(from DIY Explorer)

This is the third of three posts, in which I explain how I used craigslist to get from Boston to LA in 3 days, without flying, for $70-and how you can do it too, safely and easily.

So you want to try riding across the country with craigslist yourself? Maybe you’d like to, but you’re not sure if it can be done safely? It can, and ( Read more... )

(from DIY Explorer)

This is the second of three posts, in which I explain how I used craigslist to get from Boston to LA in 3 days, without flying, for $70-and how you can do it too, safely and easily.

So it was that on Sunday morning at a gas station close to I-90 in Boston, I introduced myself to Bashir, my driving partner across the  country for ( Read more... )

(from DIY Explorer)

In the next three posts, I will explain how I used craigslist to get from Boston to LA in 3 days, without flying, for $70--and how you can do it too, safely and easily.

Hitchhiking across the country is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, in part because I thought it was impossible. Not “impossible” as in “cannot be done ( Read more... )

(from DIY Explorer)

Originally, this was going to be a blog about traveling abroad, especially to challenging places like Burma or rural China. Then I realized I wanted to live near my friends more than I wanted to travel right now, so I threw my vagabond-around-the-world plan out the window and moved back to the United States instead. No big deal, ( Read more... )

Wandering on foot, with time to look into every nook and cranny, is one of my favorite ways to get to know a place. But this week I’m dealing with a very different kind of travel: the guided tour bus. For six days I am chaperoning my motley crew of 7th graders as they visit the cities of Ningbo and Hangzhou in southeastern China.

And to my own ( Read more... )

So I'm starting a blog about exploring! It's called The DIY Explorer, and I'm looking for your input (see below). It's not your ordinary travel diary. There won't be any today-I-went-here-and-did-this travelogues, although I'm sure I'll tell some of my crazy stories. Mostly what I'm focusing on is "empowering independent explorers everywhere" -- at ( Read more... )

Why explore?

For me, the answer is simple: I'm a collector of surprises. I seek the unexpected and the magical, although I often feel that the two are the same. I'm happiest following the road just to see where it leads, simply for the thrill of discovery. The world is full of delightful secrets. There is pleasure in the familiar but also beauty in ( Read more... )

You know you're in Asia when...

...the second day of school is canceled due to a typhoon.


( Read more... )

Picture a narrow, dimly lit deli with flickering fluorescent lights and one glass display counter taking up nearly all of the space. The food is all in styrofoam containers covered with plastic wrap. Prices are astoundingly cheap. There is one wobbly steel table in the corner where customers eat with disposable chopsticks, using those same ( Read more... )

Stand back! I have banana bread and I'm not afraid to use it!


( Read more... )