I was startled to realize that the woman in the striped dress was a mermaid. Then I chuckled when I noticed her right arm was a bird's wing. "She's Birdfishwoman," her creator told me. I was at the home of Russ Zeitz, a log house builder who is also noted for his whimsical wood carvings. Born in … [Read More...]
Spirits Of Slain Enemies Protect Borneo Headhunter Village
KOTA KINABALU, MALAYSIA - Nine generations after a Kadazan warrior named Monsopiad became a headhunter, the spirits of his decapitated enemies still protect the village of Kuai, a picturesque cluster of bamboo buildings on the Penampang River, on the island of Borneo. In 1790, Kuai and the … [Read More...]
Sedona – Amazing Energy in the Arizona Desert
Why is Sedona such a powerhouse of transformational energy? Drive north from Phoenix for two hours, up Interstate 17, … [Read More...]
Memories of Route 66 still live in St. Louis
It happened more than 60 years ago, when Bobby and Cynthia Troup were driving to California. Bobby was a composer and … [Read More...]
Vision Quest Rock Paintings of the Stein
An ancient power spot in a wilderness near Vancouver, BC is easier to find now that the area has become a provincial … [Read More...]
Walking With Ghosts In Vancouver’s Haunted Gastown
I'd walked past the place hundreds of times without knowing that so many people had been killed there. A block south of … [Read More...]
Aboriginal Magic in the Land of the Quinkans
The oldest rock paintings on Earth are in the Cape York peninsula of Australia's tropical north Queensland. They were … [Read More...]
Earth’s Three Most Powerful Places
When people find out I’m a travel writer who focuses on pilgrimages to places of power, they frequently ask me, “What … [Read More...]
Peru Beyond Machu Picchu
Although Machu Picchu is the highlight of most trips to Peru, it is certainly not the only destination. When my wife and … [Read More...]
Blessed by a Sacred Elephant
The Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple in Madurai is one of the largest in South India I had to stretch my neck to look up … [Read More...]
Green Luxury in a Belize Rainforest
Was an enormous lion howling outside my thatched cottage? It sounded more like a T-Rex. I might have been worried if I … [Read More...]
Tampa Bay Wildlife Safari
The giraffe's enormous tongue gently plucked a green leaf from my outstretched hand. "Prehensile," our guide … [Read More...]
Haunted Hopi Pottery in Arizona
It’s an awesome feeling to spot a piece of broken pottery among the weeds, pick it up and realize it was made nearly … [Read More...]
Pisac, Earth Mother Temple in Peru’s Sacred Valley
I would love to go back to Peru, but on my next trip I wouldn’t necessarily return to Machu Picchu. The places that … [Read More...]