Global Travel

This category relates to other adventures in Asia-Pacific travel. Enjoy occasional dispatches from across the Asia-Pacific region, from someone who has been on the road since the 1970s. You never know what we might find here.

Red Centre landscape red earth MacDonnell Ranges blue sky Alice Springs Northern Territory AustraliaAlice Springs

Alice Springs, Northern Territory: Notes From Someone Who Called It Home

Most people who write about Alice Springs are describing a place they visited for a week. I am describing a place I lived in for nearly three years, from March 1987 through December 1989, and I have never quite left it, even decades later. My wife and I are planning to go back next year.

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Wat Phra That Doi Suthep golden chedi temple on mountain above Chiang Mai ThailandThailand

Chiang Mai and Krabi: Two Sides of Thailand Worth Understanding

My first trip to Thailand came down to a single planning decision: which version of the country to see first. Thailand offers several wildly different travel experiences, and trying to combine too many of them on one trip results in a week of airports rather than a week of places. I chose Chiang Mai in

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Hobart, Tasmania, waterfront and city with Mount Wellington rising behind itTasmania

Hobart, Tasmania: What the Island Capital Keeps Revealing Long After You Leave

The first thing you see when the plane descends toward Hobart, Tasmania, is the mountain. Not the harbor, not the colonial streetscape, not the waterfront that every travel summary leads with. Mount Wellington. It sits above the city at 1,271 meters, and from the air it looks as if it has not yet decided whether

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Koh Kradan western beach at sunset, Trang Province, Thailand hidden beachesThailand

Hidden Beaches in Thailand That Most Travelers Never Reach

The fisherman who changed my plan didn’t speak much English. He pointed south, said ‘Koh Kradan,’ and held up three fingers. Three hours by boat from Pak Meng. I had three nights booked in Koh Lanta. I canceled them. That kind of detour is how you find the hidden beaches Thailand keeps to itself. Phuket,

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