Hops Trains and Backpacks

Tag: travel writing

  • John Muir was right about Yosemite

    John Muir was right about Yosemite

    Back in grad school, I was teaching assistant for a course called History of the American Environmental Movement. Each semester, I would grade perhaps 70 to 80 essays, including a section on John Muir, an advocate of preserving nature for nature’s sake, and Gifford Pinchot, who advocated responsible conservation of resources for human use. While…

  • Transcending time in a New York cab

    Transcending time in a New York cab

    It’s 4:20 in the morning and I can see the stars. This is a bit glamorous, I think as I flag down a taxi on a nearly deserted Third Avenue below our apartment. I have had plenty of early morning flights, but this will be my first pre-dawn departure since moving to Manhattan over three…

  • January’s 10 Best Stories in Travel

    Photo: January at Labrador Mountain, Truxton, NY I’m here to share with you my favorite stories of the month from around the web. All have an international flavor, many explore the unseen side of the places we hear about in the news. If you’re wary of traveling there, at least you’ll be able to visit…