Ever since our first experiment with AirBnB (where we snagged a New York City...
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The Hard Way to Easy Street
Although these exotic felines now live on Easy Street – 12802 Easy Street to be precise – it was a life of hard knocks that brought them to the Big Cat Rescue Sanctuary in Tampa, Florida. The 120 animals that reside here all arrived for different reasons, but abandonment and abuse are common threads. Some were performing animals that came to the sanctuary instead of being ‘retired.’ Others were rescued from the fur trade. Many more were abandoned when their owners realized that large wildcats make for dangerous, and expensive, pets.
One of the sanctuary’s recent rescues, a wild bobcat on the losing end of an automobile encounter, has become a bit of a sensation. When no local vets or specialists would even attempt to help the animal, Continue Reading →
Modern Masterpiece
Photos courtesy of stephenknapp.com
After visiting dozens of museums all over the world you might think I know a little something about art. And that is exactly what I know, a little something. Mostly what I know is what I like, and what I don’t. And my experience has taught me that visiting modern art museums focusing on works created after World War II is mostly a waste of my time. There are the occasional gems to be found, of course, like some works by Jackson Pollock, for example. But too often artists of this period focused more on creating something different than they did on creating something enjoyable. For many, the modernist emphasis on breaking with convention gradually devolved into meaninglessness and ugliness. Thankfully, that period may be at an end. I’ve noticed an increasing number of museum displays from contemporary artists whose work is both ground-breaking and beautiful. Add Stephen Knapp’s name to that list. Continue Reading →
Neh-Ples
Thomas Edison Winter Estate, Fort Myers, Florida
Is it possible to experience culture shock having never left the country, or even the state of Florida? The answer seems to be yes.
While driving to Naples from the Everglades on US 41 we were shocked by the sudden change in scenery. Gone were the unspoiled wetlands, dotted with lazy alligators and colorful wading birds. In their place sprung congested intersections, crowded with shopping malls and big box retailers. “Historic” downtown Naples offered more of the same, only the retailers were higher-end and the cars crowding the streets had Italian accents (Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati) instead of Japanese ones. It was all rather depressing. Continue Reading →
Boondock Bangkok
Living in an RV creates special obstacles for someone who likes to cook eat as much, and as well, as I do. “Boondocking” adds a whole other layer of challenges, mostly relating to concerns about limiting water used for prep and clean-up. It is for that reason that hamburgers, hotdogs, deli salads and meats are so often associated with camping. But that isn’t the kind of diet I’m going to adopt willingly. Fortunately, there are tasty alternatives to the standard campground grub. One of which is Chicken Sates with Spicy Thai Noodles.
What makes this dish campground friendly is that the Thai noodles can be prepared a couple days ahead of time and served at room temperature, or even cold. Take that potato salad! The Sates marinate in a freezer bag before getting thrown on the grill. Add steamed vegetables and some House of Tsang Peanut Sauce (which is surprisingly good right off the grocery store shelf) and you have high-quality Thai take-out served up in the heart of the wilderness. How’s that for “roughing it?”
The following recipes are approximations of what I do. Continue Reading →
Something you probably didn’t know
Click image for one of Shannon's published works. Photo © Château de Monte-Cristo
Writing is hard work. Getting paid to write is damn near impossible. I know, because I’ve watched Shannon do the impossible every day for the last six years. She’s far more successful than she gives herself credit for, and I’m incredibly proud of her.
I’ve been reading a lot of travel blogs lately and I came across this essay So You Wanna Be a Travel Writer? posted by a professional freelancer. Her experience mirrors ours, or Shannon’s, at least. It’s a good exposé on the realities of trying to write for pay. Freelance writing is a field where you have to work terribly hard; suffer constant rejection; manage the chaos of feast or famine assignments; harass editors for pay; deal with the uncertainty of when, or whether, the next check will arrive; constantly ‘interview’ for the next gig; work on stories that may never get sold; and compete with folks who are willing to do all of this for free. It’s not all fun and games, even if it appears to be.
Nobody knows how hard Shannon has worked to make a go of it in this crazy profession, but I thought you should.
Everywhere Once 