As we ascend the Santa Marta Mountains in Northern Colombia, I offer my defense of colorful words and language. | Continue reading
Notes from the Road investigates each chapter in Patrick Moore's latest book, asking whether readers have been bamboozled by pseudoscience? | Continue reading
In Venice, Istrian Croatia and Slovenia, I imagine the challenge of building cities as elegant as those of the Venetian Empire in tomorrow's world. | Continue reading
While exploring Baja Sur's magical freshwater wetlands, I find the telltale signs of development and tourism spilling into the fragile ecosystem. | Continue reading
While hiking in the Vermilion Cliffs, I dive deep into the ancient geological epochs that created these beautiful rainbows of stone. Includes an interview with provocateur Matt Livingston Omega. | Continue reading
A complete guide to all the world's hot sauce types, with hand-drawn sketches. | Continue reading
Notes from the Road urges author Bruce Haedrich to abandon his indefensible thesis on EV batteries. | Continue reading
A backpacking trip to the solitary wilderness in southwestern Washington feeds my love of campfires. | Continue reading
On the Greek Island of Paros, I explore whether a musical improvisation master might have built up a following in the ancient Mediterranean. | Continue reading
Photo gallery of alley cats and country cats from around the world. | Continue reading
Moleskine Journal Sketches and notes from the Tuamoto Archipelago and the Society Islands. | Continue reading
This is how I pack my packraft and a giant, ultra-stable landscape tripod into packed luggage, allowing me to photograph in lagoons, marshes and harbors around the world. | Continue reading
Tikehau is a ringworld in the South Pacific. In these notes, I explore the stories, the wildlife and the future of this Tuamotu atoll. | Continue reading
Just completed sketching all species of the United States, including Puerto Rico. What represents the diversity of the American Southwest better than the cacti? Explore my illustrations and descriptions of every cactus species in the United States. My simple illustrations are des … | Continue reading
Notes from the Road urges Heritage Foundation author to walk back indefensible climate change claims. Includes new sketches by author Erik Gauger. | Continue reading
An update of my notes from 2002. In twenty years of exploration along the fabled California sea, I encounter ecological devastation, lawless Slab City, zany prophets, burrow-dwellers, and at last, a bold hope for salvation. | Continue reading
A hand-drawn map of the Cyclades islands in the Aegean Sea. These Greek islands, home to some of the earliest civilizations in this region, include 220 islands. | Continue reading
I kayak the Salton Sea to broken-down and beautiful Bombay Beach, and then return 20 years later to see the cogs of environmental decline in action. | Continue reading
On the Road to Quitobaquito Springs in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, I investigate the border wall and the case for resurrecting a Transboundary Preserve in North America's green desert. | Continue reading
What should we do when we run into problems with our Airbnb host? My crazy story about one Airbnb rental gone bad. | Continue reading
In Oregon's Lake County, I Investigate the value of documenting travel during a pandemic. Includes an interview with Prehistoric Archaeologist Dennis Jenkins. | Continue reading
In preparing to update my photography quiver for the new line of Canon's mirrorless lenses, I went through a period of researching and testing the new lens line. My questions about each lens and how they compare to each other were not sufficiently answered online, and so I though … | Continue reading
My illustrations and sketches from Hamburg, Germany, including copic ink sketches and watercolors. | Continue reading
Late summer backpacking in a Southwest Washington national forest ends in my terrifying rescue. Includes an interview on trail safety with mountain rescuer Lauren Dawkins. | Continue reading
On a road trip to Iceland's remote Westfjords, I explore the travel bloggers insatiable quest for novelty, and the decline of the iconic Atlantic Puffin. Includes an interview with puffin researcher Erpur Snær Hansen. | Continue reading
On a road trip to Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, I compare Oregonian and Californian views on public lands. | Continue reading
In an open letter to the author of the Ross Rant, Notes from the Road challenges the underlying falsehoods of his claims. | Continue reading
On a quiet stretch of Columbia River beach, an unexpected ark sends us to discover the life of the maverick inventor who built it. | Continue reading
From the dry Pacific coast of Costa's Guanacaste province, to the misty volcanoes of Tenorio National Park. | Continue reading
On a backpacking trip to the Olympic Peninsula's rugged Pacific coast, I voyage into four possible scenarios for the future of rural coastal areas. | Continue reading
Learn to pack an ultralight carry-on backpack with everything you need, and nothing you don't. | Continue reading
When you look up close at the exterior of the Havana Cathedral, you can see the shapes of brain coral, seashells and ancient marine fossils. The cathedral was built from coral bedrock, carved out of the nearby bay, a reminder that while some aspects of this baroque Jesuit cathedr … | Continue reading
Notes on an overnight backpack trip to Jefferson Park Wilderness in an age of changing climates and wildfires. | Continue reading
Wandering into the Celestún Biosphere Reserve, the flamingo-filled heart of the Yucatan's mangrove coast. | Continue reading
Through colonial towns, mangrove forests and wet jungles, I look for the mysterious and multicolored Pedorrera bird. | Continue reading
In pursuit of a lifelong dream to find the Pedorrera, literally, Cuba's Little Farter, I set up base camp in Habana Vieja, Havana. | Continue reading
In this open letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, I use a moral foundation and a data-driven argument for why trophy hunting is no way to protect elephants. In my argument, I offer three alternatives for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife to pursue. | Continue reading
Travel and big jams go together. The cowfunk-psyschedelia-shredding-ambient jams of Phish are like nothing else, and they go well with the most active parts of your travels. Here are my recommendations for some of the best Phish jams to go along with long backpacking trips in for … | Continue reading
A carefully curated list of the greatest Grateful Dead jams for travel and adventure, with a focus on creative, spontaneous compositions and the pinnacle jams of the Dead's career. | Continue reading
Dragonflies, shotgun shells and alkali lakes. Welcome to the ancient lakebed of Lake Chewaucan, where my son and I attempt to find an arrowhead. | Continue reading
Travel paint palettes get messy real fast. When I close my palette up after using it, excess water swishes about inside, applying a film of gray and brown over each color. This article describes how I organize my colors while traveling. | Continue reading
The total number of bird species in North America is often misunderstood. In this article, I explore why the count is much higher than often stated. | Continue reading
In this road trip from Barcelona to Cap de Creus, we explore living history, packing lunches and the street cats of Cadaqués. | Continue reading
What is that strange, red-eyed creature with white flames coming out of its tail? It's a Wax-tailed Planthopper. | Continue reading
Backpacking the beach from Bandon to Port Orford on the Oregon Coast Trail with hipsters, Snowy Plovers and serene Oregon landscapes. | Continue reading
I just sketched this hand-drawn map of the Osa Peninsula in southern Costa Rica, to support my story on the region. | Continue reading
Observations from Oregon's Malheur National Wildlife Refuge just after the end of the Bundy occupation. | Continue reading
Explore the wild jungle and coast of the Osa Peninsula Costa Rica with us, as we consider the concept of public protected land as imagined by Edward O. Wilson. | Continue reading