I can't definitively say the gear I have is the best on the market, but it's served me well. I scrolled through my purchase history on Amazon to find some of the items. I choose bright colors when I can because it's easier to spot in a hotel room (so you don't leave it behind), easier to keep an eye on while you take a swim at the beach, and thieves are less likely to grab something that is easy to follow. 

​SANS meal bars

There is a Road Less Traveled style adventure cutting right through the urban landscape of Yangon, Myanmar. With a decent sense of balance and comfort with risk, a unique walk leads from the center of the city to its edges. The entire sojourn occurs along a steel water pipe, commissioned by the colonial British, that runs over 50km to a reservoir. The location was shared with me by Blue Temple who are involved in inspiring community enhancement projects around the pipe. Check out what they've done.

A few things to keep in mind: 

• The pipe heats up as the day gets long (mornings are best)
• The pipe will be slicker when wet (and a fall could be bad)
• You might have to pass someone walking the other way or sitting on the pipe (don't wear a big backpack that will ruin your balance)
• You'll pass right through local neighborhoods close to homes (don't point your camera into someone's home. Be kind and respectful with the locals)
• There are a couple sketchy road crossings (proceed with caution)
• At all road crossing one must crawl under, climb over a railing, or take some janky wooden planks off the pipe (more caution)
• There are a couple spots on the pipe where some kind of spigots are popping out the top, which means you have to hold onto the metal and scooch your way around (balance and upper-body strength required)

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On the maps below you'll see where to start and an ideal place to end. 

Enjoy this unique adventure away from the tourist hotspots and the cacophony of the city streets.

Zach Vincent was mugged in Mexico City's central park. It was an assault that left him sputtering, "Look at that bru.. look at that perfect family having a picnic!" 

Mexican towns are constructed in the world's imagination by films of hardship and dystopia. A creation which began with grainy westerns, the cowboy riding into a dusty plaza with the aura of violence soon to erupt. Later tales of cartels solidify the image: Mexico is a dangerous place.

So you had a little travel fling.. right on! Romantic connection is a beautiful, enlivening thing, It's a mind expanding experience (if you are actually taking interest in the contents of each other's brains). 
 
Now you're back home and still flirting over a texting app. An invitation appears: "Come back and see me." You flip open your laptop and start browsing flights. 

It's an admirable move. The mark of a romantic soul. However, let's adjust expectations and strategy before buying that ticket. Misadventure may await you. Are you ready for it?
Consider this:

• There will be a disparity that didn't exist before - When the love began you had an agenda. You were traveling around Europe on a rail pass, or paragliding the Alps, or on some work project. You carved time out of that mission to make the romance happen. You may have been traveling with friends. You carved time out from hanging with your buddies to make the romance happen. The lover carved time out of their scene to be with you. These time choices send an appealing signal. Now you have no homies to hang with and you have a singular agenda. Meanwhile, they still have their friends to see, their work to do, their hobbies to pursue, etc. It's a whole different dynamic. There is an imbalance.
• The chemistry may not be there the second time around - How many romances have fizzled on the second or third date? Happens all the time. You both get a little familiar and discover unpalatable differences. He actually drinks way too much. She doesn't like the outdoors at all. It sure is nice to discover these differences down the block instead of oceans away.
• You could easily be stepping into a love triangle - Super common. Rocco tells Maria he needs a break. Maria goes out with her friends and meets you. Romance ensues. You're more exciting than Rocco has been for years, but you're also an unstable bet for anything long term. You go home which cements this point. Rocco comes back into the scene but he is halfhearted. Maria, feeling underappreciated, invites you back. When your ticket is booked she lets a little intel leak, giving Rocco a strategic hint: He better up his game.. there is a competitor on the way. Rocco doubles down to ward off the threat. He's all flowers and candlelight dinners now. You sit in the hotel room wondering when she's going to meet up. Enjoy your stay.

These are ever present possibilities, but don't be dissuaded. Instead, change your perspective and approach:

• Have an agenda - Come into the town with some purpose. Shoot a short film, take a yoga course, visit every crēperie in town and blog about the experience. Now you've got your own stuff going on... good for the relationship parity, and good for you.
• Prepare for absolute disaster - Develop a plan B in case things go in a direction you don't want to walk. Find a destination nearby you'd like to explore and be ready to turn your trip, or part of it, into an exploration of this new place.
• Suggest neutral ground - Instead of going to his/her homecourt, why not go somewhere that is new for both of you. A spot where neither person has work or friendship obligations. Find a special place where you can have an adventure together, sealing that moment in time as something uniquely shared between the two of you.

Revisiting a travel fling is always a toss of the dice, but with the right preparation you can stack the odds in favor of a winning roll. By setting a realistic frame and controling expectations one can have a memorable trip no matter which numbers turn up. And remember the goal is that both people end up feeling empowered from this interaction. Let's all leave a trail of beautiful memories in our wake. Be honest. Be kind. Be your best self. 

The above video does not truly convey the beauty of Rishikesh. It's located on a stunning stretch of the Ganges headwaters. It's full of soft-hearted pilgrims trudging not towards a religious obligation, but rather a personal search for enlightenment and transcendence. As the birthplace of yoga, the town is full of ashrams and studios where one can sleep, eat, and practice for as little as 15 USD a day. The surrounding hills are laced with steep trails and the riverbank provides opportunities to scamper, boulder, or find blissful seclusion.

