The Guadalupe Peak Trail in Guadalupe Mountains National Park is a 8.4 mile round trip hike with an elevation gain of 2,930 feet (they estimate 6 to 8 hours).
If you can identify this beetle (or the other insects in this post) please add a comment. See more of my photos that I need help identifying.
Borobudur is an amazing Buddhist temple built in the 9th century. This is a site that can’t be missed, spectacular. All photos in this post are by John Hunter.
Six square platforms form the base of Borobudur and these are topped by three circular platforms. The temple is decorated with over 2,500 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues.
The temple is surrounded by lush green forests and that greatly enhances the feeling of tranquility at Borobudur.
I really enjoyed the Mosaic Tile Mural in Hanoi, Vietnam.
The Hanoi Ceramic Mosaic Mural covers nearly 4 km and was started as part of the commemoration of the millennial anniversary of Hanoi (2010).
This jacket from ScottyeVest (Mens – Womens) is designed with a huge number of pockets to secure all your gadgets and accessories. Sure your phone, headphones, keys, passport but also your iPad, Macbook and power supply. The jacket offers 29 pockets specifically engineered to hold your items and make them easily accessible and usable (for example letting you swipe and use your phone while it remains in your pocket).
ScottyeVest offers many different tech ready clothing options including:
Men Travel Pants (9 pockets)
Men’s RFID Travel Vest (26 pockets)
Women’s Travel Vest (17 pockets)
Follow any of those links to see many more great options.
This is the type of clothing I would create for my travels if they hadn’t done it for me. The convenience and safety offered by these many options are essentially for convent travel with all your devices and important papers (passport, credit cards, etc.).
Related: My Early Experience as a Digital Nomad: Part Two (shorts) – Thoughts on Security Risks while Traveling – Leaving on a Jet Plane – My Early Experience as a Digital Nomad: Part One, Technology
Yunnan Nationalities Villages is located on the east bank of Dianchi Lake in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China. All photos in this post are by John Hunter.
The village covers 25 ethnic groups found in Yunnan with examples of traditional houses and guides dressed in traditional clothing. China has a total of 56 recognized ethnic groups. I don’t remember which houses and traditional clothing are which ethnic group (please comment if you have information to share).
The World War II Memorial in Washington DC is between the Lincoln Memorial (the photo above shows looking toward it) and the Washington Monument (below) on The Mall.
The memorial was opened on 29 May 2004. Many Smithsonian museums, the White House and the Capital are within easy walking distance of the memorial.
This is a reposting a response I made several years ago on Reddit on “defending yourself abroad.”
Not getting drunk at bars likely proactively addresses a significant portion of issues.
Second, if you are coming from the USA or many other fairly high personal crime countries there are many places you are much safer while traveling. If you are coming from Japan, Singapore, Scandinavia you probably are much more likely to be the victim of crime than at home.
Kuala Lumpr, Malaysia
If you are not drunk the most likely crime is theft, while not good, it is much better than being attacked in my opinion.
The biggest concern in a new environment is that you don’t pick up on the clues of danger that you would in your home environment. This means to be safe you are wise to try and develop the ability to be more skeptical and more attuned to what is going on around you. You may also be the target as you may be more visible, may be seen as rich, may be seen as a jerk (often being drunk helps boost this impression).
There is danger everywhere. But we often exaggerate the danger of new place (new to us). Being careful makes sense, but the dangers away from home are often statistically less though are unfamiliarity may lead us to be less aware and able to avoid situations we find in unfamiliar surroundings. Also, being on your own (instead of in a city with lots of friends that help keep you in line, give you protection in numbers in some situations…) can increase the risk to you, especially again in unfamiliar surroundings.
I doubt learning fighting skills makes much sense. Outside of drunken brawls most places are not that violet and if they are many times it is guns and such things (though most often that level of violence is aimed at other criminals or family and friends).
There is other violence (between people) of course and it is sad and something to avoid. I would be amazed if car and bus deaths (of travelers) and injury don’t exceed by a long way any person on person violence against travelers.
Related: Location Independent Living Can Be In Your Comfort Zone and a Good Experience – My Early Experience as a Digital Nomad: Part Two – Curious Cat Travel Maps
Tat Kuang Si park is a wonderful spot for a hike.
The water has an amazing blue color that seems almost fake in photos but is really the color of these photos. The blue is due to dissolved copper.
The Kuang Si waterfalls are about 30 km outside of Luang Prabang. You can rent a open back pickup for about $30 (really I forget I think it was about that amount though) for the trip or you can join a tour group (easy to arrange at many guest houses and travel agents all over Luang Prabang).
One of the ideas I am exploring for travel around the USA is a camper van. One of the great things about traveling around SE Asia is the ease of finding perfectly fine accommodation at very reasonable prices. That isn’t nearly so easy in the USA.
And also travel around the USA by car offers many advantages over air travel (given how horrible the customer service is for air travel in the USA). Also most places you visit having a car to travel around is necessary. Especially if you want to visit state and national parks, as I would. Really there are a few places, such as New York City where traveling locally is easier without a car, but that is very rare.
This is a very interesting version of a custom built camper van (using a VW as a base):
The customizations are done by Danbury Motor Caravans. Sadly (for someone in the USA) they are in the UK (they also provide vans for Europe). Also the vans are not cheap, but they really are quite amazing vehicles. I hope we see more of these options. Comment with options for those in the USA.
Another interesting option from Danbury is the smallest, and also cheapest (from £19,345) based on a Ford Transit.
I would like something that I can drive easily (not some oversized behemoth), that is comfortable to sleep and work on the computer in (for when the weather is bad). The idea would be to sleep at campgrounds and RV parks and the like (but also with the option of staying at motels and lodges). For those times when you are parking and sleeping without the conveniences at a campground a bathroom option would be nice (but it seems that will be hard to fit – some kind of camper toilet would likely have to do).
I am not sure I will find anything that works but the right option could make for a really useful way to travel. I also probably wouldn’t get one of the Danbury vehicles (due to high prices) but the more of these on the road would mean used vehicles down the road which is something I might consider. Or if I come into a bunch of money then I might be able to pick up a wonderful vehicle myself.
Related: Vanlife subreddit – Multi-city Airline Reservations – Magical Day at Glacier-Waterton International Peace Park
Exterior view of the Library of Congress
The Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress in Washington DC is one of the most ornate buildings in the city. It was opened in 1897.
The incredibly ornate entry hall to the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress also includes 2 more buildings (built much later). All 3 buildings are near the Supreme Court and the Capital.
The main reading room of the Library of Congress.
The Library of Congress was established by an act of Congress in 1800 when President John Adams signed a bill providing for the transfer of the seat of government from Philadelphia to the new capital city of Washington.