Horses in the desert? What?? The Coachella Valley already offers a ton of activities – from hiking to the infamous Coachella music fest to epic pool parties to camping locales like Joshua Tree. Growing up …

“Get over the [lack of] smiles, the harsh tones of voice, the unemotional stares.” Well maybe I shouldn’t put this in quotes – it’s only been a recurring thought in my head walking around Kiev, …

I’ve eaten sushi, Italian food, and fruit since I've been here in Kiev so far. In the midst of what I'd characterize as an uneasy peace (mostly) here, I’ve been fiending to figure out what …

June 6, 2014 - Ok, so my first 12 hours here in Kiev were, umm... interesting. I remember looking up at a sign in the airport reading “Red Zone” and thinking it was a USSR …

Before we start, let’s stop: it’s not THE Ukraine, it’s Ukraine. Obama apparently learned this last year. Admittedly I didn’t know this until recently, but I'm not the Prez. And oh yeah, the capital (Kiev) …

“You in town?” Little did I know my text would lead to hiking 22 miles within the next 24 hours. Seriously. A marathon minus four miles – but with 10,500 feet of climbing, hurting, bonding, …

“Tell Johnny Golf Shoes that you want a Ken Caminiti, and that Patty Ohio sent you,” the server at Big Bowl tells me. Am I seriously being told to go to a random bar with …

I love hiking, but I forget to do it again for months at a time. It usually plays out like this: 1) I trek along a path (or non-path) getting lost in the moment… sometimes …

“Did that really just happen?” A lucha libre wrestler had tried to roll into the ring, miscalculated, and slammed down hard on the concrete. Instantly, the arena erupts in laughter, and the wrestler begins yelling …

“16 miles! Please tell me you’re kidding?” It’s 12:30 p.m. and I’m at the first break spot along this 50-mile Rosarito–Ensenada Bike Ride. I’ve been on my $40 Craigslist-bought beach cruiser (the title doesn’t lie) …

(continued from an August 23 travel story) Via my acute investigational skills and combined Gringo/Uruguayan/Mexican/Spanish language abilities, I finally locate a Tijuana orphanage to spend time with. It was a long, tedious search for answers… …

(continued from an August 7 travel story) “Come on, take a photo,” urges a man standing on a corner of Avenida Revolución, locally known as “La Revo.” This is the main street running through T.J.’s …

“I’m an idiot,” is the thought hovering in my mind as I relax on a Blue Line trolley headed to Tijuana. This news flash isn’t about safety concerns, as I’ve spent some time in Mexico …

For us San Diegans heading north, it’s those rolling, stress-releasing mountains inland of Temecula that we cruise through on the way to Palm Springs. But instead of darting right on Highway 74, hang a left. …

This story begins while I was watching a game at Tilted Kilt here in San Diego. A friend hears of my plans to visit the Philippines and immediately, without pausing, utters two fateful words (that …

Although it’s still debated which country invented karaoke (an abbreviated compound word meaning “empty orchestra” in Japanese), a Filipino was definitely the first to patent it in 1975. And in my brief Filipino travels, Cebu …

“...stay with my family and me for a few days.” I’d just met a friend of a friend, here in California, who heard that I was planning a trip to the 22,000-mile coastline nation of …

“We’re the fun Asians.” After soaking in the aforementioned statement from a Filipino friend and almost three years of living and working with a multitude of friendly Filipinos here in San Diego, I had to …

For starters, the name is misleading. “Balboa Island” is not an island – well, not a real one, anyway. Back in the early 1900s its harbor, Newport Harbor, needed channels dredged of sand and silt …

I don’t get it. I’m an avid people-watcher. But I’ve never been a Las Vegas fan. Seems contradictory, right? So when a friend of mine announced a birthday weekend in Vegas, I decided to give …

You know that they made that historic first airplane flight (in 1903). Perhaps you’ve heard they’re from North Carolina. And if you’ve seen pictures of the Wrights, it’s not surprising if you sized them up …

Tickets in hand: check. Place to stay in San Francisco: check. Ride secured: check. Last night for two hours I (legally) downloaded over 21 hours of tunes for the eight-hour car journey. Mobile music leading …

“It's like everyone is on a vacation. An extra pep is in the air.” This statement came from an acquaintance of mine who opened up a restaurant in Palm Desert. His customers continually wore smiles …

It’s 10 o’clock at night in the Ciudad Vieja neighborhood of Montevideo, Uruguay. Three of us are gathered around a bench on the city’s main walking street, Peatonal Sarandí, but no one is wandering past …

