This is part two of a two-part series on the restorative splendors of Vermont. Read Part One Here. Not much past The Long Trail Brewery, named after the 273-mile footpath that runs along the main ridge of the Green Mountains, paralleled for most of its length by Route 100, I trundle into the Vermonster, the … Continued
Thank you to Richard Bangs, the Judge for our Inspiration Travel Writing Contest. YOU can decide the WINNER of our VAGABONDS CHOICE AWARD– Click here to VOTE now! And GET READY for our Independence Writing Contest with BIGGER Cash PRIZES starting May 11! At first coffee on the morning of September 11, 2001 I was in … Continued
Thank you to Richard Bangs, the Judge for our Inspiration Travel Writing Contest. YOU can decide the WINNER of our VAGABONDS CHOICE AWARD– Click here to VOTE now! And GET READY for our Independence Writing Contest with BIGGER Cash PRIZES starting May 11! The morning next we take a hike to the Tibetan village of … Continued
“There is no happiness for him who does not travel. Therefore, wander. The fortune of him who is sitting sits, it rises when he rises, it sleeps when he sleeps, it moves when he moves. Therefore, wander!”—- The Rig Veda – 800 – 600 BC Walking down a vacant road on the way to Padum, … Continued
The Spirit of the Catskills -Richard Bangs Before arriving at a new place we all carry the luggage of pre-conceptions. There are usually holes in this kit; we’re almost always wrong, at least to some extent, about our notions. My idea of the Catskills came from two very different periods, the live television run … Continued
Even though few therapists would agree, sometimes neglect paths to the best possible outcome. Such is the case with the Adirondacks, whose fierce geography, unproductive soil, and hard weather diverted early American settlers to more benign plots. As a result, a state of raw wilderness maintained into the 19th century. Some credit the turning … Continued
It’s the final afternoon in paradise, and I head for Hell. Hell, it turns out, is a flash in the road near West Bay, named for a swatch of spiky, tortured, black, ironshore that looks like midday in the garden of evil. There are just a few structures in Hell: a bar named Club Infernal; … Continued
The hours melt away as I snorkel the brilliant reefs, hike the filigreed interior, draw figures in the sand, collect lovely shells, even paddle around the island in a leaky plastic kayak. I finish reading my one book, Explorers of the Nile, and then stare at a palm tree. I come to admit I’m bored. … Continued
From here I wind back to the western side of the island, to Lighthouse Point, to meet Nancy Easterbrook, the fire behind a critical ecological initiative in the Caribbean: Eat a fish; Save the fish. Nancy, who is managing partner of Divetech, says in recent years the beautiful Indo-Pacific lionfish, studded with toxin-tipped spines, has … Continued
Over the years I’ve caressed many of the Caribbean gems, but never a set like the Cayman Islands. An accident of geography and geology, the three coral islands, cursed with terrible soil, minimal terrestrial relief, no rivers or lakes, but a bask of crocodiles, was not settled by the Caribs, Arawaks, Tainos, or any other … Continued