I got my hangar plowed out, repaired a broken water line, and fired up the '76 Volkswagen La Bamba. Two electric heaters took the bi...

   My five month trip should have been six. My hangar - five miles out of town, in the country - is still snowed-in. Poorboy's plow cou...

      I rode the train into the city as a bitter cold wind threatened rain. After walking east through a canyon of toweri...

  These are some pictures from the L.A. meetup at Rusty's Surf Ranch on the Santa Monica pier. It was my first TravBuddy meetup and what an a...

  Jet lag is much worse traveling west to east. I crashed out about midnight after the long flights from SE Asia but by 3:30 in the morning s...

  The Palm Garden Hotel in Pattaya wanted 1300 Baht ($43) for a taxi to the Bangkok airport but I arranged one down the street for 800 ($26)....

  Instead of riding a six hour bus from Ko Chang and Trat to the airport in Bangkok prior to the long flight home, I decided to make a move ...

  It made for somewhat of a long day but I was able to leave Sihanoukville at nine-thirty in the morning and get to Lonely Beach on Ko Chang,...

  I decided to go up to Victory Hill for the area's finest pizza at the Australian-run Corner Bar. I had the moto taxi take the round-about ...

  Each Wednesday afternoon the Angkor Brewery offers free beer. With my pocket watch up and running, I was able to meet up with a group headi...

My watch battery died several months ago and I finally replaced it for 5,000 Cambodian Rials (US $ 1.25). I'll probably have use for it t...

A computer shop was unable to repair my laptop but they were able to tell me the hard drive was okay. It was somewhat of a relief to know that I sh...

  I found a bus to Sihanoukville for $7 and the five hour ride arrived around two o'clock in the afternoon. An orange-robed monk 'riding shot...

  I considered the two-day boat trip from Ho Chi Minh City back to Phnom Penh like I took last year. That was a memorable journey which alter...

  I went to the Bobby Brew Coffee shop for a cup of good coffee and an (overpriced) American breakfast of eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, and toast...

   Ken dropped me off in front of the terminal building at the old Nha Trang Airport on the south side of town. The airport closed to c...

   I rented a 125 cc motorbike for 45,000 Dong (US$3) and followed Highway 1 inland skirting the hills south of Nha Trang. Roadside bui...

  My time to depart was rapidly approaching and I still needed to replace the shoulder bag that was stolen  last month - the bag I had ...

  Lucy didn't come home. Ken feared she wandered into a bad area, fell into wrong hands, and was eaten by neighbors. The pup had wandered ou...

    While crossing the Tran Phu Bridge, the big Buddha beckoned from across town - sitting tall and bright under gray skies. Zig-z...

   Bong chips ice from a two-kilo block to fill a wide stout glass. He carefully rations a black syrup-like substance and mixes the two...

  Banners, flowers, and billboards brightened the Tet holiday season. Vietnamese flags - red with a single, centered yellow star - flew on ba...

  The population of Nha Trang had swollen by thousands for the Tet holiday which commences tonight at midnight. It was after nine when I lef...

  Sugar cane fields, cashew orchards, and rice paddies dot the fertile green valleys of rugged hills west from Nha Trang. The curvy road w...

  The thieves were fifteen meters down the road by the time I realized that I had just been robbed. From behind, a black motorbike eased ...

  Having new digs, I needed transportation, preferably used - something that would not stand out in a row of other parked bicycles. Ken poin...

    I moved in. From outside, the house appears tall and narrow, but inside, multi-colored walls, the high living-room ceiling, ab...

  I studied a map of Nha Trang posted at a bus stop and was able to locate Bach Dang Street. The neighborhood street angles north and west f...

    Expats are a colorful lot wherever they hang their hat, or in some cases, hide it. Cambodia seemed a haven for the likes of ag...

   Sitting up front offered a nice but often terrifying impression of a bus driver determined to set a new speed record on the treacher...

    Though my city map from the hotel was in Vietnamese, I recognized the small sketch of a familiar church. The Cathedral of Dala...

   Like Phnom Penh, one night in Ho Chi Minh City was enough for me. The 11:15 bus lurched and swayed out of city traffic then the driv...

   After a $7 night for a windowless room at the Wooly Rhino, a hearty dinner down the street, and a couple of riverfront beers on arme...

  What does the Funky Munky Bar and Diner in Siem Reap, Cambodia, and JC's Bar in Gladstone, Michigan, have in common? Well, me. JC's is my h...

  I have not celebrated or participated in the Christmas holiday for several decades. In fact, it has been one of the reasons that I escape ...

  He wanted ten, I offered five, and got the motorbike taxi for $7. A full day should be $8-10 by one guidebook that I saw, so my driver got ...

  The newly constructed Riverside Hotel wants $20 a night for air-conditioned rooms. My preference is a fan room and after much bartering, a...

    Though the ceiling fan in 302 hummed at high speed, air did not stir across my bed and I woke at 3:30 in the morning drenched ...

   Many of the bus lines to Phnom Penh go directly to their own hotels or guesthouses which are often in remote backstreets and isolate...

  Earlier this year, in March, I stayed at the Caffe Venezia for $4 a night. The Italian-run guesthouse offered motorbike rentals for a dolla...

  For $1.00, I put myself at the mercy of a motorbike taxi-boy and headed north along Ekareach street, the main road through town. Six roads ...

  On the southern coast of Cambodia, the port town of Sihanoukville sits in the center of a small peninsula that juts into the warm waters of...

   The fast boat from Koh Kong to  Kompong Som (now called Sihanoukville in honor of the reigning king during the ports' cons...

  To keep from having to carry my tennis shoes externally on my day pack, I left them for the staff at Siam Huts. Someone there could use the...

  Though I remain loyal to Siam Huts for a couple of sunset beers, an occasional barbeque or restaurant meal, I take breakfasts at Nature Roc...

  The sun sets fast in the tropics - straight down and not at a lingering angle as in the higher and lower latitudes. With water and palm tr...

  Loy Kratong is celebrated on the full moon night of the twelfth lunar month which occurred last night. Small banana tree platforms called k...

  I've never had a tattoo but if I were to ever get one, this would be the place.  Koh Chang probably has more tattoo parlors than dive ...

   Up until two years ago, I had spent winters living in Africa and South America. Sometime during my fourteen year absence, fire twirl...

  Bang Bao is the main fishing port near the Southwest corner of Koh Chang. Much of the island's fishing fleet sails from here as well as div...

   As on all of the beaches of Koh Chang, the main road through Lonely Beach has numerous shops which all seem to sell the same t-shirt...

   Lonely Beach is rather crowded for this time of year. Usually the season begins December first, but heavy rains, flooding, and rough...

   After the long trip, I was too fired up to sleep and made my way to several of my favorite bars to enjoy a few Chang beers with old ...

   I had four hours to wait for the flight to Bangkok and spent the time drinking a couple of cups of $3 coffee and pacing between the ...

   After a final beer at O'Hearns Pub in Redondo Beach, I drove to the Budget rental car return near LAX. I boarded their shuttle to th...

  I always envied the world traveler who cleared immigration and stepped directly into a new world while the rest of us raced to the baggage ...

    California beach communities all have a unique atmosphere. I calculated that being near the vast blue Pacific Ocean gives a se...

  By 8:00 a.m., I left my step-sister's home in Hinsdale for the short drive to Chicago's Midway Airport. I returned the  Grand Am and c...

  Airline tickets out of the Upper Peninsula are outrageously overpriced. For a fraction of the cost, I always opt for a one-way rental car t...

    After working the summer season in Alaska I enjoyed six weeks at home in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The U.P. is fantasti...