Landing in Tokyo, part of me expected some mash-up of BladeRunner and Fast and the Furious with tricked-out Hondas flashing though hyper-neon streets in some absurd chase with police. Part of Tokyo does indeed play to that image, with crowded shopping streets in Harajuku and electronics markets in Akihabara delivering […]
Travel Words
A Cult of Personality (R)
Part of what makes Turkmenistan feel like such a strange place is that Turkmenbashi is EVERYWHERE. Born Saparmurat Niyazov and orphaned as a young boy by an earthquake that leveled much of Ashgabat, when he took power as leader of Turkmenistan he styled himself Turkmenbashi (“Leader of all Turkmen”) and […]
First Reflections on Turkmenistan (R)
There’s a reason Turkmenistan is sometimes referred to as the North Korea of Central Asia. The tourist rules are super restrictive, there’s a huge cult of personality built up around the former ruler (Turkmenbashi – literally “Leader of all Turkmen”), the state long controlled most media and nearly all of […]
It Smells like Hippies. (R)
Christiania was not itself a surprise, as I’d known for a long time about the little semi-autonomous community wholly inside of Copenhagen. Nor were the hash vendors/smokers/paraphernaliers on the main street (semi-cleverly known as the Green Light Zone), as the hash seems to be the most famous raison d’etre of the […]
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.