Doug Walsh's Blog, page 17
May 22, 2015
Warrior Poses and Dragon Tongues
My right leg is wrapped around my left, thigh over thigh, foot tucked behind my calf. Sometimes. My quadriceps quivers as I entwine my arms, the palms flat against one another in front of my forehead. My left leg begins to wobble as I sit back onto an invisible chair as my elbows reach up and […]
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May 9, 2015
Japan by Train: Skip the JR Pass!
Spend any amount of time researching a trip to Japan and you’re bound to encounter all manner of helpful articles extolling the benefits of the Japan Rail Pass. This pass, a money-saving transit pass available only to foreigners and sold in 7-, 14-, and 21-day durations, allows unlimited travel on the bulk of the Japan Rail […]
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May 4, 2015
Welcome to Bali, Boss
Bali is not designed to give a pleasant first impression, especially if you arrive by plane and then, as so many tourists do, head straight to nearby Kuta Beach. Take those idyllic visions you have of shimmering white sand beaches and tubing azure waves; of rice fields and tropical fruit trees; of friendly, smiling locals and […]
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April 20, 2015
April in Kyoto: You Might Want to Skip It
The idea of chasing the blooming cherry blossom trees, sakura, across Japan is not new, nor original. Numerous websites are devoted to predicting the ideal time and place to catch the peak of Japan’s national tree as the light-pink flowers spread across the mountainous island nation. It is a thing entirely worth doing. And it was […]
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April 7, 2015
Finding Peace in Koyasan
The too-clean granite walkway and evenly spaced stone lanterns went on no further. The unforested, newer section of the cemetery with its hodgepodge collection of minimalistic, ornate, corporate, and grandiose tombs and gravemarkers were behind us. We turned left, umbrellas high in the air – higher than the sun – and soon joined the older, […]
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April 1, 2015
A No Fears Guide for Visiting Kinosaki Onsen
“What should I write about?” Someone walking as near as Kristin was may have assumed I was taking requests, but she knew that wasn’t so. After a year on the road together, every single day together, she knows when I’m inviting conversation and when I’m just talking to myself. More than her smarts, her natural beauty, and her kindness I […]
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A No Fears Guide for Westerners Visiting Kinosaki Onsen
“What should I write about?” Someone walking as near as Kristin was may have assumed I was taking requests, but she knew that wasn’t so. After a year on the road together, every single day together, she knows when I’m inviting conversation and when I’m just talking to myself. More than her smarts, her natural beauty, and her kindness I […]
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March 19, 2015
Our Grand Hakone Loop
Some days need to be recorded for posterity. Our second full day in Japan, chronicled in this post, was one of those days. It began, like so many mornings on the other side of the world do, wide awake at 4 a.m. Jet lagged and excited I quietly slipped out from under the duvet, padded across […]
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February 24, 2015
A Winter to Remember
The thermometer read -8.7º F (-22º C) when I came down for coffee this morning. The snow outside, blanketing the field out the window of the bedroom-turned-office I spend my days in, fell over a month ago. It doesn’t melt, it only deepens, compacts, and hardens. I had forgotten what winter felt like. Sure, we’d get […]
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February 5, 2015
The Ghost Town Down the Shore
Having not lived in New Jersey since my teenage years, I should have no reason for knowing the casinos of Atlantic City as well as I do. I shouldn’t be able to reminisce. I shouldn’t be able to tell you about the time, at age nineteen, I made it to the final table of an invitation-only craps […]
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