January 2026 Newsletter We recently spent a week in Malawi, a new country for me (#158) and Khadija (#155). By road, we explored the southern region of Malawi, surrounded on three sides by Mozambique, and the central region by Lake Malawi. Malawi has several ethnic groups including the Ngoni, who originated from the Zulu nation in South Africa and migrated northwards in the 19th century, spreading across parts of Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania. As they settled, they incorporated...
2 months ago • 4 min read
November 2025 Newsletter In last month’s newsletter, I described our exciting visit to Mali and Guinea. We also spent a few days in Senegal, as we flew to West Africa to Dakar on a nonstop, roundtrip flight from NYC. We have been to Senegal several times and always enjoy the rich culture. The Dakar Railway Station was built by the French government in 1884. It has many notable architectural features including verandas, arches and colorful ceramic decorations. Only three years ago, its colors...
4 months ago • 3 min read
October 2025 Newsletter Khadija and I plunged into new territory earlier this month by traveling to Mali and then to Guinea. West Africa has many countries and we are slowly but surely visiting them all to learn about their amazing cultures and histories. I’ve been thinking about traveling to Mali for two decades, starting back in the day when the Festival of the Desert was happening from 2001 to 2012. Finally, I made it, UN country #155 even though Khadija had been there previously while...
5 months ago • 5 min read
September 2025 Newsletter Khadija and I have done something unusual, we haven't traveled internationally in the last two and half months. However, we made it to Chicago to see our daughter Ayan. She showed us many exciting places in the "City of Big Shoulders", including “The Bean” in Millennium Park, where people, green spaces and high-rise buildings reflect off its shiny surface. We’ve been to Chicago many times but it's been a while, last in 2006, the year The Bean was unveiled and not yet...
6 months ago • 4 min read
August 2025 Newsletter Khadija and I recently made an unforgettable visit to Papua New Guinea as part of a six-week trip where we circumnavigated the globe. Tribes in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea wear cultural heritage attire for ceremonies and festivals. These elaborate costumes often featured vibrant colors, body paint, headdresses, animal parts & traditional weaponry. The Enguwal Tribe performs for various events such as marriages, funerals, wars, births, and celebrations of good...
7 months ago • 3 min read
July 2025 Newsletter We were traveling from the end of May to the beginning of July and circumnavigated the world. This newsletter covers the first part in Central Asia. We did and saw so many interesting things and met so many local folks, the following is just a few of many highlights. Our first stop was the infrequently visited Fergana Valley in Uzbekistan to attend the annual NomadMania conference. NM is a terrific community and website which provides information and inspiration to all...
8 months ago • 4 min read
May 2025 Newsletter We’ve been home for a month to rest and do all those pesky things required by modern life such as filing a tax return, going to medical appointments and fixing up the house. During this time, I also researched the countries Khadija and I still have to visit to finish the 193 UN ones. I’ve been to 153 UN countries, the shaded ones in this map. I have 40 to go: 2 in Latin America, 4 in the Caribbean, 4 in Europe. 4 in Asia, 6 in Oceania and 20 in Africa. Khadija’s map looks...
11 months ago • 3 min read
April 2025 Newsletter Within a month, it’s amazing how you can delve into extremely different cultures. That was recently the case as I went to visit tribes in the world’s newest country, South Sudan. Then I visited, along with Khadija and our friends Nick and Monica, the enchanting country of Oman with a long history of maritime trading in the Indian Ocean and beyond. Both were new countries for me; now I've visited 153 of the 193 UN countries. South Sudan became a country in 2001 after 50...
11 months ago • 3 min read
March 2025 Newsletter After an extremely interesting but exhausting three weeks photographing at the Kumbh Mela festival in Prayagraj, India and touring a wide swath of Bangladesh, we had to, alas, start returning home. We had two flight connections in Mumbai and Frankfurt and which gave us an opportunity yo visit those regions. We spent a few days in Mumbai and enjoyably strolled on the Marine Drive Promenade by Back Bay, part of the Arabian Sea. We went before sunset when the light was...
about 1 year ago • 5 min read