Gadgets and Apps for Long-Term Travel: An Updated List
After three years of long-term travel across Asia and South America, I've learned exactly what gear is truly essential and what I…
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What to Pack: An Updated List After Three Years of Getting It Wrong
After three years of travel across Asia, Australia, and South America, I've learned what actually matters in a backpack and what I…
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Machu Picchu: What the Inca Built and Why Nobody Quite Knows
I arrived at Machu Picchu expecting the site's fame to have dulled its impact, but standing in the agricultural terraces with the…
ReadAmazon Wildlife: Howler Monkeys, Pink Dolphins, and the Parrot Clay Lick
I learned that observing the Amazon's wildlife requires patience and a trained eye rather than expecting animals to present themselves conveniently. From…
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The Amazon at Night: Torchlight, Spiders, and the Forest Speaking
I ventured into the Amazon rainforest at night armed with torches and DEET, discovering a completely different ecosystem where giant spiders and…
ReadThe Food of Ecuador: From Jungle Guesthouses to Quito Fine Dining
I discovered that Ecuador's cuisine reflects its three distinct ecological zones without trying to force them into a single identity—from a mother's…
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The Anakonda: Five Days on the Most Luxurious Ship in the Amazon
I boarded the Anakonda, an eight-month-old luxury river vessel, with my travel companion as one of only two passengers during the low…
ReadHeading to the Amazon: Oil, Orchids, and Freddy
I flew forty minutes from the Andean highlands into dense rainforest to reach Coca, where my guide Freddy—a member of an indigenous…
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Quito: The Highest Capital, the Wrong Equator, and Dario
I discovered that Quito's famous equator monument sits 200 metres from the actual equatorial line, and that the city's collapsed volcanic crater…
ReadCarnival in Quito: Foam, Brass Bands, and the Continent-Wide Party
I discovered that Carnival in South America is far more than a Brazilian invention—it's a continent-wide Catholic tradition adapted uniquely in every…
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