Chasing The Blue Beyond

The Last Resort Rising from the deep blue of the Indian Ocean are more than a thousand islands and thousands more reefs that form the Maldives

ZAMM- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Holy Cow- Near Miss- My karma ran over your dogma, I mean Brahma cattle Wack-tose Intollerent Rules of the road when driving a motorcycle- The horn is your friend. Use it often, use it well. Lanes don’t exist. Do not pass. Wear a Helmet! Cows have the right of way. There seem to be cows around everywhere I go. I am not sure if they have a chamed life, the ppl don't seem to worship them. It is, however,  revered as the source of food and symbol of life and may never be killed.  They seem to be walking neglected around  Goa city streets, living on garbage from the gutters. Sacred cows may make the best hamburgers, but I don't eat my friends. As for butter versus margarine, I trust cows more than chemists. As for milk and cheese- they are an utter delight.

Hippies, Hedonism and All Night Bollywood Booze Cruise Go Go G0a- On the Hippie Trail to India As Allan Watts, points out--Everyday you have to go out of your mind in order to come to your senses. John Lennon and The Who used to show up and give free concerts. Inspired by Kerouac, Ginsberg and the Beatles, any self- respecting hippie  headed overland for Goa, especially around Christmas when  full-moon parties, trance and psychedelic hell broke loose.  Now An enduring haven for global nomads, Goa has been welcoming dropouts to its shores who missed the 60's and 70's. Before the hippies, however,  there were the Portuguese — and it’s their long period from 1510 to 1961 of colonial influence, that makes Goa such an alluring place.  This rich -- if not always peaceful -- encounter between East and West gives it a  globalised-homogenised vibe enveloped by the land's pockets of  idyllic landscape.

 Signal and Noise  It's fast, crowded (in a good way), the people are friendly and it's full of  cars. My eyes started burning from the wood fires and incense, and pollution.  I had a good time hiring  a cab  for three hours ($5 bucks!) and buying some paint for one of my projects.

 I've heard about "the Elephant in the room" but  an elephant in the road- what are the issues here? Everything Coconut Coconuts-it’s not just for Pina Coladas- These folks manage to use every part of the tree- the husk for rope that they weave; the palm leaves for brooms and roofing material; the juice for kootay, a fermented drink; not to mention drinking the water- an anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal elixir.   "It is good to collect things, but it is better to go on walks."  At a certain level, buying a cell phone is more representative of day-to-day Indian life than buying Shiva statue or silk scarf (though, admittedly, a  cell phone  would not look as good in your living room).  I am so souvenired -out...the expereince, however, of going through these shops is better than the souvenirs themselves.    Is he a righty or Lefty?   Namaste

The science of stress-Live life in the present like these guys    Voyage 6 March 29th to April 17th. Me Tarzan. You Jane In our privileged lives,  we are uniquely smart enough to have invented  stress(ers), and uniquely foolish enough to have let them, too often, dominate our lives. Zebras don't suffer from the long-term side effects of cognitive stress. I had never planned to become a Zebra  when I grew up; instead, I had always assumed I would become a flying man with a loin cloth. That's the the trouble with testosterone.

 Sticky wicket= I am wearing a cricket shirt, and don't know the first thing about the sport One of the great misfortunes of traveling first class is the want of any sudden surprise, and the absence of all adventure. Everything is so well arranged on board the cruise . Once I stepped outside the gates of this safe port, it was sheer madness- cars, people, chaos. I guess this is a good warmup for India.  I gave a tuk tyuk driver 150 rupees or whatever and he drove me five miles out of the way. Geo-arbitrage (Strong Dollar weak local currency) was in full effect. Going to places like  India isn’t an act of rebellion these days, it’s actually a form of conformity-- when all you have is a hammer everything is a nail, and when all you have is money,  life options are consumer options,  and buying things is the only way to play an active role in the world, and  the only way of purchasing  a long-term travel experience. Unless of course you work on a cru...

 People say that what we are all seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think this is what we're really seeking. I think what we're seeking is an experience of being alive. ~ The Power of Myth - Joseph Campbell This world cruise has been one   of the most rewarding forms of introspection. It is one stage of my “re-entry” in Hotel @nyware, continuing my extended break from Normal Life again to travel the world on board another cruise ship. I’m living my dream of PT-Permanent Travel, also known as "Mini Retirements".   I haven’t been everywhere, but it is on my list. As I document this adventure, this  a round-the-world travelogue, I say to myself "Roam Sweet Roam". Home is not where my heart is but where my computer is- I remain a digital nomad, where  Anywhere becomes @nyware, location neutral, as there is no such thing as a bad piece of real estate when you use technology and social media. As I make my way to Sri Lanka, in the middle of nowhere, b...

Myanmar Microlearning Journey Myanmar: Digital Nomad Meets Analog Earth By a traveler learning what silence, simplicity and sacred space mean Yangon: Where analog eyes meet the digital age CNN vs. The Alphabet Yangoon’s analog eyes don’t see our digital world. But does it matter? Internet or InterNOT? Traveling without electricity alongside TCNs—Third Country Nationals—feels less like discovery and more like ritual. As Bruce Springsteen said, “I was born in the USA.” With curiosity, vulnerability, and vocabulary, I will articulate the Myanmar sound bite. The Burmese are gentle, generous, and digitally homeless. The biggest experiment in anarchy? Not the Internet—it's Myanmar. And yet, I love them. How To Buy Nothing No TV. No logos. No McDonald's. A SIM card is $500, and the phones don't work. It’s a world without CNN or streaming—this is the ax...

