A few weeks ago a friend I met last fall in Chiang Mai, Thailand stopped through Portlandia on a Pacific Northwest road trip. It's always awesome to catch up with travel buddies on opposite sides of the world.
Also, he's a photographer. A very good photographer, in fact.
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It's intimidating to write something about, well, a writer. Best, I think, to keep it short and sweet.
I'm happy she found me to photograph her. I'm honored to have taken these photos of such a beautiful woman, inside and out. As I told her several times, she is now stuck with me for life.
Find Gretchen's yoga happenings here and her literary ventures here.
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Yesterday I read this letter addressed to the rape victim's attacker. I haven't thought about much else since. In case you are somehow seeing this for the first time on my website, Brock Allen Turner is getting a slap on the wrist after being convicted, unanimously by a jury, of three counts of sexual assault. I can't stop thinking about it because she could so easily have been me more times than I care to admit.
Read MoreSujantra McKeever, founder of Pilgrimage of the Heart Yoga in San Diego, CA interviews me about travels in Asia and the role of social media in yoga.
It's rare and rather strange to hear my own voice, but Sujantra had some thoughtful questions for me that made for a great conversation. Have a listen!
You, my loves, keep me flying and keep me grounded at the same time. A tricky feat, to be sure.
You make me think outside the box and question everything I've ever been told.
You've taught me to push myself beyond what I knew possible.
Watching you live your life has inspired me to live mine better.
More joy. More love. More presence.
Thank you for being you, you crazy warrior women.
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Let’s first get this straight — Pai-land is not quite Thailand.
Yes the town happens to be located in Thailand, but it doesn’t have a “local Thai” feel to it. Pai is full of hippies and backpackers drinking Leo into the wee hours and filling the cafes around noon when they roll out of bed.
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In a country of a billion and a half people where most cities have at least a few million residents, Manali is truly a small town of less than 10,000. Populated with apple orchards, old growth forests, the Beas River, and surrounded by snowcapped Himalayan peaks, one does get a sense that they may just stumble into Rumpelstiltskin or Little Red Riding Hood.
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The climbers can be found chilling on their crash pads constantly looking at the skin – or lack thereof – on their fingertips. They are the ones chattering about the beta of their current project and grading all of their problems at the dinner table. The boulder addicts all live at the Goan Corner on Hampi Island from November to February.
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I’m sitting in a field in a country I’ve been in for two days surrounded by people whose language I don’t speak.
They offer me cookies and water and tell me to sit down because, if the ground starts shaking again, I could fall over and break my legs. People laugh and chatter and it’s like a party even though an earthquake just rocked their world an hour ago. The ground keeps rumbling beneath us every few minutes.
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I met Mayte in Hampi, but unfortunately we didn’t spend all that much time together amongst the boulders, though the time we did have was good.
What is fortunate is that we met up again on the beach in Gokarna. Climb time was over because of the heat, so an escape to the sea was an appealing option. And I’m so very glad we did. Not only because we had time to create what are some of my favorite images to date, but because I got to know her better.
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Hoi An is a charming — and slightly crumbling — little city of old French architecture, culinary delights, and tailor made goods.
The downtown area is set on both sides of a lazy river, a perfect setting to have a drink and a bite and watch the world go by while you’re waiting for your new handmade clothes to be ready for a fitting.
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If there is one tip I can give to visitors of these ancient temples, it’s to see them by bicycle. At $1 USD per day, a bike rental will suit any budget. But the wallet friendly part pales in comparison to the fact that it’s just the best way to see the park.
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After a few days at Glacier National Park in Montana, LeAna I crossed the border into BC. We drove west to Nelson for Shambhala Music Festival (which was glorious) and then north to Nakusp for some time with nature. Yes, I thoroughly enjoy a good festival with 15,000 of my best friends, but some quiet time is necessary after five days of head banging bass beats.
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A friend asked me that the other day. In this context it meant world travel, outdoor adventure, and photography. A loaded question, indeed. One I hadn’t thought about before. I said I do it because I don’t know what else to do. This is what makes me happy. At the time it felt too simple, but really it was just honest. I don’t need to think about it because I’ve spent too much time in the past thinking about what I SHOULD be doing.
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“My first impressions of Rishikesh are surprising and disturbing. While it’s a magical place surrounded by Himalayan foothills with the Ganges running through the middle of the city, it’s full of a bunch of western people looking down their noses because of how enlightened they are and how enlightened you are not.”
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Back in August my adventure buddy, LeAna (founder and designer of LeoREVOLT swimwear), and I took off in her trusty Subaru WRX for a couple weeks to explore some parts of the Northwest we hadn’t seen before. Our first stop was in Whitefish, Montana to spend a couple of days at Glacier National Park.
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Of course your main concern in money. It’s only natural and it can be quite scary to take off not knowing what’s going to happen if (when) you run out.
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If there is one place in Southeast Asia to seriously chill out, Kampot would be it.
A small, quiet riverside town with excellent access to Bokor National Park makes this a lovely place to kick back and stare at some palm trees with a cold Angkor beer in hand. I honestly didn’t spend much time in town, though it is a lovely place with a heavy French colonial influence. My time was spent hanging out and chilling hard at Arcadia Backpackers on the river.
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For the most part, we live in a frenetic, demanding, fast paced society. We plan, plot, and do. We have schedules, responsibilities, and parties to attend. We are constantly on our iPhones texting, posting, and emailing.
The mind learns to multi-task, the body takes a beating, and the heart becomes agitated.
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I arrived to New Delhi in the middle of the night which is exactly what every guidebook tells you absolutely not to do unless you don’t mind being robbed, raped, or worse.
But I’ve been traveling in developing countries for awhile and assumed that booking a taxi pickup from a guesthouse would solve my problem. I was correct in my assumption.
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