An American Abroad
The authors of the books featured this week have distinctive voices, the kind you can identify from a single paragraph. There's the amphetamine-fueled Beat Generation prose of Jack Kerouac. The media-drenched flat affect of Alex Garland. The … [Continue reading]
Toledo's Central Union Station, where my sons and I have caught the Lake Shore Limited east many times, is situated in the city's Old South End. I had gone down to the tracks there to photograph an antique steam locomotive as it chuffed through … [Continue reading]
This week's entry in my series about books that made me a traveler is all over the map. Literally. Iran, the Caribbean, Congo, the road from Istanbul to India, and South America are all represented in these selections. What these books have in common … [Continue reading]
Caution: dangerous generalization ahead. When I was in the jungle town of El Castillo, Nicaragua in 2008, I was surprised to see so many dogs. I noted with pleasure and approval that the dogs generally looked cared for, well-fed, and to belong to … [Continue reading]
(This is a continuation of my narrative of a trip I took to Nicaragua seven years ago.) We awoke the morning after our journey down the Rio San Juan to find ourselves in the Victoria Hotel. Since the power had been out when we arrived the night … [Continue reading]
Odyssey Master and fellow travel blogger Jay of Jay's Odyssey conducted an audio interview me earlier this week about my travels and tribulations. It was a fun -- even outrageous -- conversation. We covered the pitfalls of eating spicy food in … [Continue reading]
Literature and travel are tightly linked with me. Back when I graduated from college, bought a Eurail Pass, and backpacked through western Europe, I learned to love the racks of Penguin and Pelican paperbacks that seemed to be stationed in every … [Continue reading]
The art in the gallery-like ruins at Brush and Baltimore is controlled. Mannered. Almost formal. So when I went directly from there to Detroit's Eastern Market, I wasn't prepared for visual chaos. My initial reaction was confusion bordering on … [Continue reading]
I was thinking about why people make art when I came across a desolate intersection in Detroit. In the post-apocalyptic environs of Brush and Baltimore Streets, there are dozens of vacant lots where houses and stores once stood. Most of the remaining … [Continue reading]
There are signs of an artist/hipster presence in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood. Near Michigan Central Station, some abandoned buildings have been painted up and turned into giant urban canvases. Other buildings show signs of … [Continue reading]
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