Wachau Valley Bike Tour: Austrian Wines and Crumbling Castles Vienna is not, on the face of it, Europe’s most active or adventurous destination. My average day in the Imperial City involves exploring lots of traditional coffee houses and the historic Old Town, and only very occasionally something like a bike ride through […]
Netherlands Open Air Museum in Arnhem I don’t think the little city of Arnhem gets a lot of love from the travel set, given its out-of-the way location in the province of Gelderland far to the east of the big cities like Utrecht and Amsterdam. There’s at least one reason […]
Amsterdam to Volendam Daytrip Guide Volendam seems, from anecdotes I heard while talking to Dutch friends in Amsterdam, sort of like the Netherlands’ version of the South. Lots of stereotypes about inbreeding, hillbilly sensibilities, and just general backwardness. The butt of the national joke, if you will. (There’s even a […]
Saronic Gulf: Hydra Island Travel Guide I only ended up visiting Hydra Island because I was spending a day photographing a Saronic Gulf cruise. Given how touristy and accessible some of these Saronic Islands are, I didn’t initially have very high expectations. I’d just spent 3 weeks hiking in Crete, […]
The easiest way to reach the Wakhan is via shared-taxi from Khorog to Ishkashim. Several weekly busses leave from Ishkashim to Langar, at the other end of the Tajik Wakhan. Another option is to cross the border into Afghanistan from Ishkashim, at which point you can continue past Langar and […]
Central Asia is old. Old like “cradle of civilizations” old. Of all the old, though, the proto-urban site of Sarazm is perhaps the first of them all. Estimates suggest that Sarazm was settled over six THOUSAND years ago. You know what North America looked like then? A big forest. Sarazm […]
Hey there! I'm Stephen, this is my travel blog, and that's me in the poofy hat.
I'm a photographer / writer traveling since 2008, and I've been doing my best to visit amazing places.
My current focus is Central Asia, because for a hiking and camping enthusiast it's as good as it gets.