India Independence Day celebrations at Goodness School on August 15, 2024. Independence Day is a public national holiday for celebrated annually on August 15 commemorating the nation's independence from the United Kingdom on August 15, 1947. India attained independence largely by non-violent resistance and civil disobedience led by the Indian National Congress under the leadership
Not every day is a great day. Some days, you make decisions that open your eyes to painful realities. I’m not proud of my decision to ride an elephant on our first day in Bangkok, Thailand. I had always wanted to ride an elephant. The romanticized idea of scaling and sitting astride a gargantuan pachyderm
WARNING: This is a long post that includes some disturbing descriptions of historic events in Cambodia. It also includes images of smiling Buddhist monks and children at play…to remind us that life, while painful, is also beautiful. Sitting cozy in the back of an open air tuk-tuk, gazing at a fat smiling golden Buddha figurine
An early morning drive from Ho Chi Minh City brought us to the banks of the Mekong River Delta. Our colorful wooden skiff, cobbled by hand and held together by collective hope and hundreds of layers of paint, traversed the river’s wide water, past hundreds of floating villages, home to tens of thousands of people
A late afternoon tour in a classic open air Jeep was the ideal way to experience this incredible, bustling, chaotic city. Flower markets, overflowing city sidewalk street restaurants and the mesmerizing choreography of scooters and motorbikes in a rush hour ballet left us in awe. A visit to the Jade Pagoda, a combined shrine and
We all seek happiness: in our relationships, in our work, in our lives. Yet happiness is not found in the seeking. It eludes those who search for it. Happiness is found in the expression of joy and the giving of self. We must recognize happiness, choose it and then wear it like a new piece
A towering golden statue of Murugan, the Hindu god of war and victory stands guard at the entry of the Batu Caves at Kuala Lumpur’s city edge. (Incidentally, Yahweh, was known as the god of metallurgy and war prior to being elevated to the position of creator God in the Hebrew Scriptures.) November 12, Hindus
We toured the seafood, meat, flower and fruit markets in Hạ Long Bay, Quảng Ninh – Vietnam. Bustling city streets, choked with scooters led us to the open air markets, where locals converge to get their food. This is where shopping is done. It’s gritty, vibrant, beautiful and bloody. Basins filled with living seafood give
A scenic drive from our cruise port in Chan May, Vietnam afforded stunning countryside vistas of rice fields dotted with water buffalo, and breathtaking sweeping views of white sand beaches and jagged tropical mountains. Our time in Hoi An was perfection. The air here is densely humid. A cool breeze feels so welcome that I
Just today, I saw a Facebook post from a friend that hilariously illuminated how dogs and cats view the current Coronavirus quarantine. The dog asked “Why not work from home forever?" The cat was adamant in stating that "America needs to get back to work!" The divergent natures of these household pets bias their supposed