Bohemian Traveler

New Jersey often gets a bum rap. But let’s not forget it’s the Garden State—so named for fine produce. Every summer thousands from Pennsylvania, New York, and around New Jersey descend upon its beaches, known as the Jersey Shore. These are the beaches I visited each summer growing up and the shore will always be [...]

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We recently visited Albany, NY and got invited to take a tour with the Albany Aqua Ducks. Runaway Juno and I put this stop-motion video together—the tour was as much fun as the video. The Aqua Duck’s guides bring a lot of humor and life to the tour, but really it’s Albany’s history and architecture [...]

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It just keeps getting better the further north you go. The White Mountains of New Hampshire are excellent for hiking and multiday treks, but on our road trip we went beyond the Whites to the Great North Woods. Here you’ll find lakes echoing with loons, quiet spots for canoeing, rivers for fly fishing, smaller mountains [...]

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While road tripping through the U.S., I try to make a point of staying off the interstate highways. They are great for making good time, but you don’t really get to see any of the places you’re traveling through. Better to stick to the country roads or even the old US highways. Check out this [...]

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Overall my Southeast Asia trip was a great success. I witnessed incredible experiences, met extraordinarily friendly people, and saw how people live life in places that are very different from where I’m from. What went well Got a good mix of seeing places, people, and experiences. Managed the marriage work and travel together well, stopping [...]

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I’ve done a great deal of exploring the United States in the past year, but only recently started taking a look at my own back yard here in Virginia. Sometimes it takes a foreign visitor to get me to see the local sights. So when Juno Kim of RunawayJuno.com came to town, I decided I’d try [...]

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The Lack of Culture What I mean by lack of culture is the outside, in-your-face culture. If you’re a traveler it’s hard to find. Lao food, for example, is not readily available. The majority of cafes have one thing on the menu: sub-standard imitation Vietnamese noodle soup pumped up with MSG. I didn’t see any [...]

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I’m a traveler who tends to place a lot of importance on the cultural aspects of travel. Let me state first and foremost that tubing in Vang Vieng, Laos, has nothing to do with Laotian culture. That said, it can be a blast. Where else can you lazily float down a river watching beautiful limestone [...]

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By Stephen Bugno Mae Salong is an oddity in Thailand. It is a Chinese village high in the mountains of northern Thailand. Its history is an interesting one, and one that I’ll get to in a moment. I spent the night before in the sleepy riverside town of Tha Ton. In the morning I caught [...]

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By Stephen Bugno Pai, Thailand is the quintessential backpacker town. I’ll try not to be too judgmental and let you decide for yourself if you want to visit. Be warned: it is a small town with a big ego problem. You’ll see it on t-shirts, postcards, and other souvenir goods.   Travelers initially come to [...]

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By Stephen Bugno There is a reason so many travel bloggers are stopping and staying in Chiang Mai, Thailand for so long: it’s inexpensive, pleasant, culturally interesting, and has most of the amenities you could need.   This post is part of a series that I am beginning to show how I am transitioning into [...]

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By Stephen Bugno   It’s not that great either. But the average traveler can find something interesting in KL to fill at least a couple days, even if it’s just relaxing in a nice hotel (if one has the money) and filling your stomach with delicious food. Do a little searching and in between modern [...]

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By Stephen Bugno My interest in bridges started in middle school when my older brother began winning a series of bridge building competitions. My dad bought him a big photo book of the world’s most interesting and important bridges. I studied that book. I was fascinated by the beauty and functionality of these structures. One [...]

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By Stephen Bugno The highlight of many visitors trip to Borneo, and the reason for coming at all, is Gunung Mulu National Park. Mulu holds the largest cave chamber in the world, lush primary rainforest, and the spectacular Pinnacles rock formation. I visited for five days and the experience was well worth the effort getting [...]

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By Stephen Bugno Niah Caves aren’t the biggest in Malaysia, but they may be the most interesting. Don’t get me wrong, the caves are enormous, likely the biggest you’ll ever walk into (unless you go to Mulu). For me, the interesting part was the anthropological and archeological activity associated with the caves. They have 40,000 [...]

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By Stephen Bugno My first orangutan in the wild “You’re quite lucky,” our guide says from rear of the boat. “This is a good start.” It is a great start. Only five minutes into our Kinabatangan River wildlife tour, we have seen our first orangutan. Many groups finish the three day-two night boat tour without [...]

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I spent a few days in Bangkok with Juno from RunawayJuno.com and we put together this photo-motion video over the course of a whole day. This is the first time I put one of these time-lapse videos together and I couldn’t have done it without Juno’s help (especially in the barber shop). The 939 photos [...]

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By Stephen Bugno Noel hesitantly agrees to take me to Brunei. He’s Malaysian and thinks it’s no more interesting than his own country, just more expensive. But he’s driving me the 160 km mostly to make me happy. “It’s my Lichtenstein.” I tell him, reminding him of the time he went to the tiny European [...]

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