Bear Spray Stories Part II: Almost Killed by Puppies
Welcome to part II of the bear spray stories. If you haven’t read part one, I’d recommend doing it now so this will make more sense. To recap, I was in a dive bar in Anchorage talking to a park ranger,...
View ArticleBear Spray Stories Part 3: Tear Gas
Did you know that bear spray is not only effective in thwarting attacks from charging bears, but it is also effective in clearing a building of tourists? Welcome to part 3 of the “Bear Spray Stories.”...
View ArticleTravel Day, or The Bromo Bus Scam, or Viva La Revolucion
The travel day is a neglected day for travel bloggers and writers. We almost always focus on the major sites – the big events that photograph well and make our friends and family jealous. We rarely...
View ArticleBear Spray Stories Part 4: Marinated Meatballs
When the park rangers arrived, they found a man in the river screaming and crying with the intensity usually associated with a man who just watched his entire family slaughtered by a drug cartel. The...
View ArticleWhat Happens When You Need a Plunger at a Hotel
I was naive. When I first accepted a job in the tourism industry 10 years ago, I thought that everyone was happy when they traveled. I imagined being behind the customer service counter having...
View ArticleWe are going to MEXICO! or Righting a Past Travel Wrong
“You know son, since 9-11 they don’t let you carry weapons on airplanes anymore.” My dad said this to me in January of 2003, the night before I was to depart to Guatemala. Hitherto this moment, he...
View ArticleThe James Louie Speed Walking Tour of Hong Kong
Before visiting Hong Kong, I got a message from fellow blogger James Louie – A native of HK and one of five followers of my blog. He’d seen that we planned to visit his hometown and offered to show us...
View ArticleBear Spray Stories Part 5: Invaded Campsite
Since I published the first bear spray story last year, I have had dozens of friends and strangers tell me their own stories of bear spray mishaps or send me links to bear spray accidents in the news....
View ArticleLattes and Violence
After 5 weeks in Mexico, we finally got to see some violence – and it was AWESOME! We were at a sidewalk cafe in Guanajato sipping on our lattes and watching people go by. The cafe was busy and next to...
View ArticleBear Spray Stories Part 1: The Golden Grizzly Award
The other day I was having a drink with a park ranger, a man who drove tour buses in Denali for 30 years and a veteran of the Alaska tourism industry. The conversation turned to bear spray and the...
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