It’s midday and my friend and I have gotten off at the wrong stop. Chicago’s “El” train costs only $2.25 for one-way fares, and if used correctly (the key idea here) you can get anywhere. …

“Come out here. I can hook you up with a free massage, a place to stay, a snowboard and discounted lift tickets.” My sister then told me of her masseuse position in the luxurious RockResort …

It’s around 2am, and I’ve taken the “L” train in the wrong direction. There are two “Western” stops on the blue line. I could have sworn that I knew which was which – one located …

Built in 1914, just two years after Boston’s Fenway Park, Wrigley Field is America’s second-oldest ballpark. But the Wrigley family (as in the gum) didn’t own the venue until 1920, when it was known as …

My civil rights movement information hunt started with an arresting experience at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in Alabama. As the “I Have a Dream” speech beamed on TV, I knew where the next location …

I was in my second grade history class, here in Southern California, when I first remember seeing the video images of men and women shotgun-hosed ruthlessly, police dogs trained to bite the nearest dark-skinned person, …

Family and friends sit at an unassuming backyard table. Beer and wine are imbibed under the summer sun. Comfortable conversations, the family dog lazily looking for attention, and an appetizing smell own the scene. It’s …

I heard the word “Tecate.” My buddy wasn’t speaking of the next beer, but rather a border town located only 45 minutes away from downtown San Diego. Follow the 94-east freeway signs until it becomes …

Where would you go out at night in New Orleans? Bourbon Street, right? Me too. But after satiating the people-watching craving via the drunken crowds and after having enough of the flashing neon signs, I …

Thankfully, I’m not referring to a severe tropical cyclone unleashing raging reptiles, but rather to drink and food. I arrived in the “birthplace of jazz” with a few goals outside of relishing music: to find …

“New Orleans is my spot,” declares Pershall the cabbie en route to my second day at Jazz Fest. Ten minutes away from the famed French Quarter at the Fair Grounds Race Course, the 41st annual …

I’d been in Sri Lanka for a week, and now a couple of friends and I are driving through the interior of the island nation. The road’s edge is lined with a string-wire fence standing …

Presented with a two-hour delay for my Springfield flight, I made the best decision that any rational person of age would: I paid a friendly visit to the airport pub. “Where are you from?” I …

So we’ve heard about some famous worldly Carnavals, and we all know Mardi Gras in New Orleans. But how about Uruguay’s festivities? Would you guess that they showcase the longest Carnaval in the world? While …

I had two days off, three friends, and the urge to find a Carnaval celebration close by. I could have looked in my city of San Diego, but Mexico continually draws me in. Enter Ensenada. …

There’s a reason why so many poets and authors have called Laguna Beach home for some part of their lives (hint: not because of the great bar scene). It’s undoubtedly charming. Artists in the early …

“If you have a problem that annoys you, then you have two problems. Knock one of them out.” This local man’s statement lived with me during the week I spent in Brazil’s second-largest city (and …

We were a small volunteer group visiting Casa de Paz (House of Peace). The director of the orphanage, Jonatán Lopez Sánchez, eagerly welcomed us and began a tour of the property. Surrounding a mini soccer …

“Is Levi or Guess considered a more elegant brand? Addidas or Reebok?” A couple of mid-twenties locals ask with anticipation. A young single mother shares her ideas on the “What is Cuba to you?” question …

It’s the area in between star-studded Los Angeles and ultra-elite Orange County. This is the city that people just drive past on the 405 freeway, or don’t bother mentioning in conversations covering Southern California. But …

“What are they all waiting for over there?” A group of women are waiting on a neighborhood street corner. The truck is arriving sometime in the day, exact time unknown, to deliver their monthly ration …

“Where all cars are taxis, and all women are whores.” This raucous response to the frequently posed pre-trip question, “So what does Cuba mean to you?” understandably stood out the most. The “cigars” reply was …

Perth, Western Australia’s capital, is about as far away from Sydney as San Diego is from Miami (over 2,000 miles). The city breathes casually with just over one million residents strolling through its small city …

“Hay langosta aqui! Tres por quince dolares!” Ten legs jut out from a slender form. It’s dark red in parts and golden in other sections. Your salivary glands are jolted. Yes, Puerto Nuevo lobster times …

In a foreign land, my mind frequently associates places, events or people with past knowledge. In this context, Melbourne is a San Francisco without as many hills, but with people speaking in a much cooler …

I first met Australia in her city of Sydney. The date was January 26th, and could have been any other day. But I quickly learned of my erroneous judgment — it being Australia’s Independence Day. …