No Typhoon Can Stop The Monsoon: Nagasaki

No Typhoon Can Stop The Monsoon: Nagasaki

by | Sep 6, 2018 | Crisis, Fit for Foodies, How Did You Do That?, How's the weather?, Japan, Public Transportation, September 2018: Japan, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

    Apparently I haven’t learned the last time we, the monsoon, flew in the middle of a typhoon. A travel miracle had saved us then, and another miracle has saved us today. A few hours ago I woke up to an email from All Nippon Airways (ANA) informing...
Knock-Knock-Nakh-chivan On Heaven’s Door: 2 Days In Nakhchivan

Knock-Knock-Nakh-chivan On Heaven’s Door: 2 Days In Nakhchivan

by | Aug 29, 2018 | August 2018: Azerbaijan & Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, How Did You Do That?, Lessons Learned, Nakhchivan, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Travel Warnings, Uncategorized Stories, Unrecognized Territories, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

  It’s time to shift monsooning back into higher gears — today we’re visiting Nakhchivan! A landlocked exclave separated from Azerbaijan by Armenia (or as some say, physically located within Armenia), but an otherwise autonomous region under the control of the...
Aghast At Ashgabat | Flying Austrian Air Business Class

Aghast At Ashgabat | Flying Austrian Air Business Class

by | Aug 20, 2018 | August 2018: Turkmenistan, Flying Fancy, Getting that VISA, How Did You Do That?, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Travel Warnings, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

 How do I begin? When people ask what I found to be the most fascinating countries in the world, my usual reply would always have been “North Korea and Myanmar.”  5 hours in Ashgabat was enough to shoot Turkmenistan to the very top.  Known as...
How I Visited 150 Countries During Med School+Residency & Still Became a Doctor

How I Visited 150 Countries During Med School+Residency & Still Became a Doctor

by | Jun 30, 2018 | Epiphanies on the Road, Post-travel Reflections, Speeches, Uncategorized Stories, What Dreams May Come, You're Going to Miss It...

June 23, 2018 6:46pm: Counting down the last 14 minutes of my last shift in residency — the final moments of an era. 6:47pm: In 13 minutes, I graduate as an attending physician.   It’s remarkable to look back and realize all it took was losing a wager to...