from my dear China across the globe, my own life suddenly became far more interesting and restricted than I ever could have anticipated when I packed my backpack over two years ago, embarking on a dream to embrace the world. While I do my best not to give this own life of… Read More
Seclusion In Kanas Two months of far flung hitchhikes and train rides through northwestern China had culminated to these precious hours of late September scenery in Kanas National Geopark. The poplar leaves were letting out their last breaths of freshly photosynthesized oxygen before transforming into that famous, lustrous yellow, before wiggling free of their branches and finding their… Read More
From Weed Wacking to Fuji Peaking Nakagomi Orchard was my ultimate reason for beelining for Japan in April 2019, right there and then. I found the Workaway page several years back and fell in love. Obsessive love. Cherries, peaches, grapes, countryside, home-cooked Japanese meals, a well-built dorm with wifi and tatami rooms—could a project be more ideal? Volunteers were promised bike… Read More
Blood Intestines, Living Deities, And Other Tibetan Impressions Women sporting thick braids and heavy, droopy earrings. Men suited up every day of the week. Homeless children dancing around a bonfire. Nomads offering cups of fresh yak yogurt. A picnic of assorted lamb intestines at 3,800 meters. Road tripping with a living Buddha. These were some of the fresh memories that stewed in my… Read More
Backpack Qinghai On A Budget Little-known Qinghai teems with ethnic diversity and high altitude landscape. Landlocked into the Northwest of China, this province is a stark contrast to the developed Eastern half of the country. Tibetans and Huis, the predominant ethnic minorities inhabiting Qinghai, practice their religions and culinary skills alongside one another. To brush up against their lifestyles is… Read More