Hi folksSo this isn’t one of my typical travel blog entries but please bear with me and hopefully it will make sense as you read on. I spent a good portion of 2010 working and saving money for the trip I’m currently on and also processing the trip that I took in 2009. I also [...]

Hi folksI usually try to keep the mood fairly light in these posts but I did want to say that I’ll be sending positive thoughts to the folks in Japan I hope the recovery effort happens as quickly and as safely as possible.So here’s the blog entry on South India. This is a bit of [...]

Hiya folksSorry for the delay. Things have been kind of hectic with sightseeing Vipassana courses tabla lessons and all. So I’m just now getting around to the first official travel blog post yes two months into the trip. In this post I will cover my Vipassana course February 1627 in Bodh Gaya. There will then [...]

Hiya folks It’s been a while but just wanted to fill you in on the rest of my trip and my assimilation back into normal American society. San Francisco is still kinda normal right In this post I hope to help us collectively wrap our heads around my trip’s deeper meaning. I may allude to [...]

What’s up peepsBrian or as my nephew has taken to calling me Farmer Pickles here. Are you ready for the post on Italy Sorry but if you really want to motivate a twoyearold you’ve got to make it sound like the most fun thing ever. So are you ready for the post on Italy Yay [...]

Hi folksI am back in the U.S. and very glad about it too. I can’t describe the joy I felt at hearing my first nonrhotic accent at JFK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiNonrhotic I think I hit a little bit of a wall in Vienna and Italy. I enjoyed both but I just really needed some down time mainly [...]

Hi folksGreetings from Budapest. I know I said that I probably wouldn’t do another blog entry before I returned to the States but I felt that I would forget some stuff by that point so here ya go. And here are some pics for you httpwww.flickr.comphotos8870546N03collections I finally got around to organizing my pics by [...]

Greetings from TransylvaniaThat’s right I made it to Romania. Or if you really want to look hip and in the know you might want to refer to it as Roland. But I’m not gonna touch Roland right now I’d like to tell you about Turkey and Bulgaria. Since the last post I visited Istanbul Cappadocia [...]

Greetings from IstanbulYes for a variety of reasons I decided not to go to Syria I flew straight from Tel Aviv to Istanbul. Since the last post I made my way around Israel visiting Jerusalem Ein Gedi and the Dead Sea Masada Bethlehem Tel Aviv Haifa Akko and Jaffa.Here are some pics httpwww.flickr.comphotos8870546N03sets Israel where [...]

ShalomYes I made it to Jerusalem or as I’ve heard a few people call it Jtown. But I’m not going to touch upon Israelthe Palestinian Territories right now. I still have to discuss Jordan. Since the last post I’ve visited Aqaba Wadi Rum Petra Amman and now Jerusalem though I haven’t really done much here [...]