Lyn Fuchs's Blog, page 27

Smooth Getaway Postcard From Fiji

Tavakubu village has an invisible “m” and is pronounced Tavakumbu in the Fijian language. Quite the opposite of the silent “k” in English, which is there but unpronounced. After being invited to join a traditional kava ceremony in this small village on the main island of Viti Levu, I discover a mystifying legend which also seems to be invisible to the outside world.

I enter a colorfully-painted wooden house, raised on poles - a simple, typical local dwelling. Surrounding the clu...

Wandering Mystic Meditation From Spokane

I've been tryin' to get down to the heart of the matter, because the flesh will get weak and the ashes will scatter, but I think it's about forgiveness, even if you don't love me anymore. - Don Henley

My husband Steve left me and the children in 2005 after 17 years of marriage. He left because he didn’t want to deal with his self-destructive habits. In 2002, he'd started earning a high income for the first time in our marriage. He climbed to the mountaintop, where the view should've been breat...

Bryson Stumbles On The Appalachian Trail

There's a big difference between a bestselling travel book and a great travel book. No work illustrates this better than Bill Bryson's A Walk In The Woods. The book was immensely popular for two reasons: fans of his folksy humor and his other works were salivating for the next offering, plus the Appalachian Trail is a must-read subject for many people who feel they should learn about this part of the American landscape if not someday hike it themselves.

So, Bryson's project was set up for huge...

The Americas' Still-Beating Heart

I live at the territorial crossroads of the ancient Olmecs, Zapotecs, and Maya. My office window looks out on iguanas and hummingbirds. I wake each day in the cradle of American civilization and go to bed each night in the coffin where the last remains of unglobalized indigenous culture may someday be laid to rest.

A few years ago, I scaled a nearby volcano. Mount Pacaya, like my libido, has been continuously active for decades. As we strode up the burro-dropping-and-volcanic-rock-st...

Rudd Gets Rude In Wanderlust

Imagine one great American road trip visiting three great American subcultures at their hyperbolic silliest. The Wanderlust starts in New York City. Here urbanites pay the price of a meal for a coffee called a latte and the price of a house for a closet called a mini-loft. Here executive Paul Rudd slaves in a legally-questionable company to support his artist wife Jennifer Aniston in making weepy apocalyptic documentaries about penguins suffering from testicular cancer. The all-work-and-no-pl...

Clint Eastwood Goes Down Swinging

The Clint Eastwood movie Million Dollar Baby is a classic. Here's why. On the surface, it's an action film about a woman hoping to triumph in the arena of boxing. That holds attention. There's something naturally gripping about a brutal one-on-one gladiatorial confrontation in the ring, even if you don't like this sport. Yet, the movie is really about the ultimate battle we all fight against our inner demons.

Hilary Swank isn't actually punching her opponent. She is flailing desperately agains...

Road Babe Dispatch From Laos

If you're traveling in Southeast Asia, one of the most common get-to-know-you questions from fellow wanderers is about your favourite destination. With surprising frequency, the answer I heard most was Laos.

Thailand has white sand beaches, well known temples, and Bangkok. Cambodia has its symbol of national pride and wonder of the world Angkor Wat. Vietnam offers pho, cheap tailored shirts and the H-cities of Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi and Halong Bay. Yet, what about Laos? Even if you've actually hea...

Wandering Mystic Meditation From Time Travel

Girl napping on Lake Atitlan by Victoria SaratoreBegrudge time and it will turn its back on you like a dead secret. But bathe, kiss, enter, and bow - immerse yourself in the time you have, and time will carry you softly and clearly.

- Mark Nepo in his column Rethinking Time
This reflection comes to you later than intended, because I've been riding a wave of time travel. Launched from airports in Mexico City, Denver, and Orange County to a jam-packed visit with family an...

Quote The Raven Nevermore John Cusack

Edgar Allan Poe deserves some respect. He was a drunk, a druggie, a racist, a windbag and a loon but also a literary genius. He gave his work popular appeal by delving masterfully into dark corners of the human psyche, not by spraying a movie set with ketchup. He gave his work lasting appeal by painstaking wordcraft, not by getting the big authors to endorse him. He deserves respect as the literary master of horror.





Casting John Cusack as Poe in The Raven was a respectful choice. Cusack has a...

Required Travel Lit For Visiting India

Our wonderful world is vast and complex. Yet, its people and places can be somewhat understood in terms of eight megacultures. I would list China, India, Mideast, Euro, Afro, Russo, Latino and Anglo spheres. The last includes New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the UK and the US. Some would add Oceania as the ninth megaculture. Boundaries are blurry and border regions, like Ukraine, Nepal, Morocco and Texas, are a blending of the big zones. I hope to spend time living and composing in each of the...