The Fermented Word
Two decades of getting lost
What Uncertainty Teaches Us About Change
Updated on March 31st, 2020 during lock-down in Laos with my family as we wait out the COVID-19 Pandemic Over the past 20 years I have traveled and worked in an out of conflict zones, balanced a growing family in a shifting world of job insecurity and risk, and learned to make decisions with scraps of information together with with a big bag of hope. None of this has been [...]
My Karate Kid Moment: Bar Fight in Japan
I was clubbing in Tokyo, Japan and it was three to one. Three soldiers, to me. An ex-girlfriend on my arm, scared. How did I get myself into this situation? More importantly, how did I get myself out of it? When we are kids we all have dreams of being the karate kid. No, not being lanky and whiny (I didn’t have to dream about that part), but being the [...]
People Watching in Tokyo Japan, Yoyogi Park
Japan is not all Samurai, Sushi and Modesty! Japan accepts quite a bit of eccentric freedom. If you are heading to Tokyo, changes are you are looking to experience eclectic Japan. While temples and history are nice, so is soaking in the vibe of cool and young Tokyo. It is hard not to drool cliches when writing about Japan these days, especially when talking about the eclectic youth [...]
A Guide to Tokyo’s Red Light District Kabukicho
As far as red light districts go, Tokyo’s Kabukicho near Shinjuku station is relativity tame. Unlike Amsterdam there are no pot houses (aka “coffee shops”), sex workers are not selling their services live in windows like a pimped out version of a holiday display, and at only 600 square meters it’s not even that big. What Kabukicho lacks in in your face raunchy, it makes up for in subtlety and [...]
When Japanese Toilets Fight Back
Don't get too close! I was excited, nervous and sweaty. It was 2000 and I was on a date in Japan. I chose the perfect spot, the 11th floor bar overlooking Lake Biwa, Japan’s largest lake and where I spent 5 years of my life after university (near the lake, not the bar). The bar was called Medusa. Small and smokey (like most Japanese bars at the time), [...]
The First Time I Almost Died-Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
Another story from my 2 decades of travel. This story took place in 2001. By the end of this story a number of people will be dead. The compact dirty white van left the tourist choked streets of Hanoi, Vietnam’s French Quarter early in the morning. We were a group of 10 strangers bound together by our desire to see the turquoise beauty of Ha Long Bay, and its breathtaking [...]
What Uncertainty Teaches Us About Change
Updated on March 31st, 2020 during lock-down in Laos with my family as we wait out the COVID-19 Pandemic Over the past 20 years I have traveled and worked in an out of conflict zones, [...]
My Karate Kid Moment: Bar Fight in Japan
I was clubbing in Tokyo, Japan and it was three to one. Three soldiers, to me. An ex-girlfriend on my arm, scared. How did I get myself into this situation? More importantly, how did I [...]
People Watching in Tokyo Japan, Yoyogi Park
Japan is not all Samurai, Sushi and Modesty! Japan accepts quite a bit of eccentric freedom. If you are heading to Tokyo, changes are you are looking to experience eclectic Japan. While temples [...]
A Guide to Tokyo’s Red Light District Kabukicho
As far as red light districts go, Tokyo’s Kabukicho near Shinjuku station is relativity tame. Unlike Amsterdam there are no pot houses (aka “coffee shops”), sex workers are not selling their services live in windows [...]
When Japanese Toilets Fight Back
Don't get too close! I was excited, nervous and sweaty. It was 2000 and I was on a date in Japan. I chose the perfect spot, the 11th floor bar overlooking Lake Biwa, [...]
The First Time I Almost Died-Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
Another story from my 2 decades of travel. This story took place in 2001. By the end of this story a number of people will be dead. The compact dirty white van left the tourist [...]