On April 19, 1968, my dad nearly didn’t make it home alive . Operation Delaware, as it was known, was a resupply mission to what the American military termed a “fire base” on top of a hill in the A Shau Valley of central Vietnam. [Read more…]
Archives for November 2014
5 Ways to Not Be Ugly Abroad
Before I ever stepped foot overseas or even had much of a desire to travel very far, I was forced to watch the film adaptation of the book The Ugly American. I had enrolled in a political film class (huge real-world value there..) at Arizona State University and The Ugly American was probably the film I least looked forward to on the semester’s schedule. [Read more…]
Why Apple Is Great but the iPhone Is a Scam
After much foot-dragging, like say, twenty years worth, I’ve become a big fan of Apple products. To my left is my iPad Mini, from which I was just reading Tony Robbins’ newest book, MONEY Master the Game—very good. To my right is my trusty iPod Touch 5, which will turn two years old in a couple weeks and hasn’t missed a beat despite taking a beating. And in my lap is my Macbook, from which I am writing to you, my cherished reader.
I’ve gone from being an Apple hater to having my life inundated by all things Apple. Except, of course, the iPhone. [Read more…]
A New Leaf: How a Change of Scenery Could Be Your Game Changer
Napoleon Hill called it a “hypnotic rhythm”, but you might know it better as a “rut”. Getting in a rut, as we call it. It’s when we get stuck in a pattern of monotony, repeating and perfecting our mistakes until they become part of a muscle memory of subprime performance. Maybe they don’t even qualify as mistakes, maybe it’s just a less than optimal method of living. We accept the first few instances of it, promising ourselves it’ll change when the time is right. But before we know it, months or even years have passed. We’ve adapted to the mediocrity. Grown comfortable with life’s imperfections. Rather than push through it, break those patterns of thought, we prefer to be passive. This is life, after all, right? [Read more…]
The Hostel Revolution
There are no guarantees. If you take the risk, you may end up in a bed with sheets that aren’t quite clean. You may find out that pillows aren’t included or that, gasp, there is no hot water in the shower. But at the end of the day, you’ll still pay an incredibly small fee for being able to sleep securely with a roof over your head in a faraway foreign land. [Read more…]
