Visiting the Armenian Genocide Memorial. Armenians gather around the world to commemorate the 101st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Armenians from the far corners of the globe; from Buenos Aires to Guangzhou to Chicago honor 1.5 million Armenians slaughtered by the Turks in 1915. In Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, hundreds of thousands solemnly march to [...]
Sak Yant Tattoo Festival - Day One. It is a smagorsbord. One part carnival, one part tattoo marathon, one part madhouse, and a final part of a supercharged religious awakening. The Sak Yant Wai Kru Festival takes place every March at the Wat Bang Pra temple outside of Bangkok. https://youtu.be/u3KdhmCako4 Each year 10,000 people descend [...]
Visiting Chernobyl On Vacation. An uncontrollable virus? A natural disaster? Zombies? There wasn’t a soul in this city. I was exploring Pripyat. It once was a vibrant city of 50,000. Today the population is zero. No one had lived here for nearly 30 years. I was standing in the heart of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. In [...]
Protest and Revolution in Chisinau, Moldova. I have been witness to protests more than a handful of times. I have traipsed through multiple demonstrations in Bangkok, watching both Yellow and Red shirts protest against the government. I have seen Maoists protestors stream through the streets of Kathmandu. And saw the beginnings of the recent protests in [...]
Aqua Expeditions: 5 Stars On The Amazon. One does not often associate the Amazon River with non-stop luxury, but I experienced 7 nights of unadulterated extravagance on Aqua Expedition’s Aria. The Aria is an ultra-luxury river boat cruise that holds 32 guests. I was fortunate enough to be one. And this is an incredible way to [...]
Volunteering in the slums of Bangkok, Klong Toey. This book motivated me to move to Bangkok. That and the winter in Chicago is bone-chilling cold. The The Gospel of Father Joe: Revolutions and Revelations in the Slums of Bangkok is a true account of a Catholic priest who moves to Bangkok in the 1970s. He is a [...]
Saying goodbye in Klong Toey. The times I have volunteered I have felt that I have received more than I have given. It is a hackneyed expression, but my four months in the slums of Klong Toey proved it to be true. The teachers at the kindergarten always treated me with great respect and support. More [...]
Father Joe and the Mercy Center have an outsized commitment to education for the youth of Klong Toey. There is a strong belief that education is the springboard to a better opportunity. With that in mind, graduation from kindergarten is treated with all due pomp and circumstance. Over 800 children (from all of the Mercy kindergartens) [...]
Spend 2 days in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (the world's worst nuclear disaster) with over 100 photos! Sign up to get your free copy of the book.
