We woke to new scenery. After a day of the Gobi (like all deserts seen from a train, beautiful at first, and stultifying after seven hours of exactly the same), the small but… Continue reading
Tomorrow, I’ll get on the train to Beijing. I’ve been in Ulaan Baatar one less week than originally planned, but about five days too many. I know, I said I liked the city.… Continue reading
Do not be fooled. Mongolia may have an average of 280 days of sun a year, but that doesn’t mean you get 280 days of warmth. It is remarkable how beautiful the day… Continue reading
On the microbus from Irkutsk to Olkhon Island, the Russian men around me seemed to keep talking about the fact that I was a woman traveling alone and, if I guessed right, making… Continue reading
The sun was radioactively orange, emerging from the silhouettes of old factories whose destiny within the decade will be live-work lofts. The color felt unreal, only elsewhere available in the artifice of nail… Continue reading
As you may have noticed, there were a lot of emotions in Alice Springs. A great upwelling of hope, that push at your sternum like the rumblings of first love, a deep despair… Continue reading
Somewhere on that burnt red off-road track, after my sleepless and sick night of camping in Broome, when my feet burned from sand fly bites and my stomach burned from Sambuca and smoke,… Continue reading
I’m staying in North Perth, but sadly all I can really tell you about the city is how to get to the Wellington Street Bus Station to catch a train to Midland or… Continue reading
Remember how I said Aussies have optimism built into their DNA? When I told everyone I was headed up to Broome, the response went unvaried: “You’ll love it!” and “Charming town!”. What’s funny… Continue reading
I go to bed cradling a bottle of mosquito spray. I know, it’s come to this. I hold the bottle close at night so that when I wake up at 3am to pinpricks… Continue reading
Broome is an outpost of 15,000 in the north of Australia. Look it up on a map. You’ve probably never heard of it unless you collect pearls or you read the article about… Continue reading
Fremantle, or “Freo” for short, is by no means just a suburb of Perth. It serves as port and independent city, and holds all the quaint historical charm that is lacking in Perth’s… Continue reading
I woke up early Sunday morning, made my instant coffee, and walked down to the beach. The air was fresh, the sky nearly cloudless, and the light clear and young. It felt like… Continue reading
The opposum did not come back tonight, though there might possibly be a mouse above the kitchen. I’ve scoured the upstairs for signs (i.e. POO), but see none, so I am now convinced… Continue reading
A rustling in the attic sets my nerves on edge, then a heavy thud against an exterior wall – maybe the roof? I am on high alert. I turn the light in the… Continue reading
The first question most travelers ask is, “How long have you been traveling?” The second question is, “How long will you travel?” I once met a guy in Oaxaca who had been traveling… Continue reading
Halfway through day three – our second full day on the train crossing the Australian continent from east to west – we all begin to go a little stir-crazy. Muesli bars, apples, and… Continue reading
Days one and two, from Sydney to Adelaide, now going via Melbourne I wake up several times in the second half of my first night on the train, each time expecting to remove… Continue reading