What's cooking? The menu is not the meal In Burma, where  this is the season for electricity-well brown outs occur at 4 hour intervals, the family's menu consists of two choices:  take it or leave it. They curry things up because of their borders with India and spice things up because of their  trade with China, but Hunger is the best sauce in these parts, and ppl will eat just about anything with wings except airplanes and anything with legs except tables.  In Burmese, they we have a word for sushi:  bait. They like to heat things up- not only with spices but fire They cook with charcoal, but  here  I am "cooking with gas".  The food was fresh veggies, and prawns. . In the United States of Unconscious eating, we are all dietetic sinners; only a small percent of what we eat nourishes us; the balance goes to waste and loss of energy. Graduation Day First there were the options, the three month monk, the three year monk, I took the three ...

    Buddha Boy:  We will need to make an offering. Ed: What kind of offering? Buddha Boy :That would depend on how much good karma you want for your next life. Ed: Hmm, I can't plan that far ahead. Buddha Boy :Then some fresh fruit from the market will do.  My childhood was typical: summers in Rangoon ... luge lessons   Promises Promises.  How do these monks  pray?  They don't ask or talk to god, they listen to god inside themselves. That's taking your meditation , cultivating the witness, and Namaste, the god in me says hi to the god in you. Buddhists   are taught that suffering is one promise that life always keeps. So that when happiness comes we know it is a gift, and it is ours only for a brief time. The elephant  represents good luck, longevity and peace and  strength;  and mostly here in SE Asia, joy. A laughing Buddha riding an elephant with chiIdren on his lap is an excellent symbol for happiness and prosperity...

 As familiar as Jesus on the cross, ubiquity, though, has voided  Siddhartha, aka Buddha Boy  of mystery and meaning. Smile and the world is yours- For stylistic simplicity makes it all too easy to miss the refinements of expression that convey the essence of Buddhist cosmology.  no fairy tales of salvation or a paradisiacal afterlife, no cosmic drama,  no creation myths. No pomp, just circumstances. About to step on dry land, and slip not only into the 14th century but also the slip into the zero experience, an  awareness of the insignificance of our prosaic wants and passions, as I see first hand the locals recreate "The Human Condition"  like some backdrop to a movie set.

The island off the south-west coast of Thailand Old Dog. New Tricks Rudyard Kipling is right, "Asia is not going to be civilized after the methods of the West. There is too much Asia and she is too old".   There's a lot of creative chaos in the streets in the hot humid traffic. The view is so much easier in an air conditioned car. Look Back, But Don't Stare...All Thai'd Up Two Years Ago... Fish is now a vegetable I'm in Vegan paradise---Soi Khao San, Bangkok,with one low price guarantee----an economy class ticket to cool, with complimentary mojo on take off.     Coconut Magic I have just redefined what it means to be a Vegan--- thanks to a street vendor who curried up some Padi Thai with octopus and shrimp. We have located the durian smell to this room, please step aside I'm coo coo for Coconuts--- They are anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-microbial. I'm up to six a day.The water is the purest liquid second only to water itself. It is full of electr...

Juxtaposition Travelers never think that they are the foreigners, unless they aree in South East Asia. It doesn't inspire me to want to set myself on fire and start over here. This part of the world is a JV, a joint venture between China and the natives. Expecting interesting things to happen to us, we go "sight-seeing."  Trip Wolf is not holwling about this place. I am looking for a wilderness to do that.

 H.A.N.D. Have A Nice Day  Travelling by cruise ships-12 ports in 14 days, is like flirting with life. It's like saying,  I wanna  love you, but I have to go; this is just the way it is .

If you Build it, they will get you there You Talking To Me- Singapore by land-Vertigo after two sea days. Yearning for the ocean blue already. Money is Singapore's first language, English their second; or in the case of taxi driver's, their third or forth one. When I asked him how long  he had been driving a taxi, he said, "Dree mouse.” (3 Months)  See: The Geirangerfjord-Mother Nature and Father Time Are Effing Special  There's nothing special about "going shopping" or eating at a fine resturant-BTDT(Been There Done That) Orginality  is an  unexplored territory in places like Singapore. You get there by carrying a  kayak -- you can't take a taxi. Nevertheless, taking a cab to Orchard Street, the epicenter of retail and colonial life as it was and in many  ways still is, is like walking the painted line. Traffic moves in orderly fashion through streets that are wide. Everything here is clean, functional and neat- No chaos, not even a unit of cha...

 Life Off The Leash  Voyage 5 March 15 to March 29th (14 Days) Singapore to Mumbai on Crystal Serenity Date Port Arrival Departure Mar 15, Tuesday Singapore » 6 pm Singapore blends the contemporary splendor of a sparkling modern city with influences from throughout the Orient. Its history is one of riches and romance, spice trading and piracy, colonialism and growth. This island state has grown from a small fishing village to one of Asia's greatest success stories. Temples, mosques and churches stand as serene reminders of the varied collection of migrations that have graced its history. Discover the mansions and polo greens of colonial Singapore, the mystique of Chinatown and the heady aroma of spices and curry along Arab Street. You will quickly come to understand why Singapore is acclaimed as the "Crossroads of the East." Mar 16, Wednesday Kuala Lumpur/Port Kelang, Malaysia » 8 am 9 pm Bustling port Kelang is the principal port of entry for Malaysia. The country...