India in Monsoon Season

Want to have an incredible trip to India? When I went on an important work trip to the subcontinent in September, my dear friend Deb decided to join me the adventure – which coincided with the worst monsoon season India has seen in a decade. Anyone can have fun in stellar conditions, but have you…

Maasai on a Plane

Here’s a piece of seemingly random advice: Don’t take a Maasai Warrior on his first plane ride. Many of you are, no doubt, currently weighing the pros and cons of just such an endeavor or something vaguely similar. I had to learn this particular lesson the hard way — by actually taking my Maasai friend…

Field Notes from the Slopes of Kilimanjaro

There are squashed slug guts on the floor of my hut, which is located about one-third of the way up Mount Kilimanjaro. I feel bad for the slug, who just sort of exploded under my sneaker when I was looking at the drawings on the hut’s roughhewn walls. But I’m so damn happy about all…