In Vietnam, if you have a rhino horn, you’re (supposedly) a big deal. They’re worth up to $60,000 per kilo on the black market—more valuable than diamonds or cocaine. Sometimes they’re even ground up and snorted as a party drug. And some proponents of Asian medicine actually believe they can cure hangovers … and cancer….
Category: World
Phase II: New Look, New Life
You know when you get caught up in someone else’s vision and you forget all about your own? That’s where I’ve been. All it took was a template change and I’m inspired again. (Seriously, this new-look everything is nature is giving me heart palpitations!) I’ve always believed that if you really want to make your unique…
Close Encounter with Coastal Giants
Mountain ranges cloaked in Douglas firs line a long, undulating road—California’s famous 101 Freeway—giving a glimpse at what’s to come. I’m never less than amazed each time I bear witness to the unparalleled natural landscapes here, and this time, on the 200 or so miles driving from San Francisco to the ancient forests of Redwood…
The Insane Solo Patagonia Adventure That Changed My World
My first welcome to Chilean Patagonia is a rainbow over the parking lot of the utilitarian airport at Punta Arenas. The wind whispers a song that’s somehow evocative of the tune that loops on the ice cream truck that passes my home in Los Angeles everyday. I guess flying for about twenty-four hours straight will…
To the End of the World: From Patagonia to Cape Horn
It’s a five-hour ride from Torres del Paine National Park to Punta Arenas, where I will board the Stella Australis cruise ship to Ushuaia, Argentina. I wander on a street parallel to the Strait of Magellan, looking for the port, and pass a sleeping stray dog; he springs up immediately and starts walking ahead of…
Living La Pura Vida
BOOM! I wake in the middle of the night to roaring thunder and a vehement downpour through the trees, crashing against the roof of my bungalow. In the pitch-blackest darkness, my eyes never adjust, with minimal city lights permeating the atmosphere in this little coastal town called Tamarindo in the Guanacaste province of Costa…
Journey to a Secret Spot on Catalina Island
We trudge along a steep incline with 20 pounds of paraphernalia strapped to each of our backs. Tents, sleeping bags, propane tanks, water, a kite, a frisbee, mason jars filled with cake, fairy dust – the essentials. The strain is relentless, until we reach a ridge, where the sea and sky coalesce into one infinite…
What Does Pura Vida Mean?
In Tamarindo. Costa Rica is so fresh! I feel at home here more than any other place I’ve been…even more than my actual home in Los Angeles. Vibrations are high and all of nature is in tune with one another. The locals and expats easily found a place in my heart. I’m going to continue…
everything is nature 