Off the Beaten Path on Sumba | Indonesia's Most Exclusive Island at 56
A motorbike. A surfboard strapped to the back with twelve dollars worth of PVC and cargo straps. Waves breaking behind me on a coast with no name. This is what it looks like when they say you couldn't, but you do anyway.
I Left Bali for Rote Island Indonesia | Solo Adventure Travel at 56
Watching the sun go down over Rote Island. The edge of Asia. This is what $22 a day buys you.
Climbing Adam's Peak at Midnight: Solo Adventure Travel in Sri Lanka at 56
2am. 5,500 stairs ahead. The temple lights below, the summit somewhere above. Everyone around me knew exactly why they were here. I was still working it out.
Waterfalls, Hot Springs, and a $20 Hut on the Ocean | Philippines Motorbike
A waterfall cave on the back roads of Cebu. A mandatory guide named Lightning. Cold water, no crowds, and a cave you could swim into if you were willing to commit. The road handed this one over for free.
Enchanted River, Mountain Roads, and a $38 Splurge | Philippines by Motorbike
A cold river at the end of a dirt road on Negros Island. Crystal clear to the bottom. Free to swim. Nobody there but locals and one American on a motorbike who had no idea what he was riding into. Some days the road just hands you something.
Into the Mountains of Negros: Motorbike Travel Through the Philippines
He filled an old rum bottle with raw honey, pouring it slow from a plastic cup over a red basin while the spring water ran turquoise behind him. I handed him the pesos and tucked it in my bag. Twenty minutes later, still dripping from the spring, a local spotted the bottle and started laughing. He thought I'd been swimming drunk. I showed him the honey. He laughed harder. The road provides the moments you never thought to script.
Cebu to Negros by Motorbike: Why I Almost Wrote Off Dumaguete and Why I Was Wrong
I pulled over near a rusted van and a man working in his yard. Helmet still on. Engine off. Hand out. Somewhere up in these highlands was Casaroro Falls and I had no idea how close or how far. He looked at my hand, then at me, then back up the road and pointed. No shared language needed. The universal gesture of a stranger helping a stranger find his way. That transaction, wordless and generous and completely human, is why I ride.
One Scooter, One Suitcase, and No Plan: Motorbike Travel Through the Philippines at 56
I didn't plan to end up here. The road just opened up into it. A thousand people, serious money changing hands, and roosters being walked to the pit like prizefighters. I don't agree with it. But I'm not here to change anyone's culture. I'm here to understand it. That's a different thing entirely.
Indonesia's Worst Kept Secret: World-Class Surfing and the Fight to Keep It Free
She's been doing this her whole life. The fire, the pan, the palm sugar reducing down to something that will eventually become sopi. Twenty minutes outside the village. Nobody advertises it. You just have to know where to look.