Author Archives: matt

Beirut, Lebanon Everything in its Right Place

It’s almost done. This thing I’ve been working on. This project of mine. I watched it last night and something finally clicked. Before it got to the end, I’d decided I had to let it play again from the beginning. … Continue reading

Unspecified Location, Jordan My Day at the Iraqi Police Training Facility

If you’re wondering, that’s my "This clearly isn’t really happening" face. Made the flight out of Aswan, spent the night in Cairo, missed my flight to Amman, Jordan the following day. Turned out my taxi driver didn’t have a license, … Continue reading

Hentiesbaai, Namibia Namibian Road Trip

The first thing you realize is: no one is going to pull you over. It’s about you and the car. The issue is simply what it’s capable of, what you believe it’s capable of, and the difference between the two. … Continue reading

Singapore What the Hell is Wrong With Me?

Here comes a bunch of place names. I’m not making any of them up. I flew out of Gulung Mulu yesterday and landed in Miri with no idea how I was going to get to Bandar Seri Begawan for my … Continue reading

Tokyo, Japan Pod Life

Checking into my capsule hotel involved an elaborate sequence of rituals, each of which I managed to botch up terribly. The shoes, I learned the hard way, come off immediately upon entering. There are hundreds of tiny lockers off to … Continue reading

Waikiki, Hawaii Can Ghosts Breathe Underwater?

2:30am flight out of Palau. Why does Continental Micronesia schedule all their flights in the middle of the night? Russell, our hotel manager friend, agrees to take us to the airport at midnight, then sleeps through his alarm. On the … Continue reading

Guam, USA

[No post here yet. Just pictures.]

Cairns, Australia Day of the Locusts

[No post here yet. Just pictures.] (8MB)

Heron Island, Australia Straddling the Tropics

Five years ago I moved down from Los Angeles to Brisbane. The period that followed is idyllic in my memory and will probably always stay that way. It might not have been so great at the time; I was lonely … Continue reading

Sydney, Australia My Happy Place Revisited

Later on, this. But first, I gotta talk about Emirates. We flew them from Christchurch in New Zealand to Sydney. With their home base of Dubai in the dead center between Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia, they’ve seized the opportunity … Continue reading