What Dreams May Come – Those personal favorite moments that explicitly remind you why you went traveling in the first place.
A “Malanje” Of Memories: Calandula/Kalandula Falls & Kwanza Rapids February 27, 2020 A little video I just quickly edited in of what we saw the past 48 hours: How did we get here? Well we began our journey yesterday morning, waking up early from Luanda at 4:30am for the slow 6am train heading towards the province of Malanje. We headed out at 5am for a morning drive and arrived ...
“Nouadhibou”-d Idea to Cross Over From Western Sahara to Mauritania! January 21, 2020 After relaxing in Dakhla for 2 night, we drove to the border of Morocco and Mauritania early this morning. About an hour into the journey we suffered a flat tire, which luckily took about 30 minutes to sort out thanks to a friend of the driver’s brother that was nearby! And yet that was my opportunity to ...
FML. – Moments where I /someone/something failed at life and it was pretty funny.
“Namibe”-tter Duo, I’ll Wait. Otherwise You Gotta “Lubango!” March 3, 2020 After some uneven back-and-forth kind of travel in the outskirts of Luanda yesterday, we “slept in” this morning until 8am before starting out day with a drive to Cacuaco for a stroll around a local fishing village. My gut feeling here was that since tourism here is still raw and developing, I would recommend keeping on ...
We Wanted To Go On A Safari, But Then They Told Us To “Kiss-ama” Ass! February 29, 2020 Not all travel days are going to be as perfect. After returning last night to Luanda, this morning we woke up bright and early at 6:30am for a drive to Kissama National Park, arriving there at 9am. Here in the park you supposedly can go on a safari for the local wildlife, but our prepared safari jeep ...
Not All Who “Luanda” Are Lost . . . February 24, 2020 Angola: Once a Portuguese overseas territory from the 16th century to 1975, the country became infamous for becoming the staging ground for a brutal civil war (between the Soviets and an alliance of Western nations that ironically also included China…one of the few times the USA and China fought on the same side!) from 1975 ...
This Is A Crisis. – Moments where I/someone/something failed at life and it wasn’t really that funny (at least at the time).
Love In The Time Of Corona/COVID-19 — Lockdowns & Phase Two June 24, 2020 Phase 2 of our reopening has begun, and with our infection rates continuing to decline here in NYC, the irony is not lost on me that profound changes happened to us even when we were trapped in stasis. During the past 3 months since March 20th — the country’s longest — I didn’t lament just the ...
Love In the Time of Corona/COVID-19 — Going On Offense May 14, 2020 PSA: It’s time to play offense on COVID-19 About 9 weeks ago I had written how in the middle of the tsunami of the first wave, the safest assumption (with the relative little information we had) at the time was that one should come to the ER only if they had a life and limb threatening ...
Love In The Time Of Corona/COVID-19 — The End Of The First Wave May 7, 2020 Stepped outside in the middle of my ER shift on Monday, April 13th to take a moment to myself when a passerby with a camera happened to be at the right place at the right time: I needed to breathe. I needed to know if I was still alive. A few weeks later and through several degrees ...
“No Serendipity, No Story!” (WTF Moments) – The most wonderful moments in travel are the coincidences we discover with other people.
They Put A Monsooner On The Moon — The White Desert Of Egypt December 7, 2019 Once in a while, I’m blessed to write up and release a blogpost that will stand the test of time in my memories. This is one of those posts. The irony of today rests in the fact that after a decade visiting 180 countries and territories, that it would take me returning to my first ever country ...
Announcing Our Inaugural Social Media Manager: DIANA KLATT, MPH October 10, 2019 After 2 months deliberating over an incredibly competitive applicant pool on the eve of our upcoming 10 year anniversary trip to Egypt next month, I have the unique pleasure to finally announce our inaugural social media manager for The Monsoon Diaries: DIANA KLATT, MPH (@klattalyst). Global health epidemiologist, project manager for HealthRight International, creative director for ...
Rwanada Forever! July 2, 2019 After a week in Afghanistan and a sobering day in Kabul, it’s definitely time to get out of harm’s way and return home. There’s no need to exacerbate the situation by lingering during what will be another tense period in Kabul. On our way back, Evan and I decided to spend 3 days in Rwanda as one ...
Way Way Off The Beaten Path – Totally out of the box travel experiences; you won’t find these experiences in any guidebooks.
The “Cabin-da” Woods: “We Are Not Ready For Tourism” | Everything You Need To Know About Visiting Cabinda! March 6, 2020 Primer on Cabinda Formerly known as “Portuguese Congo” and no larger than the state of Delaware, Cabinda is a curious little region sandwiched between the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Having endured a 30 year long struggle to claim independence from the rest of Angola, it likely may become one of ...
“Namibe”-tter Duo, I’ll Wait. Otherwise You Gotta “Lubango!” March 3, 2020 After some uneven back-and-forth kind of travel in the outskirts of Luanda yesterday, we “slept in” this morning until 8am before starting out day with a drive to Cacuaco for a stroll around a local fishing village. My gut feeling here was that since tourism here is still raw and developing, I would recommend keeping on ...
We Wanted To Go On A Safari, But Then They Told Us To “Kiss-ama” Ass! February 29, 2020 Not all travel days are going to be as perfect. After returning last night to Luanda, this morning we woke up bright and early at 6:30am for a drive to Kissama National Park, arriving there at 9am. Here in the park you supposedly can go on a safari for the local wildlife, but our prepared safari jeep ...
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way Around The World. . . . – Some stories simply can’t be categorized.
Knock-Knock-Nakh-chivan On Heaven’s Door: 2 Days In Nakhchivan August 29, 2018 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 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, 2018 June 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 bet to get here. 4 years of college, 4 years of med ...
Miran With The Mostest In Mostar April 6, 2018 To be honest, prior to this trip, I did not know much about Bosnia and Herzegovina and its history aside from the fact it was part of the former Yugoslavia and had been battled by war. Thus, heading into our bus ride from Split, Croatia, I had no idea what to expect except from Calvin’s ...
This Is A Crisis. – Moments where I/someone/something failed at life and it wasn’t really that funny (at least at the time). 
