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found

searching for mime

Passport Lost

Sunday, May 1st, 2011

11:30 AM / Tyler We're checking in at the reception desk of a dermatologist's office (an appointment to have some questionable moles evaluated—healthcare is cheap in Bangkok), and I am happy in the knowledge that this is the last major errand of ...

Samson Zoom H4n: Review & Repair

Saturday, February 12th, 2011

In January of 2010, I bought my first sound recorder: a Samson Zoom H4n. At the time, I knew essentially nothing about field recording—I selected the device based on the recommendation of several musician friends. I didn't think of it at the time...

Morning in a Mountain Village

Monday, January 10th, 2011

I'm not sure how early it is, but I'm ready to go. As I clumsily dislodge myself from the hammock, all knees and elbows, I leave Tara curled up like a burrito in the netting, dead to the world. After I've padded around camp gathering twigs for a ...

Trying Betel

Friday, January 7th, 2011

In Vietnamese there is a saying that "the betel begins the conversation", referring to the practice of people chewing betel in formal occasions or "to break the ice" in awkward situations. Wikipedia, Betel Before we arrived in Bangkok to...

Climbing to New Year's Eve

Friday, December 31st, 2010

Figuring out what the problem is, and making a plan to do something about it helps a lot, but at the moment, there's not much we can do to execute our solution. For the time being, we'll just muscle on, grinning and bearing it, even as we're passe...

Into Ho Chi Minh City

Sunday, December 19th, 2010

Today, we'll be cycling into the heart of Ho Chi Minh City, and this morning, we'll have to face the grating music: it's highway time. The traffic-free rice paddy paths we've enjoyed for the last two days can't get us there. Procrastinating the i...

Farewell Cambodia

Saturday, December 4th, 2010

This morning, as we leave to embark on our final ride in Cambodia, a fierce wind is gusting in from the east. Exchanging grimaces, we fight to build momentum on the colonial-house-lined coastal road leading to the border. Thanks to the strongest ...

Heat & Tragedy

Monday, November 22nd, 2010

A fur-lined hoodie. Seriously? A freaking fur-lined HOODIE?! As I shout to Tyler, my voice barely audible over the noise of the traffic, I can barely reconcile what I'm seeing with reality. Here I am, cycling out of Phnom Penh, sweating my sw...

Finding Boxes

Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

My goal for the day is a deceptively simple one: find cardboard boxes. We've already failed at this once. Yesterday, we asked at the local outdoor supply shop, a camping outlet, and the huge State Department Store, all in vain. If I can't find c...

Mongolian Customs, The Fate of LRC: Part Four

Monday, September 27th, 2010

It is Monday morning, and we're about to see if we can give our car to Mongolia. Tom from the Adventurists has told us to go to the customs office, so that's where we're headed. "Okay, get psyched up", I say to myself. It's going to be one of th...

Wheels Falling Off, The Jimny Saga: Part Seven

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010

We've been killing time waiting for the Jimny to arrive, but eventually we have to face facts. They are not coming. What in the world has happened to them? Someone suggests we take the motorcycle to find them. Wanting to get the show on the roa...

Repairs in Altai

Monday, September 13th, 2010

With the Jimny dealt with, Tara and I go driving in search of a hotel. She is feeling the aches and fatigue of impending illness, while I need a quiet place in which to work. We eventually stumble upon a nice clean hotel on the outskirts of town,...

Finding a Truck: The Jimny Saga, Part Two

Sunday, September 12th, 2010

It has been an hour and a half, and still no one has come to help. I am journaling and Tyler is working when Freddie leans over to us and asks, "Could you drive me back to town to ask about the guy with the truck?" Tyler is is so far gone in prog...

Mongolian Hospitality

Sunday, September 5th, 2010

Light is fading fast as we drive off-road, over green fields towards our host's ger. Pulling up next to the round white homes, we are welcomed enthusiastically by a man we've never seen before. Perhaps he is the brother of our host? He has two a...

