Fernweh & Heimweh in the time of corona
Fernweh (German noun) — a feeling of longing for far-away places. Heimweh (German noun) — a feeling of longing for home; homesickness. This pandemic takes from us in so many […]
Category Archives: Nomad Notes
On radio addiction, music for wanderers and #resisting in Berlin
Like loving the outdoors, live music and the ritual of brewing a pourover coffee, my involvement with radio isn’t something I found at random in adult life. More like: It […]
I’m With Her: Paeans of the wandering soul
Folk-bluegrass supergroup I’m With Her are playing their first show in Berlin, and they’ve already discovered the nude sunbathers in Tiergarten. That feeling, lying around hedonistically under the trees, is […]
On the value of going solo
“Go simple, go solo, go now.” The mantra of the late, great paddling legend Audrey Sutherland is solid advice in all kinds of situations, whether gathering your guts for an […]
Berlin by boat, or how I learned to stop renting and love the inflatable kayak
The oldest of the three Santa-suit-clad stand up paddlers squints his eyes against the falling snow and eyes my inflatable kayak, bobbing at the foot of Molecule Man, with friendly […]
Elegy for the Starman: Goodbye to Bowie
On average, over 150,000 human beings die each day. But on January 10th, one of those people was David Bowie, and such was the creative brilliance of this artist, that […]
#Heimkommen: Expat holidays & sobbing over supermarket ads
Once again, it’s December in Berlin – the month in which snow falls and Christmas markets spring up like mushrooms, the scent of Glühwein wafting from every corner store. A […]
Coffee with Leon
In which my Resting Bitch Face slips and a would-be smooth talker ends up telling me his life story. Sometimes, all you can do is listen.
Spring in Ulsan
It has been a sad spring for everyone. Now summer is almost here; the days are getting hotter, and it’s raining today in Ulsan. (Rain always reminds me of summer. […]
Rest in peace, Sewol
South Korea is on edge. A government official has been sacked for initiating an employee group picture at the port where the Sewol victims’ parents were waiting. A politician has been demonized […]
Coffee quest to the cradle of civilization
Thessaloniki. City on the sea, crowned with crumbling ruins, ancient ramparts looking out to the Aegean. On my extended weekend here in late March, I left planning and organization behind […]
Birdy captures Berlin with soaring vocals
Thursday, Feb. 27, 8:35 p.m., Berlin’s Astra Kulturhaus. Billy Lockett’s soft, earnest vocals drift in a cloud of smoke out the open venue door, as I huddle in the entry […]
Handemy: An alternative agricultural village?
Danyang is a town of 30,000 people in North Chungcheong Province, South Korea. In front of the Danyang Bus Terminal, there is a big red bridge across a big river. […]
Wicked haahsh realities: Conquering Boston & the ‘real world’
Before I left for a semester abroad in Bonn, Germany my junior year of college, I learned about culture shock. In a mandatory pre-trip orientation, a zany, somewhat obnoxious staff […]
Handemy WWOOFs in Australia
WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities in Organic Farming) means you get free housing and food in return for your labor at a host farm. It started in the 1970s in Scotland, […]
Winter in Berlin
A year has passed since my nostalgic days in exile, grumping around my college campus while longing for the knifelike cold of a Berlin winter. The appeal is hard to […]
An American’s Intro to German Music
When Nomad News‘ Caitlin Hardee and I first met, we discovered that we had something unusual in common. At our respective college radio stations, we each produced and hosted a weekly […]
A non-Kpop guide to Korean music
Hi guys. Here are some cool sounds from South Korea. They’re no “Gangnam Style,” which I’m sick of anyway, but I like them and I hope you like them too. […]
Anyeonghaseyo from Incheon!
A few months into my new life in South Korea, this is my first Nomad dispatch. I’ve been living here in Incheon since the beginning of September. I came here […]
Kimchi Festival in Handemy Village
Koreans like kimchi. There’s cabbage kimchi, cucumber kimchi, radish kimchi; kimchi can be seasoned with apricot, fish, shrimp; there’s kimchi stew, kimchi pancake, kimchi burger, “Shinkimchi” (kimchi that has been […]
When wanderlust clashes with travel advisories…
I have a serious problem watching movies all the way through. Blame it on the insidious influence of Twitter and constant Internet exposure on our brains, insatiable hunger for trivial […]
Freelancing in Berlin
I received some excellent news on Friday, Sept. 28—a mere two days before my last written departure deadline, word came through from the Ausländerbehörde that my application for a visa […]
Upstate New York To Upstate Manhattan
Is it worth it? That’s the question everyone seems to be asking about The New York Move, which, if you’re a twenty-something college graduate from somewhere in the Northeast, is […]
Leaves on the wind…
Another blog, another beginning. I intend to maintain Midnight Monsoon and Nomad Musik as part of my portfolio, but each corresponds to a phase in my life and writing that […]
