Madeira Laurel Trees Madeira, Portugal 2024 One of the ancient laurel trees of Fanal, on the island of Madeira. These trees are the last vestiges of a forest that once covered all of Europe. One of the ancient laurel trees of Fanal, Madeira
Black and White - Denver Area I'm delving into my newly scanned archives from the 1980s for another post. Shortly after acquiring my first SLR camera I experimented with black and white. All of these photos were taken in the Denver area in 1985 or 1986 when I was there for work.
Blasts From the Past - France 1984 It's taken close to a year in lock-down, but I've finally knocked off one of those long-delayed to-dos from my list: getting old negatives from travels over 30 years ago scanned. The results were somewhat mixed, since the years haven't been very kind to some of the negatives.
Portland Urban Hikes One of the things I really enjoy about living in Portland are the abundant opportunities to get outside and enjoy a walk or bicycle ride without having to go too far from home. I've been exploring the trails in Forest Park for the last few years, and this year, with nowhere else to go, I ended up taking a few days or afternoons off over most of the summer.
Chiang Mai Bucket List The old city of Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand was always one of my favorite places to visit. I probably spent more time there than anywhere else outside of Bangkok. The thing about the ancient city is that there are a seemingly endless supply of interesting places tucked away just around the next corner.
Giving The Best Luggage: Tumi The Tumi Alpha Travel Organizer As we're approaching the giving season, I thought I would give you some gifting ideas for the people in your life with itchy feet, for when they can start traveling again. There are very few brands that I would actually consider myself “loyal” to, and Tumi luggage is one of them.
Off the Beaten Track Destinations in Southeast Asia While pundits continue to argue about what the extended travel bans mean in the long term for tourism, I believe it's safe to say that most destinations that were popular before the pandemic will, eventually, be popular again. That may leave some of you in a bit of a quandry: Do you really want to go where there are a lot of people, and therefore a higher risk?
Colonial Architecture of Southeast Asia As a one-time architect, I have a deep interest in the built environment. While the colonial era — some might say “occupation” — when European powers held sway over much of Southeast Asia had a lot of negative aspects, the wedding-cake confections of the buildings it left behind are still fascinating, where they still exist.