Dead Doblò

Sunday, September 5th, 2010

The roads of Mongolia have claimed another victim. Just a few minutes ago, Mette's red Doblò had a collision similar to our own—some unseen obstacle smashed into the underside of her van. The exhaust system survived, but it seems the motor didn't...

Towards the Edge

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

Our breath hangs in the air like clouds this morning as we emerge from our tent and notice the white horse still quietly sharing our camp, munching away on grass now laced with frost. There is something almost mystical about him, something unearth...

Morning Chai

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

It is a chilly grey morning. Heavy clouds hang overhead, threatening rain. Even so, we pack our camp at a leisurely pace, paying no mind to the potential deluge. Once everything is in order, I direct Tyler through our field of car-high grasses, ...

Off the Beaten Path

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

Our last adventure in the Siberian countryside left us feeling like it might be a good idea to stick to the highway for at least a few days. Though off-roading in our LRC is exciting, we want to be sure we'll actually make it to our final Russian ...

Racing Through Russia's Heartland

Friday, August 20th, 2010

It is a sleepy day in Siberia. A recent series of several time-zone crossings have disoriented me a bit, and I find myself battling odd patterns of sleep and wakefulness. This, combined with a quiet emptiness about the land we're driving through,...

Distractions

Sunday, August 15th, 2010

Tyler: I possess a strange affinity for taking unassuming vehicles to places where they might not belong. For reasons I can't really articulate, I was ecstatic about driving off-road in our trusty little econobox this morning. Maybe it is an ad...

Friendly Russia

Saturday, August 14th, 2010

It seems that anyone who has traveled far and wide eventually comes to the conclusion that no matter where you roam, people are very much the same. Having heard variations of this idea my entire life, I had some vague inkling of its merit before w...

VIGILANCE!

Friday, August 13th, 2010

We milked our expensive hotel stay for all it was worth, working in the lobby on their wireless internet connection for most of the morning. After we published a few entries, we struck up conversation with an Indonesian journalist. She was here r...

Russia's Golden Ring: Pereslavl-Zalessky

Friday, August 6th, 2010

In spite of the difficulty, getting out of Moscow last night was an excellent plan. We're told the smoke, smog and heat (caused by the forest fires covering Western Russia) escalated to new levels of awful today. Apparently the haze is so thick n...

Train to Dresden

Monday, June 7th, 2010

After a thoroughly enjoyable break in Bamberg, it was time to move on to our next destination: Dresden. So, this morning we packed up one last time from our three-night river-side free-camp, and rode back into town. When we reached the station...

To the Danube

Saturday, April 17th, 2010

As I unzip the vestibule of our tent this morning, I let out a small gasp of delight and rouse Tyler to take a peek with me. Our free-camp is enveloped in a thick, billowing white mist! A nearby church looms in the fog, and the atmosphere is so d...

Rainy Riverside Ride

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

Getting out of large cities can sometimes be a pain. Thankfully, that was not the case today. After a quick, easy exit from Belgrade, we were back on the road once more. It felt so good to leave, extricating ourselves from the blocky concrete bu...

Morning Has Broken

Sunday, April 4th, 2010

8:00 AM I wake up feeling happy and Easter-y with the Cat Steven's tune "Morning Has Broken" playing on repeat in my head. Birds are chirping, frogs continue their belchy song from last night, and the sun shines warmly through our tent. Tyler i...

Macedonian Mountains

Monday, March 29th, 2010

The day dawned bright and clear, though the headwinds from yesterday were still blowing fiercely. In spite of the extra work we knew they'd bring, we were in good spirits. With a spring and summer full of adventure laid out before us, we've been ...

Latkes on the Road

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

I was not inspired to do anything today. This morning all I wanted was to be on the move, adventuring on our bicycles, or be at home. Our waiting-for-gear limbo was driving me crazy. All I could think were things like: "Why on earth are we sitti...

Trains: A Learning Experience

Saturday, September 12th, 2009

The morning started with a paradise-like sunrise which we excitedly photographed before promptly going directly back to sleep. A few hours later we awoke to lazily pack our camp and prepare for another day of easy, flat riding. Our first stop was...