Category - Moments

Because the backward-thinking American government does not recognize my fifteen-year marriage to Clyde, returning to America is always a challenge for us. This trip presented us with our most challenging re-entry yet. Both Clyde and I were pulled...

I am on a Thai airways flight, squeezed in among dozens of passengers from many nations. Just prior to our landing in Bangkok, an attendant passes me one of those ubiquitous arrival/departure cards. My only pen, though, is in my computer bag, and my...

10. Low prices, everyday. Outside the hotels, haircuts are less than a dollar. 9. The plentiful fresh seafood. Even the squid melts in your mouth. 8. The Ho Chi Min Mausoleum. For the five minutes I was inside, I actually wasn't hot for a change. 7...

Exhausted by the pervasive heat, our family decides to eat dinner in one of our hotel's four restaurants. After some debate (some are weary of Asian cuisine, while others have a predisposition against buttery, saucy French dishes), a majority...

How can I describe to you the fierce heat of a Vietnamese summer? Today, within four minutes of leaving the hotel, I was absolutely and completely drenched from head to toe -- not by rain, but by slick, oily perspiration. My hair was plastered to my...

During our trip to Cambodia in 2005, we stayed at the Shinta Mani Hotel, a small, secluded retreat from the crushing heat and motor scooter-crowded streets of Siem Reap. The cool white walls, chilly rooms, and rustic pool area made a big impression...

We're in New Orleans, shopping for pralines in a touristy little candy shop. I'm scarfing down a gritty, chalky sample of the chocolate pralines when a short, plump employee barrels past me and blocks the door. "Sir, did you pay for that?" At first...