http://www.besttravelwriting.com/btw-blog Just another WordPress weblog Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:24:53 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en by Catherine Watson To the end of his days, my father insisted that my travels were nothing more than ``escapism.'' Whenever I said I was going somewhere alone, he accused me of running away, of being ``avoidant.'' It didn't matter whether it was Europe or the movies. ``What is wrong with you?'' ... http://www.besttravelwriting.com/btw-blog/great-stories/travel-and-healing-gold-winner-french-dolls/ by Eliot Stein “Lake Como touches the limit of the permissibly picturesque; but Atitlán is Como with the additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes. It is really too much of a good thing.” — Aldus Huxley, Beyond the Mexique Bay, 1934 Where do we come from? Huxley may not have realized it ... http://www.besttravelwriting.com/btw-blog/great-stories/travel-and-healing-silver-winner-spiritual-enlightenment-for-modern-conquistadors/ by Kevin McCaughey I brought my ukulele on our Caribbean cruise.  Every afternoon my mother and I sang old standards in the cabin, while my father reclined on his bed, reading Robert Ludlum and wagging the book to the beat when we got to a rousing number like “Five-Foot Two.” It was ... http://www.besttravelwriting.com/btw-blog/great-stories/travel-and-healing-bronze-winner-the-secret-acts-of-talent-show-people/ by Mohezin Tejani This morning, perched on a wooden chair in my teeming tropical garden in northern Thailand, I am writing about Africa, the continent that still holds a firm grip on me. The sun’s warmth, after the heavy dawn shower, has brought plants and insects to life. Brown centipedes and ... http://www.besttravelwriting.com/btw-blog/great-stories/travel-and-food-gold-winner-fruits-of-childhood/ by Darrin DuFord Can two hundred tons of chili save a city? Exciting events are not supposed to happen in the suburbs.  I mean, what would the neighbors think? So I wondered what the neighbors thought as I cruised past their curtained living rooms while shell casings flew in front of my nose.  ... http://www.besttravelwriting.com/btw-blog/great-stories/travel-and-food-silver-winner-showdown-at-the-west-esplanade-canal/ by Tom Weller No Chadian village is complete without a fou.  I discovered this in 1993 while serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Beinamar, Chad. The fou is the village crazy person.  Beinamar’s fou was typical of the fous I encountered in villages all over Southern Chad.  A middle-aged man, ... http://www.besttravelwriting.com/btw-blog/great-stories/travel-and-food-bronze-winner-everybody-plays-the-fou/ by Charlie Levine Zipping along a mangrove-lined creek not much wider than his 16-foot homemade skiff, Jewel, Capt. Ansil Saunders cut the engine as we approached a pond-like opening in the lush greenery. The boat coasts to a stop, and the only thing I could hear is the wake of the ... http://www.besttravelwriting.com/btw-blog/great-stories/most-unforgettable-character-gold-winner-fishing-under-the-face-of-god/ by Taylor Jennings Reza Shahnan’s entrance one morning during breakfast at the Park Guest Quarters in Kabul the summer of 2003 caused a bit of a stir. He was one of those unusually tall Afghan men and was wearing a finely tailored suit in sharp contrast to the olive drabs, jeans ... http://www.besttravelwriting.com/btw-blog/great-stories/most-unforgettable-character-silver-winner-afghans-and-texans/ by Craig Stevaux I had every reason to think I knew Udon Thani. After all, I’d lived in the Northeastern Thai provincial capitol for five years at the height of the Vietnam War. I knew the main roads that spun off the three aligned traffic circles on the highway that ended ... http://www.besttravelwriting.com/btw-blog/great-stories/most-unforgettable-character-bronze-winner-ho-chi-minh-slept-here/ by Kevin McCaughey A blind date in a small bed.   In theory it seemed a pretty ideal proposition. The girl’s name was Dasha, a friend of Aylita’s.  Alyita was Warren’s girlfriend.  And Warren was my friend and teaching colleague.  The two girls planned to visit us in Samara, taking the overnight ... http://www.besttravelwriting.com/btw-blog/great-stories/mens-travel-gold-winner-russian-girl-rules/