The town is also a massive resource of wisdom (and a bit of chicanery) as dozens of "gurus" hold open meetings, called satsang,  free of charge. Naturally there must be some commercial incentive for pasting glossy headshots of the charismatic leaders all over town. There is most likely a sliding scale of intention, from those hoping to accrue power and wealth via a spiritual avenue, those looking to share a message while keeping their operation afloat, and those who believe these two objectives can be ethically integrated. 

I visited several of these satsang, dividing my attention between the guru and his/her audience. The teachers ranged from pure charlatan to well intentioned. The best had  informative wisdom on the nature of consciousness. They attempt to drop the right insight or pose the right question which will enable the seeker to break free of the dominant paradigm of what the Hindu's would call "maya" and the modern world would understand as "the matrix". That is the illusion of a separate self schlepping through a foreign world, motivated by fear, lurching toward ephemeral pleasures and away from pain. Keep climbing until you reach the promised rung of contentment or die on the ladder. 

The audience of these gurus tilts heavily towards the wide-eyed and credulous, the majority of skeptics perhaps having written off the whole scene. This is an understandable division. There is quite a stew of woo woo sloshing around the sphere of Rishikesh. One will hear many insightful observations about the experience of consciousness mixed in with improbable yet assured metaphysical claims about the nature of physical reality. Unfortunately this combination means that many savvy intellects who could benefit from the baby in the bathwater will stay away, and the overly impressionable will drink the whole concoction down. Con artists thrive among the latter group, the wise have a small audience among the former.

Although I too may be self-deluded, I believe I've plucked some diamonds from the experience of Rishikesh; including a more committed yoga practice and deeper meditation sessions. It's a place I recommend all "spiritual" seekers visit, with a healthy balance of openness and critical thinking. 


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Links related to video:

John de Ruiter according to Globe and Mail
and according to Vice

Two gurus I would visit again (this does not entail an endorsement nor do i concur with all their ideas. Rather I believe them to be well-intentioned, humble, and in possession of some unique insight)

Swami Atmananda
Shantimayi

Last week I spoke in San Francisco about the value of having a mission weaving through our travels. On the road, as in life, possessing a plan, even a ridiculous one, is better than aimlessly following the crowds. The right mission will pull you out of the tourism funnel and into places where you will meet genuine locals and have unique experiences.
Here are a few missions I've pursued on and off the Road Less Traveled:

• Writing a never-published guidebook to the Baltic states. - Researching the content had me popping my head into every bar, restaurant, hotel, and attraction in Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius.  Something I would not have done as a casual traveler.
• Buying and riding a tandem bicycle around different neighborhoods in Hanoi, picking up a variety of passengers along the way to mic them up and hear their story - This would be an awesome cross-country mission. You'll have to watch the episode to discover why I was wearing a Christopher Columbus getup.
• Shoe dating in Malaysia - I went on a series of casual dates in Kuala Lumpur based on a clever concept developed between a high end women's footwear store and a matchmaking service. The mission soon changed serious when one of the women informed me about native people in Sarawak being exploited by corrupt industry and politics.
• Shooting a short movie in Romania for 700$ (included casting, wardrobe, logistics, and salaries for make-up specialist and actors).

And here are some silly ideas for future trips:​

• Throw paper airplanes off the 5 highest peaks in your travel destination.  Jazz it up by first designing the planes with names of friends, sentiments, or worries you'd like to ​let fly.
• Instead of just going to Vegas to party, take the Old Mojave Road to Vegas..  then party.
• Find the best croissant in Paris, the best cappuccino in Rome,  or the best taco truck in Los Angeles.  Put an interesting spin on the mission by forbidding the use of the internet or apps in your search.  All direction and advice must come from locals.
• Buy a traditional outrigger boat in the Philippines and sail it to different islands.  My buddy accomplished this for about 3,000$.  Alternatively one could buy a boat or raft in several countries and navigate down a river.  Sell it when the journey is done.
• Look for a missing treasure or into an unsolved mystery.   In the Philippines I've looked into a case of mass demon possession and chased the Pinoy vampire.  We're about to take a shot at finding Lost Dutchman's Mine on an episode that will appear in season 4 of Road Less Traveled.  The chupacabra, El Dorado, and Arc of the Covenant may still be out there...

Have any other great travel mission ideas?  Have you experienced travel with a silly scheme as a backbone?  Please tell me about it in the comments.

Travel bloggers love to drop this ubiquitous tip: 

It sure seems like good advice on the surface, but it's not.  I have never carried paper when traveling. I'll tell you why.
Firstly, a lot of plumbing in the world can't handle your TP. You could plug up the system if you flush your squares.  What a terrible ambassador to your country you'd be.
But here is the primary thing:  The true traveler loves the local scene.  Every travel blog will suggest you eat local food.  They encourage you to socialize with locals.  They give you insider info on where the locals hang out.  It's all local, local, local until it comes down to defecating.  Why not learn how to crap like a local?  You traveled to expand your horizons, right?
Now in all fairness some locals do carry their own TP depending on the destination, but many do not for a reason.  That reason is they use a water hose or water dipper (accompanied by the scrubbing power of the left hand), to clean their bung bung.  Just like using chopsticks, there will be a learning curve before you master the technique.  If you don't do deep squats at the gym you'll have to work on some strength, flexibility, and balance.  You must practice to blindly locate the sweet spot on the small of your back that channels the water just right.  You need a modicum of patience for the drip dry.   But once you have it all down you'll find the technique better suited to the task.  Moreover finding a water container is always a piece of cake no matter where you roam.
You'd be ashamed to carry a fork into a Phó restaurant in Vietnam, so why are you carrying that TP into the toilet?