It’s the month of May. You’ve got 31 days to make it from Saigon to Lisbon or Lisbon to Saigon. 15,000 miles (25,000 kilometers). You choose any route you want to take. Choose to stop and spend time wherever you want. Just make the whole journey in the end by rail. GO! The ‘C’ word…it [...]

Before I left Vietnam I had a goal – I wanted to learn how to make Pho. I had eaten it a few times a week for a year while living in Ho Chi Minh City, and I never tired of it. The thought of eating boiling hot soup in humid 90 degrees somehow appealed [...]

One of the most unusual sites I witnessed in my travels was experiencing Christmas in Asia. I had been living in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam for 3 months when December 25th rolled around. In a country with no real religion, and no westernized consumerism (yet), Vietnam surprised me with their Christmas spirit. Christmas in [...]

It’s Thanksgiving and that means Americans all over the world are giving thanks and stuffing their faces with turkey.  Every time Thanksgiving rolls around, I fondly reminisce about the time I was in Sydney Australia for Thanksgiving and was treated to an amazing turkey and stuffing feast.  Plus the strange and inexplicable dinner entertainment of [...]

Floating Market in Halong Bay Vietnam The beautiful watery world of Halong Bay Vietnam is a heavily visited tourist destination for the landscapes.  However I was able to capture this economic transaction depicting the unique water culture that has developed in this area for the locals.  The boat reminded me of a floating convenience store [...]

Going out to eat at a restaurant is easy, right? …not always. Often when you find yourself in other countries, even though there’s a waiter, a table, you are putting food in your mouth, and there’s a bill – there are many things that can be vastly different. As I lived in Vietnam there were [...]

Hard Hat – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam While on a cyclo ride in HCMC, I encountered this guy hanging out of a little motorized tuk tuk in HCMC.  I found his choice of helmet funny – a throw back from the war.  Granted, sometimes I felt like driving in Saigon was similar to going [...]

I’m a fruit person…I love it, I crave it, I must have it!  One great thing about living in the sweltering Vietnam climate is that the fruit is great all year around!  I would walk through the markets and my eyes would pop seeing so many different kinds of colorful fruit!  Vendors walked the streets [...]