A Ceylonese or Sri Lankan "local?" Nearly everyone who has been to Sri Lanka mentions the friendliness of the “locals” in the first breath. But precisely, what is a “local?” Following a civil war that lasted nearly 30 years between the Tamil Tigers (an extremist rebel group in the north and descendants from India’s Tamil Nadu) and the Sinhalese ( descendants from the settlers who immigrated to the island circa 543 BC ), Sri Lankans are exquisitely sensitive to cultural labe

Considering the hundreds of miles I have spent traveling around Scotland the past two years, it seems criminal that that my first...

I saw the glow of four eyes, one pair belonging to a tiny lamb standing strongly next to Hilary, both with their backs to the wind.

Before Christ (B.C) there was bc (bark cloth). And to further complicate matters bc was bc … bark cloth was before cotton. Predating the...

Two days before the “big” event, I was sitting in John Peavey’s living room in Hailey, Idaho, when his cellphone rang. He began fumbling...

Curious oddities about an equally curious island and sheep - the Manx Loaghtan

An uncommon childhood during the Industrial Revolution

Another life lesson among the nomads

I will be long gone before the age of space tourism is within reach of my financial means and even if, for example, I win a free trip to...

A stunning look at the Highland Clearances that forever reshaped the Scottish countryside.

Looking through the thick entrance way of a centuries old home on St Kilda Recently, I have noticed that most everything written about St...

Fowling on the Scottish cliffs (Image courtesy of Trust for Scotland) "For the few men left on Hirta life was hard. Lachlan Macdonald...

On August 27, 1930, a small group of men, women and children began ferrying a few precious belongings down to the island’s jetty. They...

By some standards, my religious upbringing might be considered wanting. My parents unanimously decided that neither my brother nor myself...

The Isle of Canna's "rocket church." You won’t find throngs of people waiting to the board ferry in Canna, the outermost isle of...

The story begins more than five hundred years ago inside a stone church in northern Norway. Someone, perhaps several someone’s, decided...

Anna Miller standing in front of her shop in Reykjavik, which is easily distinguished by the Viking-themed graffiti. She is modeling one...

On my last day in New Zealand, I thought there were no more surprises left. I had already been surprised to learn that as part of...

I am nothing short of appalled to learn my view of New Zealand’s natural fiber industry has been myopic. In a country that touted 78...

An alarming number of New Zealand ranchers are beginning to yell "Timber!"