At the time of writing this, I have been in Nigeria for almost a week. My time here defies a simple description or even a simple narrative. Experiences are intensified by the extreme emotions one feels in a place like this: The encouragement I felt at meeting people with whom Read more…
“Go about this trip confidently and being friendly, but never betraying yourself as a first timer [to Nigeria],” my friend, Jwan Zhumbes, the Anglican Bishop of Bukuru, had warned me. “Do not ask questions that will sell you off as someone who has never been here before … And answer, Read more…
Embassies and consulates are a country’s storefront. In them, nations typically endeavor to put their best foot forward because they know that these outposts not only represent their country, but are quite probably all that most will ever see of it. The idea is to impress, to make a statement Read more…
“Don’t go. I swore I would never go back there,” came the voice of my friend Jay Smith on a trans-Atlantic Skype call. “I’ve been in over sixty countries. I’ve been all over Africa. I lived there, and I’ve never felt unsafe the way I did in that country. There is something Read more…
So far on this circumnavigation of the globe, I have hit South Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand. Now I am back in the Atlanta of Asia: Hong Kong. Yes, you can’t go anywhere in Asia without having to pass through Hong Kong first. In the last few years I almost feel Read more…
My first night in Bangkok had been epic for all the wrong reasons. Thailand has a reputation for the very thing I encountered on that sweltering night. But you can’t judge a country on a singular experience. If Thailand is known for its sex industry, it is also known as Read more…
As the world tour rolled on, I was feeling tired. On this latest circumnavigation, I had hit six countries so far. Travel is exhausting. Especially when the schedule is breakneck, requires flights, and is chiefly international. My little retinue had become efficient. We were the first to disembark the planes, Read more…
Larry, still in Vietnam, takes his life into his own hands and tours Saigon on a motor scooter. Did America lose the war? What Larry sees suggests otherwise. As I said in my previous post, Vietnam is the war we lost. Or is it? Upon arrival in Saigon, I decided Read more…
The Around the World in 80 Days expedition rolls on. South Korea was a great experience. It is an impressive and largely forgotten example of American nation building. Perhaps even more impressive than Japan because of the extraordinary growth of Christianity in South Korea. It was also meaningful for me to see Read more…
“People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” —George Orwell “Only you—only you!—could manage to get shot in the ass!” The year was 1987. A group of middle-aged men sat under the umbrellas at the cheap fiberglass Read more…