An old man applies a fresh coat of paint to Khan's Palace in Bahkchisaray, Ukraine.

A friendly stray puppy I met wandering among the ancient ruins of My Son, Vietnam.

As it’s now been nearly six weeks since my last post (which was already quite far behind), I thought I’d give just a quick realtime update. Nope, I haven’t forgotten about this blog – as usual, after a period of intense travel I’ve just ended up under a pile of catchup work and am now doing my best to dig my way out
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It means that first thing tomorrow morning, I’m heading off to Europe. Eastern Europe, to be precise. For yet another wild and crazy festival

As the end of the summer is just around the corner the time has come for Herb and I to keep our promises to each other – we’re dropping everything and flying across the world yet again. The destination: a distant corner of the Crimean Peninsula for an off-the-beaten-path party I’ve been anxious to experience since first hearing its name just one year ago.

I’m talking, of course, about the Republic of Kazantip. [Continue Reading]

Eight years later, Nick’s original “Fox and the Peach” is just the introduction of a full 350-page novel; a part-history part-mythology tale set in ancient Japan.

As I’ve been pretty “in the loop” throughout his whole process I must admit that it’s cool to see this thing finally go public. Especially because many of the characters’ personalities are based loosely on those of myself and my friends. I’ve even got my own little mention in the “Thanks To” section

So as my “Thanks To” Nick, here’s a quick little plug:
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But you’d be wrong.

The thing that keeps me coming for more is the sheer diversity – the fact that the water war of Thai Songkran is completely and utterly different from the peace-and-love music festival of Roskilde, which is in turn nothing like the traditional Japanese dance of Awa Odori or the decadence of Brazilian Carnaval.

…And well, once again, I can honestly say that nothing I’ve ever experienced has been quite like the Electric Daisy Carnival.
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It should be no surprise, then, that I was never much of a raver. I went to just one rave when I was about 18 and honestly felt way out of place.

But all that just changed. Because although I have been tremendously productive during these last few months at home, the scheduling also provided an opportunity for one very unexpected experience.

This weekend I went to the Electric Daisy Carnival, the world’s biggest rave.

And I loved it.
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That didn’t exactly end up happening.

Three months and four ticket-changes later I’m still here in LA. My dad’s recovery has been slow and arduous, taking considerably longer than expected. Each time my departure date approached it just didn’t seem right to leave, so I delayed again and again and again.

Thank God my business class ticket allowed no-fee changes.
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(Funny side-note: they barely even checked us. I carried in a metal can of coffee and a liter of water, and despite my dad’s titanium hips setting off the metal detector they didn’t even stop him to check. Not much ‘terrorism’ in Vietnam I guess )
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