A Traveller’s Eye, A Thinker’s Heart

I like to tell stories. I like to take photos.
And I like to share them. Enjoy.

  • THE LASHERMES OF VACQUIÈRES

    THE LASHERMES OF VACQUIÈRES

    The second principal destination of our Northern Hemisphere Friends and Family tour was Vacquières, a village of no more than 600 people just north of Montpelier, France. Two long-time residents are our friends from our Syrian Football Night Dinners, Philippe and Catherine Lashermes. Philippe and Catherine left Syria in 1992 and after a short stint…

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  • A PITSTOP IN MONACO AND A FATAL HAIRPIN TURN

    A PITSTOP IN MONACO AND A FATAL HAIRPIN TURN

    We could have driven through Monaco in 15 minutes, but Padma and I decided to park the car and explore the city-state. At 2.1 square kilometres Monaco is the second smallest sovereign state after Vatican City. We drove through the heart of the city, and I found a patch of very good bitumen which beckoned…

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  • MEANDERING ALONG THE RIVIERA

    MEANDERING ALONG THE RIVIERA

    I don’t have the patience to read travel guides and figure out what to see and where to go. Padma and I just drive and discover along the way. There are countless cute and picturesque seaside villages along the Riviera. How do you choose where to stay? I let booking.com do it for me. I…

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  • THE WORLD’S MOST PHOTOGRAPHED LAUNDRY

    THE WORLD’S MOST PHOTOGRAPHED LAUNDRY

    Padma and I were loving Italy too much so we drove a short distance from Florence and spent an afternoon exploring Cinque Terre, a string of five seaside villages on the Italian Riviera. We had dinner in Manarola and hurried to catch the sun setting from the Vista Panoramica di Manarola. We weren’t alone. The…

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  • BOLIVIA 1989

    BOLIVIA 1989

    When my folks told me that an exchange student from Bolivia would be living with them at the family home in northern Wisconsin I knew right away that a time would come when I would make it truly an ‘exchange’. In July of 1989, I gripped my seat on a plane landing at La Paz’s…

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  • A TOURIST-FREE EGYPT, 1990

    A TOURIST-FREE EGYPT, 1990

    .In December of 1990, there was a global fear of a regional war in the Middle East. Saddam Hussein had invaded Kuwait and was ignoring demands for withdrawal. There were fears the war would escalate well beyond the borders of Kuwait. And that made it a perfect time to travel to Egypt. Tourism in the…

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  • FITZGERALD RIVER NATIONAL PARK

    FITZGERALD RIVER NATIONAL PARK

    Fitzgerald River National Park is one of Western Australia’s largest parks but only comprises 0.13% of the State’s total area. Yet 20% of the State’s flora can be found in the park. It’s a ridiculously diverse region of the State where you can find 1800 species of flowering plants. About 60 of those species are…

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  • VALE MARIO

    VALE MARIO

    With great sadness I learned today of the passing of my friend, mentor, former boss and co-founder of the modern Costa Rican National Park Service. Mario Boza passed away yesterday at the age of 79. He had been suffering from mouth cancer since late April. His death comes as a shock as only a few…

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  • THE GRANDFATHER I NEVER KNEW

    THE GRANDFATHER I NEVER KNEW

    Unbeknownst to me until a few weeks ago I had a rather famous step grandfather. And it seems that the world forgot about him … so I feel compelled to tell his story. Frederick Ferdinand Moore jumped on a cattle ship in Boston Harbor in the 1890s when he was 15. He became an adventurer,…

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