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China
A Dream Deferred: The End of Backpackology?
When I finally penned my response to Men’s Journal (at three in the morning) (over one week late), I was sitting amongst cockroaches on my hotel room floor, stripped down to my underwear, high as a rocket ship on mysterious Chi... -
Adventure
Detained in Bahawalpur
Nearly two months have passed since my ill-fated journey to Bahawalpur, since my sixteen-hour CIA interrogation in a dirty, Pakistani hotel room, since they threatened to shut down my website if I publicized the story. I’m hopi... -
Adventure
Kidnapped in Alipur
I find it ironic, and embarrassingly hypocritical, that not even a week after I ranted about how you should never get into cars with strangers, I turned around and did exactly that. It was noon, and the heat of June shimmered a... -
Adventures in Backpackistan!
Laughing Yoga in Calcutta
The placid water of Rabindra Sarova Lake shined like gold in the light of dawn, and standing beneath a rustling fig tree on its bank, Mr. P.N. Chettiney screamed at the top of his lungs. “GOOD MORNING, CALCUTTAAAAA!” In a neat ... -
Adventure
The Heart of the Slums
The scruffy, young beggar banged on my window. “Sir, money! Money!” I tried to ignore him but it was futile; we were stuck in Mumbai’s gridlock traffic, and he wasn’t going anywhere. “Sir!” I had no small bills. I considered ap...
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China
A Dream Deferred: The End of Backpackology?
When I finally penned my response to Men’s Journal (at three in the morning) (over one week late), I was sitting amongst cockroaches on my hotel room floor, stripped down to my underwear, high as a rocket ship on mysterious Chi... -
Adventure
Detained in Bahawalpur
Nearly two months have passed since my ill-fated journey to Bahawalpur, since my sixteen-hour CIA interrogation in a dirty, Pakistani hotel room, since they threatened to shut down my website if I publicized the story. I’m hopi... -
Adventure
Kidnapped in Alipur
I find it ironic, and embarrassingly hypocritical, that not even a week after I ranted about how you should never get into cars with strangers, I turned around and did exactly that. It was noon, and the heat of June shimmered a... -
Adventures in Backpackistan!
Laughing Yoga in Calcutta
The placid water of Rabindra Sarova Lake shined like gold in the light of dawn, and standing beneath a rustling fig tree on its bank, Mr. P.N. Chettiney screamed at the top of his lungs. “GOOD MORNING, CALCUTTAAAAA!” In a neat ... -
Adventure
The Heart of the Slums
The scruffy, young beggar banged on my window. “Sir, money! Money!” I tried to ignore him but it was futile; we were stuck in Mumbai’s gridlock traffic, and he wasn’t going anywhere. “Sir!” I had no small bills. I considered ap...
Latest Posts
Backpackology 101
The Backpacker’s Manifesto
There were a dozen sagging rear-ends in my face as I plodded up the long, narrow staircase of Shwezendaw Pagoda, trapped behind a Swiss tour group who were ascending at glacial speed. I turned around to a sweeping panorama of B...
Backpackology 101
Weekend Destination: Top 10 Free Vacations (2/5)
This article is part two of the five part series, “The Top 10 Free Vacations.” You can find destinations #10 & #9 in Part One. 8. Couchsurfing Europe Wait, couchsurfing… Is that like when you go to a stranger’s house and he...
Adventures in Backpackistan!
‘Have You Eaten?’: An Angry Foodie’s Portrait of Burma
It’s likely that you’ve never tried Burmese food, or even seen a Burmese restaurant. There’s a reason for this. Wedged between the three culinary giants China, India, and Thailand, you might expect the cuisine of Burma to be ro...
Backpackology 101
Weekend Destination: Top 10 Free Vacations (1/5)
This article is part one of the five part series, “The Top 10 Free Vacations.” 10. The Great American Ghetto-Ass Road Trip With the price of gas alone, a road trip has no place on this list—but it was really hard to...
Adventures in Backpackistan!
The Budgetometer
I could tell the wealthy-looking French family was alarmed, but I suppose I would be too if a total stranger started following me at uncomfortably close range. The mother shot me a worried look as I edged even closer, breathing...
Adventure
The Human Zoo
As our motorized canoe sliced through the morning mist, I couldn’t discern the water from the sky. We were sailing through a monochrome plane of grey, with no reference point but the occasional floating lotus leaf, or a few Int...
Adventure
Weekend Destination: The Top 5 Countries You Thought Were Dangerous, But Really Aren’t…
For any of you who missed out on childhood, let me recap a cardinal lesson: Danger = Fun. You may have grown older, and sticking forks in unplugged toasters might not be as high octane as you’d remembered, but still, nothing ge...
Backpackology 101
How To Step Out The Door
“It’s not a question of money, it’s a question of desire,” said Collette, in her lyrical French accent. “It’s a question of time,” I corrected, and waved to the grill master for another round of spicy pork. We were seated aroun...
Adventures in Backpackistan!
The Wrong Pancake
For this week, I intended on writing a story about terrifying street-food in Rangoon… but then I arrived in the mountain village of Kalaw, and suffered an incident so absurd that I couldn’t resist sharing my tale immediately. T...
Adventures in Backpackistan!
How to Endure a 14-Hour Layover
The biting winter chill swirled around me as I stepped out of the plane, and I tugged my flimsy jacket close around me. “Ni hao,” smiled the stewardess, “Welcome to Beijing.” The 10 mg of Ambien my friend had given me in New Yo...
Backpackology 101
What’s In My Bindle?: The Ultimate Packing List
So you wanna see my package? You want me to unzipper that badboy and lay it all out on the table? Sure, I will, but let me tell you about it first. Alright… So, it’s really small. So small. It’s incredible, actually… And it sme...
Adventure
Stepping Off The Edge
In the darkness, I could feel my heart pounding. I had been lying in bed for over an hour, staring up at the ceiling of my hotel room, fighting to breathe against the stifling heat of the Burmese monsoon, which hung over me lik...
Adventure
Go East, Young Man…
If you know who I am, or the adventure I’m about to embark on for the next two years, you might call me overly cavalier, which is fair. Cavalier is a great synonym for stupid. My name is Steve—Steve McDonald—and at this fleetin...
