A definitive daddy-daughter getaway in Jamaica By Bruce Northam Nearly universally, when experienced parents find out that you have a 13-year-old kid, they solemnly nod while forecasting your next five years of rough seas—and, double if you’re talking daughters. Uh oh. One week prior to our landing in Jamaica, my daughter Bella (13) replied to […]
The temporary insanity of Delhi, India—and the break you’ll need from it By Bruce Northam Imagine New York City’s omnipresent squirrels weighing nearly a ton, all roaming or reclining in the center lanes of every street while overdosing on Xanax, thus remaining unfazed by anything happening around them. Then add more than a billion horn-hooked […]
First Descents rises up to outdo the perils of cancer, one paddle at a time. By Bruce Northam “Healing the way, you need to, scientifically or emotionally.” — Brad Ludden This is a tale about putting outdoor medicine to work. Every employee at the outdoor adventure company First Descents is nicknamed (Fruit Boots, Buckets, the […]
Europe’s Last Undiscovered Corner is a country on the move, and once again coming out of its shell By Bruce Northam Although music rarely makes me cry, it does happen, including at live shows by Bonnie Raitt, Bad Company, and Sari Schorr. And then I stepped inside Geghard Monastery’s cryptic upper chamber in Armenia—famed for […]
Move over Alaska—Montana is Biting Back By Bruce Northam Kids don’t lie about what is and what is not entertaining. Although my daughter Bella can ski black diamonds, dogsledding in Alberta last winter provided her most vocal adrenaline rush. I filed this under “bullet-proof fun.” Well, there’s a new star on the U.S. dogsledding scene, Montana’s […]
Although surrounded by Arab countries, this cradle of Christianity remains Europe’s last undiscovered corner. Not only do most people have no idea where Armenia is or what it stands for but they’ve also yet to discover this tiny country’s massive will to prosper—at home and around the world. By Bruce Northam For a country I’d […]
The International BlueSeas Festival—and then some. By Bruce Northam “You have to know how to read the wind,” says my native Curaçaoan guide, Eugene, while pointing to a flock of swiftly fleeting clouds. I’ve only been here an hour, but that wind sends us right into an omen of what lies ahead: laidback locals, great […]
Cuba: Travel by Boat It’s tough enough for one lost man to ask for directions—tougher when four guys sail a boat to Cuba into the unknown. In The Directions to Happiness, Bruce Thoreau Northam shares the infinite goodwill of strangers through engaging tales from his travels to 135 countries. He has spent decades navigating the […]
Costa Rica’s Oasis: Two Healthy Cults—Yogis, Surfers—Mingling by the Sea By Bruce Northam Nature is still running the show on Costa Rica’s Guanacaste Peninsula, a rugged nature sanctuary gracing the Pacific coast. At its heart is Nosara, a marine development, surrounded by verdant hills, nicknamed “The American Project” in the late 1960s. It’s still a […]
By Bruce Northam Visiting Slovenia—their 90’s Western Balkans war behind them—revealed a dynamic region less dangerous than a double-edged daffodil … a welcome wind of change. The Western Balkan’s state personalities were defined long before they were bound together by Tito’s version of Yugoslavia for 50 years. Since 1991, they’ve redefined themselves once again. The […]
An Antarctic Safari – Page Three By Bruce Northam So walk, bike, carpool, recycle, don’t spray aerosol, and visit Antarctica when you can, because it all starts with you. It takes a while to adopt an Antarctic way of thinking. It’s not about wildlife noticing or attacking you, it’s about how your presence, and environmental […]
The black pebble beach An Antarctic Safari – Page Two By Bruce Northam On another solo excursion, hiking for hours along a 100-foot wide, black pebble beach sandwiched between a soupy bay of iceberg bits and a half mile-high glacier, another penguin theme materialized. Antarctic shores are littered with whalebones, the disturbing legacy of a […]
