Tourism

Hiking Through the Colonial History of America’s National Parks

There’s a religious ring to the language of appreciating public lands in America. But, as a South Asian woman and a first-generation immigrant, I am not a welcome pilgrim.

Mar 09, 2022
What It’s Like to Travel When You Have a “Bad” Passport

I am a Kenyan, an African, someone from the ‘global south.’ It is my job to prove I deserve to travel. It doesn’t matter how talented or smart or wealthy I or others like me are; we need a good passport.

Apr 15, 2019
The Medi-morphosis: Being Treated Like a Human Under Socialized Health Care

In France, universal (or socialized) health care is half-NASA, half-MacGyver. And it works. I have to suspect the main objection to adopting the best healthcare system on the planet is just that it’s French.

Mountain of Truth: A Utopian Colony in Switzerland

The history of a counterculture colony that welcomed anarchists, nudists, exiled poets, and unconventional loners.

Apr 05, 2018
The Space Between Us and the Ground Below Us, or: Why I Traveled to Japan

“I was a gay boy, a black gay boy, in a place and time that seemingly eschewed everything I stood for.”

Jan 03, 2018
No One Moved Until the Song Was Over

“To be ten feet from someone on a beach like that is to be a mile from them. It is like a tundra.”

Aug 10, 2017
Entering Jerusalem: Scenes from the March of Flags

Notes from 2016’s Jerusalem Day, an Israeli national holiday.

May 24, 2017
The Love of a Good Woman: A Visit to Alcatraz

“This is doing time. This is giving away a piece of your life. If I did get fixed, it wasn’t jail that did the fixing.”

Waiting to Go Home: On Being a Traveler in Trinidad

“Tourists accumulate photos and mementos; travelers collect memories and friends.”

Apr 13, 2017
The Giant Garbage Pit, or The Largest Diamond Mine in the World

Then, a Robbery and a House on Fire: My Travels in North Siberia

Mar 06, 2017
Two Men Kissing

“One man kisses another, they fool around, and it’s all downhill from there.”

Nov 29, 2016
Nudists Always Play Volleyball

Undressing at the nudist resort.

Nov 03, 2016
The Seamstress

“I was a product of this beautiful country in spirit, if not in fact.”

Jun 29, 2016