GoMad Nomad Travel

The shops are all closed up. There’s hardly any foot traffic or cars on the streets. Red lanterns hung around the city add to the atmosphere. But the most noticeable way to tell it’s the Eve of Chinese New Year is by the excessive and near constant explosions of firecrackers. Children light them off. So [...]

My former classmate Alexey and his friend By Nelya Rakhimova There are places on the Earth where winter lasts almost 9 months. Yar-Sale is one of them. Located above the Arctic Circle, it is a small town with population about 5,000 people. It’s the administrative center of Yamal Region, which occupies the whole Yamal Peninsula. [...]

A few years back I had a week’s layover in the UK and bee lined it directly to Wales. It was the only country of the United Kingdom that I hadn’t already visited. After a couple days in Swansea I boarded the famous Heart of Wales Rail Line. After about three hours I had arrived [...]

Photo by leo.prie.to The other day, a good friend had posted her status on Facebook as: Looking to do a Costa Rican yoga retreat… Any recommendations? What a brilliant idea. But wait. What if I’m not Facebook Savvy? Why not Ask GoMad NoMad? If you “don’t do” Facebook or Twitter, that’s why I’m here. You [...]

The day we named the school   One day last June, I went for a jog with my new friend Shannon.  She had moved to Cajamarca as part of a Fulbright grant to teach English at the university.  While she loved her life in Peru, she missed working with school-aged children and was looking for [...]

To many people, Macau means one thing: casinos. This little special administrative region of China that was both the first and last European colony in Asia, makes more money from gambling than Las Vegas. It’s a hot destination for rich mainland Chinese. To me it was about visiting an anomaly: a territory with a curious [...]

The sun sets on 2011 in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia   10)  Ask GoMad Nomad: When to Visit Jeju Island, South Korea   9)  The Women Divers of Jeju   8 )  Photo of the Week: Cinque Terre   7)  My life in Baños del Inca, Cajamarca, Peru   6)  5 Spectacular Castles to Visit in Ireland [...]

How to Land a Spot in the Best American Travel Writing Anthology I’m sure Rolf Potts was at best surprised when he opened up the advanced reader’s copy of this year’s The Best American Travel Writing (2011), scanned the Contents page for his name and discovered no mention of himself whatsoever. Also, Seth Stevenson. Ditto, [...]

Chi Lin Nunnery is an elegant wooden temple built without nails in the Tang style. Adjacent to the temple is the tranquil Nam Lian Gardens, a reconstruction of a Tang-era garden. Stroll on a curving walkway past pavilions, ponds, hills, and sculpted pines. It is a fine example displaying the rich culture of the classical [...]

One of the iconic images of all of Asia, the Hong Kong skyline is certainly one of the city’s highlights. There are a few ways to go about getting the best view. I’ll give you my top four picks: 4) From the ICC Tower in West Kowloon. This is the tallest building in Hong Kong [...]

I first met Matt Tansey in North Carolina in 2009. Since then he’s been touring off and on with other musicians throughout Europe. I’m fascinated with the stories of individuals that travel with some kind of purpose, and what’s cooler than seeing Europe as part of a band? GoMad Nomad: How long have you been [...]

Walking in Your Footsteps On the forest floor, little light gets through, even in the middle of the afternoon. There isn’t much underbrush.  The air temperature is cool and a little bit damp. What I notice most is the quietness. Prehistoric quietness. I am walking through a redwood grove. It is the biggest contiguous old [...]

The beer sampler at Harpoon Brewery in Windsor, VT By Stephen Bugno When I think of Vermont, I think about the Green Mountains, skiing, and dairy cows. I also think about beer. Vermont is tops when it comes to New England Brewing. In a region saturated with great beer, Vermont shines. Much of my recent [...]

  Quebec City has long been a destination I‘ve wanted to visit. Old Quebec, or Vieux-Québec, has a well-known reputation of rich history being the only city north of Mexico that has retained its fortified city walls. I would further say that along with Guanajuato, Mexico, Quebec City is the most European of cities in [...]

I didn’t quite grasp the magnitude of the temples of Angkor until I witnessed them for myself. Guidebooks cannot prepare you enough for the massive scale of which this site encompasses. Before I visited I imagined I would only glance at the most well-known, Angkor Wat, and then be on my way. But Angkor Wat [...]