From the blowing sands of the Mongolian Gobi in Asia to the Portuguese surf on the fringe of the European continent, follow our modern day nomad Stephen Bugno as he travels, works, and volunteers in far off places.
"I tried to buy a ticket too, but they've run out of seats," says the only other Gringo on the bus. There has to be 200 of us packed into this former American school bus. And without a ticket, this means we'll be standing for the two-hour haul over the mountains to Matagalpa. This...
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It’s been one week since we were robbed at knife-point in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. Since then I’ve had a multitude of emotions and feelings: anger, frustration, forgiveness, vengefulness, regret. As a traveler or tourist you expect to get your pocket picked on a crowded bus, you expect to get your purse jacked...
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Blog of a Modern Nomad
The border crossing at Peñas Blancas is the typical chaos: money changes with huge wads of cordobas, dollars, and colones, a mother and son beggar team, long lines of tired Nicaraguan laborers, and a nun asking for offerings. Before and after the 200-meter Noman’s Land one tractor trailer after another...
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I am often in search of places that are “thoroughly and uncompromisingly foreign” but with our shrinking and globalized world, these places are increasingly uncommon.
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The next day I was on a bus five hours north to Bilbao, the largest city of Spain’s Basque Country—a region and people defined by their ancient language, Euskara. A city so proud, they’ve never fielded a non-Basque on their football club. They even refuse to keep corporate sponsorship on their jersey because they...
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Blog of a Modern Nomad
Welcome to Jordan
The Jordanians, like most Arabs, are known for their hospitality. On the street people call out, “You are welcome to Jordan.” You’ll hear the same from those in the tourist industry, although it’s much less sincere. From them it’s more like, “You are welcome to spend your money in...
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Blog of a Modern Nomad
The next day I rode the slow, winding topo train to the French border town, Hendaye, where I caught a short ride out to the on-ramp of the divided highway. After about 25 minutes standing with my thumb up, I was picked up by a guy heading nearly all the...
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On the morning of the 21st, I left the Atlantic for the interior of Alentejo. Leaving Sines and changing buses in Setubal, I arrived in Evora at about 2pm, and had a bit of a problem finding affordable accommodation. My main reason for visiting Evora was to see the Chapel of Bones, a...
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Hundreds of kilometers through the flattest, most desolate landscape I’ve seen, we rode south from Mersa Matrouh, the last city on the Mediterranean coast. This was the final stage of a nine-hour bus ride from Alexandria to the Siwa Oasis. The remote oasis is a depression that stretches 82 x 28 km and...
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I got a budget flight on the German carrier TUIFly from Cairo to Berlin for $60 US total. I was very impressed with the quality and service and would fly with them again.
The first thing I noticed after arriving in Berlin were the electric signs at the airport bus-stop which told we...
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