“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 ...
Constantine-ly On My Mind January 7, 2020 Constantine, aka the “City of Bridges” due to the numerous bridges connecting the mountains the city is built on (and thus the only way to reach it is by a bridge!), is truly a dramatic sight to behold. And I’m not talking about the 2005 Keanu Reeves movie! Get that outta your mind. Formerly known as Cirta ...
FML. – Moments where I /someone/something failed at life and it was pretty funny.
“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 ...
We Wish You A “Marrakech”-mas! (or Marrakech Me Outside and Marrakech My Ass!) January 15, 2020 From Casablanca, we arrived into Marrakesh, Morocco’s third largest city that continues to teem with sights and sounds that emanate from its historical medina. Although a frustrating place to explore for many travelers as if the rest of the country learned its manners and Marrakech continues to be the bad boy of Morocco, for me it ...
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 ...
This Is A Crisis. – Moments where I/someone/something failed at life and it wasn’t really that funny (at least at the time).
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 ...
All Roads Lead To Alexandria December 4, 2019 Going to miss Luxor’s West Bank vibes. After an eventful 2 days here, we made a mad dash for the Luxor Train Station across the river. Getting there 45 minutes early, I took this time to give everyone a memento silver bracelet of “monsoon” written in Egyptian hieroglyphics that Ahmed was able to arrange for us at ...
“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 ...
Missing You From “Atar” – Into the White Valley! January 25, 2020 After an early breakfast in Ouadane we departed another drive out into the desert for Agrour to see some pre-historic paintings left there more than 6000 years ago. Do you see the imprint of the human hand underneath the sun? Humans? Aliens? After 20 minutes here, we then continued forward to glimpse at the Mheirith oasis, mostly active in July ...
Not A “Ouadane” Soul In Sight! January 24, 2020 After exploring Chinguetti early this morning we then headed off for a 1-2 hour drive into the Adrar region of Mauritania, stopping at isolated and lost cities of the Sahara where empires were founded and felled. Once upon a time these were important stops of the trans-caravan routes of the Sahara. Now they’re simply ruins of abandoned towns ...
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). 
