Tag Archives: vagabond

The Imagination Won’t Stop Until It Has Swallowed Everything…

Posted on February 19, 2011 by Ryan Murdock

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Take a Walk Through Tokyo With Me

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Ryan Murdock

It’s been quiet here in Road Wisdom land, but it’s the silence of distant places rather than the silence of inactivity that has fallen over my blog…

I’ve been on the road these past couple months. Exploring the rugged interior of New Caledonia in the South Pacific. Navigating the hectic city streets of Tokyo, and the quieter corners of northern Honshu. And more recently in the US — the farthest steamy south at Key West, and then across the continent to Seattle to see The Church and hang with Steve Kilbey.

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Hot New Interview – Check It Out!

Posted on November 4, 2010 by Ryan Murdock

A bit of shameless self-promotion to share with you…

The Australian adventure lifestyle magazine Bare Essentials is running an 8-page interview with me in their November/December 2010 issue:

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We talked about why landscapes spark inspiration, trip preparation, the spirit of place, and even which books I have on my bookshelf. Eight full pages of your favourite introspective traveling scribe. What more could you ask for? I mean, c’mon…

They did a really nice job with this. Their questions were fun and original, and they’ve even featured full photo layouts from my frequent expedition partner Jason George. The rest of the issue is pretty cool too. 94 full pages of content! Jeez, you can’t go wrong.

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Drifting Down to a New Sunrise

Posted on November 4, 2010 by Ryan Murdock

On the flight back, somewhere over the Gulf of Mexico, the feeling changed. I crossed some sort of invisible divide where I re-entered the life of the States: the life of work, obligation, responsibility and long hours. I dropped back into that weight as though it had never been lifted. It almost felt natural. But it’s not.

I realized at that moment that Central America is a separate dimension. An alternate reality that one steps into, just as one steps into Macondo.

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My Memory Walks The City

Posted on October 22, 2010 by Ryan Murdock

As a writer and a constant reader of books, I’ve begun to feel increasingly disconnected from other people. I think it comes from spending too much time alone in a room. There’s a glass barrier between myself and the rest of the world. I’m seeing it all at one remove, through the TV screen of my eyes, from several feet back in my head. Maybe it’s a consequence of traveling alone, when the glances of strangers don’t rest on you for very long.

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You Can’t Go Back Again

Posted on October 14, 2010 by Ryan Murdock

Panama City, 10 years later. 

The plaza in the colonial district still looks the same. The tidal flats are still muddy, and they still smell of the sea. Punta Paitilla still juts out across the bay, a glimmering jewel of finance, luxury, and life lived on another plane. The big ships are still there, floating at random anchorages, waiting to transit the Canal. A couple of them even look familiar. But so much has changed.

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The Riverbones

Posted on October 4, 2010 by Ryan Murdock

It’s been a while since I reviewed a recent travel book. This one stood out among the books I read last month.

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The Riverbones by Andrew Westoll

Andrew Westoll spent a year as a primatologist chasing monkeys through the jungles of the Central Suriname Nature Reserve. He returned five years later as a writer obsessed with finding the secret soul of this poorly understood country. 

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What’s Your Personal Landscape?

Posted on September 30, 2010 by Ryan Murdock

Just got back from my first trip to Las Vegas.

Yeah, it’s weird eh? I’ve been to Mongolia but never Vegas.

Am I the only one to go there and not set foot in a Casino, club or The Strip?

What the heck did I get up to?

On the outskirts of Sin City, among the red rocks and the ghosts of broken dreams, I filmed a couple programs for my health and fitness website. I also put together this little video blog for you. Hope ya like it!


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In Conversation with Desert Explorer Tom Sheppard

Posted on September 20, 2010 by Ryan Murdock

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Tom Sheppard’s 40 years of overlanding experience make him one of the world’s foremost experts on desert travel. Among the highlights, he’s tackled six solo Sahara expeditions since 2001, and he led the first coast to coast crossing of the Sahara from the Atlantic to the Red Sea, which won him an award from the Royal Geographical Society. 

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Rangoon 2: Attacked in the Night

Posted on September 7, 2010 by Ryan Murdock

As I wrote in the prior blog, I still don’t know how I found the “guesthouse” where we spent that first night in Rangoon.  At first it seemed like a great value. But in the end we got more than we bargained for…

It was a small place owned by Indian traders, on the second floor of a decrepit colonial building lost down a forgettable side street. We had to trudge up a dark stairway full of auto parts and then walk through some sort of machine shop to get to the door. I struck a deal for a tidy little room with a shower for less than ten bucks — not bad given how overpriced rooms in Rangoon were at the time.

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