What is there to say about New York City that hasn’t already been said? Perhaps the more you come to New York or the longer you live here, the more the city envelops you. Those who are less optimistic might say it swallows you whole. I usually set my own pace on trips, no matter…
In this last post of my Taiwan trip, we start in Taroko Gorge, a beautiful national park on the eastern side of Taiwan, and finish with my last few days in Taipei for Lunar New Year. With a hike through a waterfall tunnel and a soak in a natural hot spring at the base of the…
We were walking through Kaohsiung’s Central Park at night, the park mostly empty but for a few young couples strolling through and the constant hum of cars and motorbikes on the surrounding streets. Alice and I were talking about her last couple months since moving from the U.S. to Taiwan, and she brought up an…
It’s hard to know where to begin when it comes to Taiwan. It’s my history, my family. It’s political. It’s personal. It had been six years since my last visit, but since I was traveling to Japan, I had to seize the opportunity to take an extra side trip to Taiwan. My first impressions were…
My 2013 has been off to a crazy start, including a month of travels kicked off with visits to two familiar places– Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Below are just a few frames from those two spots: Los Angeles: food, food, and food. I seem to have made my Red Rock Canyon hikes an annual…
My mom has always wanted to visit architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s most famous house, Fallingwater. It’s nestled in the woods of western Pennsylvania and built right alongside some waterfalls, and it’s the perfect iconic example of Wright’s “organic architecture” approach. When my mom mentioned this to me in September, I thought about it for a…
It rained that night, the second night of our rail tour in Ireland. We had just completed our loop around the Ring of Kerry, and just as we got back to Killarney, the rain came down. We ran under the hotel awning. Back in the hotel room, I swapped my cloth Toms for wellies (rain…
I had the absolute privilege of visiting Ireland on a last minute whim in August. My friend Mitha organized the entire trip, and we started and ended in Dublin while going on a three-day rail tour in the middle. On day one we headed to the Blarney Castle to kiss the Blarney Stone, we went through…
Ireland is an incredibly beautiful country spread across an area that’s only the size of Indiana. The cities are never too big, and the towns are very charming, but it’s the countryside that really stole my heart. It really is as green as promised. It was mid-August when my friend Mitha told me online that…
Oh, Portland. Your rain and your sun. Your greens and your blues. Your outrageously delicious heart-attack food. Your over-the-top hipsterness. You’re quite the charming little town. My friend Jiongyi and I drove down to Portland for just a couple days after our trip to Seattle. And as long-time readers and friends may remember, I did…
I have a lovely time in Seattle every time I visit, and this July’s trip was no exception. I was in town to photograph Cami & Eric’s beautiful Snoqualmie Ridge wedding, but of course I stayed a few extra days, and we even threw in a trip to Portland afterward. I was traveling with my friend…
We have finally reached the grand finale of my California Coasting solo road trip: San Diego! Over the course of one week, I drove about 1300 miles and made twenty or thirty-some stops along the way, generating this slew of eleven different blog posts. I love the sense of adventure and space for reflection that…