Khorog – the Pamir region’s biggest “city” – deserved a few days. Not only were there a bunch of other cyclists to hang out with at the Pamir Lodge hostel, but it was the first time in months that we were in a place with both a) cool enough daytime Continue Reading
Hitchbiking the Pamir Highway: Dushanbe to Khorog
I cycled several kilometers out of Dushanbe and held out my thumb. Almost immediately, a Hyundai Porter—something halfway between a pickup truck and a flatbed, very common in Central Asia—pulled over, tossed my bike in the bed, and we set off. For the next hour and a half, the driver Continue Reading
Tajikistan’s lesser-known paradise
After a month in the hot flat deserts of Uzbekistan, crossing the border into the Panjikent region of Tajikistan felt magical. Ahead of us lay a perfect asphalt road winding up a mountain valley with the snow-capped peaks of the Fann Mountains in the distance. This was the place that Continue Reading
Paying it forward
There comes a point in most travelers’ lives where they feel the need to give back to the world. As travelers, we receive so much help from other people – home cooked meals, couches to sleep on, showers and washing machines, free rides in cars – with no expectation of Continue Reading
Detour to Tolbachik
Tolbachik – a 3,085 meter volcano on Far East Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula. I had been told that, on a clear day, the top of Tolbachik crater is the best [accessible without a helicopter] viewpoint in Kamchatka. The mountain is surrounded by several other glaciated volcanoes, most of which are very Continue Reading
Hitchhiking Data: Call to action!
I’m putting together a data set including hitchhiking wait times, locations, distances, and number and gender of hitchhikers. This is a call to action for all hitchhikers: send me your data! If you have an Excel or Google spreadsheet, that’s awesome, but if not, send me whatever you have. Even Continue Reading
Skiing in Armenia
Tsakhkadzor, Armenia. 7 March, 2017. Tsakhkadzor is Armenia’s biggest and least impressive ski resort. With 4×2-person fixed-line lifts and one non-functional 4-seater, the resort cannot handle large crowds, but that’s okay, because there’s no reason why a lot of people would want to go there. The slopes range from so Continue Reading
Transnistria: The country you won’t find on a map
Wedged between the Dniester River in eastern Moldova and the Ukrainian border exists a small country unknown to most of the world’s population. Transnistria is home to over half a million people but you won’t find it on a world map. The UN recognizes Transnistria as a part of Moldova, Continue Reading
Hitchhiking in Georgia
This post is a supplement to what I wrote for Journal of Nomads about police assistance while hitchhiking in Georgia. Check it out! Georgia is a country not quite like anywhere else in the world. This goes for everything – food, language, culture, as well as hitchhiking. Hitchhiking in Continue Reading
The Life of a Trimmigrant
. While hitchhiking around Northern California and Southern Oregon recently, I encountered dozens of nomads thumbing rides on Highway 101, pitching tents under bridges or parking their vans in unused parking lots for the night, cooking organic vegan food on propane stoves, and wandering around towns with small scissors hanging Continue Reading