This month was one of those where we didn’t travel but spent a lot of time planning future trips. However, we are lucky to live in NYC where the whole world exists around us or makes a visit!

At Lincoln Center Jazz, drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. and British Nigerian bassist Michael Olatuja with 5 saxophones, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, 4 vocalists and a keyboardist performed "Big Band Afrobeat to Afrobeats". Afrobeat (singular) is a 1970s genre pioneered by Fela Kuti, blending West African highlife and Yoruba music with American funk and jazz, known for long, political, and instrumental compositions. Afrobeats (plural) is a modern (2000s–present) pop fusion genre, combining hip-hop, dancehall, and electronic music for shorter, commercial hits.

We saw Toubab Krewe perform at the Iridium.The instrumental band from Asheville, North Carolina is celebrating their 20th year. At the core, they play Mali / Guinea traditional styles and instruments (such as the 12-string kora) and layer on psychedelic, southern rock and Appalachian strings with a jam sensibility. Toubab is a West African term, primarily from the Wolof and Bambara languages, used to describe a white person, European, or sometimes a foreign visitor.

The Poster House had an excellent exhibit - The Future Was Then: The Changing Face of Fascist Italy. It highlights how 1920s–40s Italian fascist posters used modernism and bold, artistic imagery to mask a darker agenda of totalitarian control. Mussolini, a former schoolteacher and soldier, gradually built a cult of personality around his reputation as a populist and earned the support of an unusual coalition between the nation's industrial elites, who saw pecuniary opportunity, and its rural poor, who saw him as one of their own. Many Italian artists supported his regime, particularly during the 1920s and 1930s, using their work to promote state propaganda and the regime's ideals of strength and national revival.

UPCOMING TRIPS

Our next international adventure is exploring Paraguay, one of two countries we haven’t been to in Latin America (the other is Venezuela which we are thinking of going there soon). Later in the year, we are planning for trips to Brazil, Ireland, Chicago, Thailand and West Africa.

RECENT POSTS

​Mexico – Amazing Guanajuato and Charming San Miguel de Allende​

I had no idea of how astounding Guanajuato was with its silver mining origin, colorful colonial architecture, hilly landscape, large university and unique network of narrow, winding streets, alleys, and tunnels.

I vaguely knew that nearby San Miguel de Allende was a tourist city but didn’t know why. Once there, it was obvious its fame is due to, like Guanajuato, brightly painted historic buildings, cobblestone streets and vibrant art scene, but with more of a small-town ambiance.

SUBWAY PHOTOGRAPHY:

My beautifully printed black and white “Station to Station: Exploring the New York City Subway” coffee table book is still available. You can see all photos @nycsubwaybook on Instagram and New York Subway Book on Facebook. Click here or email me for a signed copy, not available anywhere else!

SOCIALS:

My website www.ExploringEd.com with detailed posts on our trips.

FB: @Ed.Hotchkiss.3 and @Exploring Ed Travel | IG: @Exploring.Ed.Travel​

RECENT BOOKS​:

West With the Night (293 pages, 1942) by Beryl Markham is a memoir of a British woman, who grew up in Kenya on her father’s farm which often had visiting lions, leopards, baboons and gazelles. After a stint for a few years as a horse trainer, she improbably became a bush pilot and eventually the first woman to fly solo east to west across the Atlantic. The book is a page turner because of her exciting life and several near-death experiences. However, what distinguishes the book is how well it’s written, as it’s some of the best prose I’ve read in years. Here’s an excerpt:

“A map says to you, ‘Read me carefully, follow me closely, doubt me not.’ It says, ‘I am the earth in the palm of your hand. Without me, you are alone and lost.’ And indeed you are. Were all the maps in this world destroyed and vanished under the direction of some malevolent hand, each man would be blind again, each city be made a stranger to the next, each landmark becomes a meaningless signpost pointing to nothing. Yet, looking at it, feeling it, running a finger along its lines, it is a cold thing, a map, humourless and dull, born of calipers and a draughtsman’s board.”

MEET THE AUTHOR PARTY​

At our home in Harlem, we’ll be having a party on Sunday, July 12 from 1pm to 4pm for Barry Hoffner, a renowned traveler who has visited almost every country in the world. All interested are invited, email me to RSVP.

Barry will discuss how the world has far more depth and complexity than headlines suggest. From war zones to mountaintops, refugee camps to ancient ruins, he met people whose kindness and openness gave meaning to his life. In his book “Belonging to the World”, Barry writes about how travel has helped him after the loss of his wife and travel partner, Jackie, in a sudden tragedy.

DONATE

Journalism is crucial for every country as it’s an important deterrent against illegal government actions and corruption of leaders. Journalists monitor powerful individuals and institutions, expose crimes and immoral actions and encourage civic engagement. However, journalists are increasingly at risk for doing their job. At least fifteen journalists and media workers have been killed so far in 2026 and many more have been threatened and imprisoned, particularly in Gaza, Lebanon, the West Bank, Sudan, Russia, China, Myanmar and many more.

The current U.S. administration continues to intimidate the media, through verbal harassment, lawsuits, and the revocation of press credentials. They have actively replaced established legacy media in the White House press pool with ideologically aligned alternatives and used the power of the Federal Communications Commission to muzzle free speech.

Here are three organizations helping to protect journalists worldwide. I have just donated to them, please consider also doing so.

​The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide, defending the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal.

​Reporters Without Borders defends the right of every human being to have access to free and reliable information. This right is essential to act on vital issues in full awareness, both individually and collectively.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is the leading pro bono legal services organization for journalists and newsrooms in the U.S. The organization provides legal representation, amicus curiae support, and other legal resources at no cost to protect First Amendment freedoms and the newsgathering rights of journalists across the country.

Happy New Year 🌏… Exploring Ed