Sleam

A Trip Report Written by PRASHA Out of breath, I gazed at the reddish cliffs of Portugal’s Algarve coastline, their shadows spilled into the aquamarine sea of Praia da Blanca below. The September sun was unrelenting, stronger than I had anticipated. The water sparkled beneath the sun, and my jet-black hair felt as though it might catch fire. In that moment, the world felt silent. I was alone,…

By Harriet Riley The rugged mountainous region just outside of Sydney, Australia isn’t just an enchanting place to hike and enjoy the outdoors, the Blue Mountains also offer a bit of heaven for bookstore lovers. Tucked away among eucalyptus trees and the hazy blue cliffs, visitors will find charming mountain villages with at least 12 bookstores spread across nine towns.  Whether you go for the…

A Book Review by Mark D. Walker I’ve read and reviewed the last seven books from the “Dean of Travel Writing,” Paul Theroux. I wrote my latest book, My Saddest Pleasures: 50 Years on the Road, in honor and appreciation of Theroux and another travel writer, “who personally knew and was inspired by Moritz Thomsen and passed their enthusiasm on to me.” Thomsen wrote the Peace Corps experience…

a travel essay by Jeff Beeler. So, that’s their claim to fame.  The Oldest Winery in the Americas.  Catchy, but we had never heard of this place before.  My wife, Sheri, and I are wine drinkers.  We even have a 50-bottle wine fridge at home!  All right, it’s not a cellar, but we have a small house.  We belong to a few wine clubs.  We have been to many wine regions around the U.S., Baja…

by Harriet Riley. A Travel Essay. Literary Magic Among the Hedgerows Densely packed five foot high rows of shrubs lined the road as we wound our way to our destination. Adventure awaited. These magical hedgerows led us to our home for the next few nights–a horse farm in the middle of Wales. After what seemed like miles and miles of hedgerows, we turned down a narrow lane and followed the…

A travel essay by Jeff Beeler. In early 2015, a group of my friends decided to hike up Mt. Whitney, a peak of 14,505 feet in the Eastern Sierras of California.  The idea came from our buddy John Marsden.  He often was the catalyst of our adventures, and he liked it when his friends could join him on these trips.  Many of us in this circle of friends were hikers, and have even done hikes…

– A poem by Michael Kelleher I’m there in my mind,feet firm on wet sand, to lookpast Ireland’s teardrop.Endless horizon,gentle ocean, warm winds shapeinner harmony.Salt air serenades,it’s lilting tones like loved oneslost some years ago.Some lie down withoutcoffins in a shallow grave.I hear others singlyrics of hope thatthough not here I’ll still belong,but from who knows where.The chorus of…

A Travel Essay by Kerstin Schultz Chasing fall colors in the North Cascades we find ourselves socked in by the smoke at White Pass. Early October, a little soon for color in the valley, our high hopes for foliage in the high country are dashed by the Goat Rocks wildfire. Even with the windows up and interior air circulating the smoke stings our eyes, taps at our lungs, the world suspended in a…

A Travel Essay/Photos by Sarah Snyder This morning I woke up with a new word in my mind: storying. I’m defining it as the act of listening to stories and storing them inside of you. The story of Edmond, the owner of Go Discover Africa and an ASYV graduate, who drove us and is our friend. The way he feels saved by ASVY and pays kindness forward. The story of Beck, our guide to the gorillas, his…

by Timothy Loftus. Two quart-size containers of water, one for drinking on the move, the other for tea when I take a break. Tea (of course!). Backpacking stove, fuel, titanium pot, tea mug. Apple.  Flask with a dram of Irish whiskey. Notebook and mechanical pencils (black plastic body with a yellow pocket clip). Wide-brim hat to keep the sun off my face. (I know of too many people who have…

By Niles Reddick. The drive from Atlanta to the Smokies wasn’t a long drive, only three hours, but we’d been stuck for an hour because of a wreck, which wasn’t the fatality we had assumed because thousands of vehicles inched along with many jumping lanes to get ahead and didn’t. In addition to the traffic, the twins in the back were on their phones and periodically asked how much longer. My wife…

By Jerry Nelson As the plane descended into Buenos Aires under the cover of night, the city sparkled below like a sea of stars. The darkness was broken by a grid of golden lights, sprawling endlessly across the landscape. From the window, you could see the faint shimmer of the Rio de la Plata, a silver ribbon under the moonlight, and the silhouettes of high-rises in Puerto Madero and the iconic…

By Don Noel. Cambodia’s great lake, the Tonlé Sap, is for a few months each year the largest freshwater body in Asia: 75 miles long at its peak, almost as large as Lake Ontario. Its bounty contributed to the wealth of the Khmer Empire, which from 802 to 1431 – six centuries! – dominated much of what we now know as Thailand, Laos and South Vietnam. The capital Angkor (now a tourist destination,…

by Roger Camp Roger Camp is the author of three photography books including the award winning Butterflies in Flight, Thames & Hudson, 2002 and Heat, Charta, Milano, 2008. Buy Us a Coffee and Support the Website – Thanks!

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-dewwj-13c4e7a How have I gone this long without an episode on travels with dogs? Ridiculous! So, today you’ll hear a variety of voices with a focus on traveling with dogs. I’ll come back to cats another time, with stories from Stevie, my little feral bugger who explored national forests across the American West.  We’ll start with Lavanya…

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-tebb3-13c4b42 Today you’ll hear from Anthony Bourdain, Meg Freer, Takera and her article on James Heming, and how food has a lingering affect on cultures and memories. Anthony Bourdain, The Nasty Bits: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nasty-bits-anthony-bourdain/1100623147 Meg Freer, Russian Tea:…