Tiger Balm Tales Vol. 17 Danger! Curves Ahead How do you define a road? It’s all relative – right? I had long ago left behind my vision of what a road should be once I started long term travel in places like Kenya Mongolia, Laos, and Vietnam. Shoulders are for sissies and horns are an […]
Beware of Falling Rocks
Tiger Balm Tales vol. 12 Beware of Falling Rocks All I heard was Bishnu yell “Runnnnn!” My heart raced and I felt as if I were moving in s-l-o-w m-o-t-i-o-n. I sort of knew why I was running, but the gravity of the situation was fuzzy to me; it felt as if my mind were […]
A Mouse in My House
Tiger Balm Tales vol. 11 Day 10 – A Mouse in My House After 10 days of decreasing temperatures and increasing wind my body is rebelling. My lips have become as dry as the Gobi Desert , my nasal passages feel like hard booger craters have invaded it, and my hands are so dry they […]
Road Work Ahead
Tiger Balm Tales Vol. 6 Day 2 & 3 Bahundanda to Dharapani What is it about growing older that changes us? Not only do our feet get bigger, but we tend to also develop more irrational fears. I’ve been aware of it for some time now; my growing fear of heights. As each year goes […]
Breathe Through Your Mouth
If blogs were scratch and sniff…you’d really be in trouble with this post. I found myself chanting the mantra, “Breathe through your mouth, not through your nose.” – while completely naked.
Oh, sorry, I got ahead of myself; let me go back to the beginning.
The Dust Bowl
I often wonder how many months the pollution and dust in Saigon will take off my life. For this reason, I can’t imagine living here long term. Hell, I imagine that living here long term is akin to smoking a pack of cigarettes a day! That may be an exageration, however no one really knows what […]
A Little Rant About Traffic
Pecking Order One of the disadvantages of living a solo life is that when you have one of those experiences that you just want to tell someone about – there’s normally no one around to listen. So, instead of bottling it all in, I blog; which makes me feel as if I’m telling someone the […]
The Motorbike Diaries – vol. 11
Start from the Beginning – Motorbike Diaries Vol. 1 What the Helllllllmet? Whenever I get on my bike and take off into the street I always have a small wave of panic come over me. I feel like I forgot something. I feel strangely exposed; one might say naked. Then the beeping horns jolt me back […]
Video of the Week – March 15, 2009
Found this great video of how to cross the street in Vietnam. It doesn’t actually give you any specific pointers – but you will get the idea of what it’s like here for real. A few pointers – walk slow, make eye contact with the person/vehicles coming towards you, NEVER go backwards or run quickly….and […]
Experiencing Culture Shock in Vietnam
There are many reason to have culture shock when you arrive in Vietnam from the western world. It’s likely the first thing that will hit you is the shock of the Motorbike culture. Followed by the number of people, how everyone seems to live and eat outside, horns, agressive markets, and more. Yet it was […]
