What Dreams May Come – Those personal favorite moments that explicitly remind you why you went traveling in the first place.
- The Yacht Week x The Monsoon Diaries: French Polynesia Days 5 & 6: It’s Never a “Bor-a Bora!” April 28, 2022After an epic regatta run, we made sure to stay up on deck to take in the view of our approach to the legendary and iconic island of Bora Bora. After all, a warm welcome from the dolphins at the reef pass is more than enough of a reason to stay outdoors. Or you can stay ...
- I Dream Of Djénné January 31, 2022You need to wake up at 6am for a day like this. After an early breakfast in San this morning, we began a long 3 hour drive to Djenne – known as the ‘capital of mud’. After crossing a few military checkpoints getting into Djenne, we then had to wait for some drama to die down over some ...
- No “Soufriere”-ing By The Pitons January 6, 2022If I’m in the photo or the photo is really really professional, then the photography credit goes to Paul Woo. Survivors of the reckoning. This morning we cruised down the west coast of St Lucia towards Soufriere, home to the famous Pitons, beautiful botanical gardens, sulphur baths, and waterfalls. It’s time to celebrate getting this far! The crown jewel of ...
FML. – Moments where I /someone/something failed at life and it was pretty funny.
- Refa-Mali-arizing Ourselves with Bamako February 2, 2022After breakfast in Segou, we made an early start back to the capital of Bamako. Mali is one of the few places I know of that requires a negative PCR test for COVID-19 to leave the country (within 72 hours of departure). So in preparation for our departure out of Mali, we drove directly to the National ...
- Getting Out of Omicron City to Fort-de-France, Martinique January 2, 2022If I’m in the photo or the photo is really really professional, then the photography credit goes to Paul Woo. It’s time for another joint journey with The Yacht Week on our second collaboration together, this time for a much smaller excursion to visit Martinique and St. Lucia amidst all this craziness with Omicron. With NYC at ...
- I Want “Paler-mo” Of It! September 15, 2021After 2 days relaxing in the off-the-beaten-path island of Lampedusa, the gang took a direct evening flight out to Palermo, capital of Sicily, afterwards. Founded by Phoenicians under the name of “Ziz” and later renamed by Greeks “Panormos”, which means “all port,” Palermo’s golden age was during Arab rule from 9th to 11th centuries AD when ...
This Is A Crisis. – Moments where I/someone/something failed at life and it wasn’t really that funny (at least at the time).
- The Yacht Week x The Monsoon Diaries: French Polynesia Days 7: Returning to Raiatea April 30, 2022Today from Bora Bora we set sail back to the main islands at 10am. And for 3 hours we braved the rocky seas as I watched the whole boat except me and our skipper Borna fall like flies. I hope my Disney and 90s throwback music helped. Hakuna Matata. What a relief when the tossing and turning stopped ...
- The Yacht Week x The Monsoon Diaries: French Polynesia Days 5 & 6: It’s Never a “Bor-a Bora!” April 28, 2022After an epic regatta run, we made sure to stay up on deck to take in the view of our approach to the legendary and iconic island of Bora Bora. After all, a warm welcome from the dolphins at the reef pass is more than enough of a reason to stay outdoors. Or you can stay ...
- Egypt Maktoub March 22, 2022Adventure is a mindset, not a destination. Last month after I had spoken at Mercersburg Academy and returned to DC, Kimmy, Ihita and I debated what we could do with our extra 4 days after Iraq now that Syria would likely be once again postponed. It was quickly raised whether I could fit in a fourth return to ...
“No Serendipity, No Story!” (WTF Moments) – The most wonderful moments in travel are the coincidences we discover with other people.
- Why Did the Chichen Itza Cross the Road? May 15, 2022Probably the most visited site in the world that I have never been, until this weekend. Upon a destination wedding invitation last year by my friend Norman Chen, whom I last saw when we stopped in Chicago on our USA Road Trip back in August 2020. Agreeing to a Westin promotion where we could stay ...
- The Yacht Week x The Monsoon Diaries: French Polynesia Days 5 & 6: It’s Never a “Bor-a Bora!” April 28, 2022After an epic regatta run, we made sure to stay up on deck to take in the view of our approach to the legendary and iconic island of Bora Bora. After all, a warm welcome from the dolphins at the reef pass is more than enough of a reason to stay outdoors. Or you can stay ...
- Egypt Maktoub March 22, 2022Adventure is a mindset, not a destination. Last month after I had spoken at Mercersburg Academy and returned to DC, Kimmy, Ihita and I debated what we could do with our extra 4 days after Iraq now that Syria would likely be once again postponed. It was quickly raised whether I could fit in a fourth return to ...
Way Way Off The Beaten Path – Totally out of the box travel experiences; you won’t find these experiences in any guidebooks.
- The Yacht Week x The Monsoon Diaries: French Polynesia Days 7: Returning to Raiatea April 30, 2022Today from Bora Bora we set sail back to the main islands at 10am. And for 3 hours we braved the rocky seas as I watched the whole boat except me and our skipper Borna fall like flies. I hope my Disney and 90s throwback music helped. Hakuna Matata. What a relief when the tossing and turning stopped ...
- The Yacht Week x The Monsoon Diaries: French Polynesia Day 4: T”a-ha’a!, We Found It!” April 26, 2022Today we headed back from Huahine on a 4 hour sail for the two main islands for another free day. By 1pm we reached Taha’a island where life slows down; this charmingly quiet island sweeps you deep into the typical Polynesians’ easygoing life. If you fancy a swim, the Jardin du Corail aka “Coral Gardens” is the ...
- “Samarra” Happy To Be Here! March 13, 2022For our third and final day in Iraq, we embarked on our journey to Samarra, capital of the Abbasid Caliphate and the only remaining Islamic capital retaining its original architecture, plans and relics. Before leaving we were treated to the royal treatment when police officers stopped traffic for us to take photos of statues around the ...
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way Around The World. . . . – Some stories simply can’t be categorized.
- Love In The Time Of COVID-19: The Flu Shot September 15, 2020TLDR PSA (look how serious I am); Get the flu shot. While getting the shot may not entirely prevent you from catching flu, it’ll still dramatically decrease your chances of accidentally infecting or killing others (like grandma), or ironically dying from flu yourself. Before COVID-19, patients with flu symptoms would overwhelm ERs every year, all infecting one ...
- Knock-Knock-Nakh-chivan On Heaven’s Door: 2 Days In Nakhchivan August 29, 2018It’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 Republic of Azerbaijan, Nakhchivan is similar to exclaves like Alaska (thanks Alan Sedgwick!) and on a level less ...
- How I Visited 150 Countries During Med School+Residency & Still Became a Doctor June 30, 2018June 23, 2018 6:46pm: Counting down the last 14 minutes in my last shift of residency and the rest of my life. 6:47pm: In 13 minutes I am about to graduate as an attending physician. It’s remarkable to look back and realize all it took was losing a wager to myself to get here. 4 years of college, 4 years of ...