Sunday Afternoon in Okanda, Part Two: The temples.

Part two of our lazy Okanda adventure day finds us visiting a couple of very old temples (yes, more temples), situated on big granite domes in the middle of lagoons, forest, and the savanna country bordering the Kumana National Park. The first was a hindu temple, as mentioned in part one, called Ukanthamalai Murugan Kovil. […]

Relaxing into Sri Lanka

I woke up this morning feeling rested. Relaxed. Generally, I do not sleep well for the first few nights in a new place, and this house was no exception, but it took a little longer for me to settle in here. Tam and I have, more often than not, been finding places with air conditioning […]

Sad To Go, Ready To Go.

Tam and I have been in Kudawa, near the town of Kalpitiya, in the Northwest Province of Sri Lanka for two and a half months. We came here to kiteboard and to take my IKO instructor certification course. We have done all that, and now it comes time to leave this little place and start […]

The Hard Part Is…

I am aware that there is suffering in this world. In fact, the four noble truths of the teachings of Buddha are (in my simple-minded explanation): 1.) There is suffering. It’s all suffering. The totality of life is suffering. Being born, living, wanting, craving, and dying are all suffering. 2.) The origin of suffering is […]

One Year, Not A Nurse.

Tam reminded me the other day (June 12th) that it was my one year anniversary of leaving St. Charles. I have a lot of mixed feelings about this, but mostly relief. I do miss nursing work, it’s just the job I can’t stomach anymore. Metrics, unnecessary screenings, monitoring wait times, poor policy for managing dangerous […]

Those Smiles, Though…

There are many reasons we decided to stay where we are, at Surfpoint Sri Lanka, in spite of the fact that it is a tiny bit more expensive than other places. It is right on the ocean (which here is one of the only places: the rest are on lagoons), close to kiting, the food […]

Its Not All Facebook And Rainbows… It’s real life.

Tam and I have had several conversations recently with other travelers. Mostly, these are Europeans, and one American: but in all cases long-term travelers spending three months to a year abroad. The one similar thing that we have all experienced are the misconceptions many of our friends and family back at home have about our […]

It’s Thailand, Not Adventure

We woke up to a rare rainy day this morning in Hua Hin, Thailand. This is the third day we have had rain since we left home in January, and it is welcome. It has been regularly in the nineties and low hundreds every day for the last two months, so a cool rainy day […]

The Difficulty Of Presence.

This post was originally published on 11 April, 2023, and moved here, to my new blog. The hardest thing I fail to accomplish every day is not kindness, love, or compassion (though at times, those can be an ongoing practice as well), but the practice of presence. I struggle with being truly present. I catch myself on my […]

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things… On Kiteboarding.

This post was originally posted on 07 April, 2023, and moved here, to my new blog. Kiteboarding! It is the long, smooth, cruisey downwinder, effortlessly looping the kite and carving alternating edges along the swell caused by the very same wind that powers your progress. It is dropping into a wave on the perfect sideshore […]