I'm on the move. After a temporary three year pit-stop in Costa Rica, I'm hitting the road again -- which means having to reacquaint myself with the specialized skill of living out of a backpack. You'd think with nine years experience trekking around the world, I'd have mastered the art...

If the Creator were on acid, India might well be the manifestation of his/her hallucination. A collage of contradictions, a patchwork of cultures, castes, languages, religions and morals, India is like a huge department store boasting a dizzying array of products -- turn in any direction and the view changes.

Juninto extended a hand and hauled me from the sludge in which I was helplessly sinking as I struggled up the muddy hill from the Cononaco River below. Wearing nothing but rubber boots and a traditional comé (a string supporting the genitals),...

It's virtually impossible to spend any time in Costa Rica -- much less live here -- and not be awed by its natural wonders. Each day as I am awakened by a symphony of choral birds, and often as not, a motley crew of titi or whiteface monkeys carousing outside...

MANUEL ANTONIO, COSTA RICA -- One of the problems with living in the Costa Rican rainforest is that is rains. A lot. From May through November -- mas o menos -- the skies weep incessantly, rendering the rutted streets puddle-laden bogs, my small house a receptacle for all things musty...