Blog
Dispatches from the road
Short, frequent posts pulled from what I'm actually filming and posting, day to day.
Sep 24, 2026
Wadi Darbat, Oman Travel Guide: Finding the Gravity Point
A first-hand guide to Wadi Darbat in Oman, home to waterfalls, sinkholes, and the strange gravity point where cars seem to roll uphill.
Sep 22, 2026
Eskişehir Archaeology Museum Guide: What to See in Turkey
A first-timer's Eskişehir Archaeology Museum guide — ancient sarcophagi, Roman statues, and the quiet streets of Turkey's most underrated museum city.
Sep 17, 2026
Ithra Dammam Guide: Inside Saudi Arabia's King Abdulaziz Center
A first-timer's Ithra Dammam guide — touring Saudi Arabia's King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture with a local friend as my guide.
Sep 16, 2026
Salalah Local Market Guide: Oman's Real Food Scene
A real Salalah local market guide — fish stalls, spice sellers, and the unfiltered side of Oman's Dhofar coast that most tourists never see.
Sep 15, 2026
Hitchhiking Oman to Saudi Arabia: 2000km Desert Border Guide
I tried hitchhiking from Oman to Saudi Arabia across 2000km of desert with zero dollars, and ended up stranded at a border where walking isn't even allowed.
Sep 14, 2026
The Pearl Qatar and Katara: Doha's Venice-Style Guide
I explored The Pearl Qatar and Katara Cultural Village in Doha — the canals and architecture behind Doha's 'Venice of the Gulf' comparison.
Sep 13, 2026
What to Do in Doha, Qatar in One Day: A Full Guide
Everything I did on my last day in Doha, Qatar in one day — the National Museum, Mina District, a boat tour, and Souq Waqif.
Sep 12, 2026
Kuwait Towers Visit: A Kuwait City Day Guide
A Kuwait Towers Kuwait City visit guide from the day a quick sightseeing stop turned into old streets, a festival, and a total reset of my expectations.
Sep 11, 2026
Kuala Lumpur Ramadan Bazaar Guide: Street Football With Locals
A Kuala Lumpur Ramadan bazaar guide from the night a food run turned into street football with strangers in Malaysia.
Sep 10, 2026
Kuching Floating Mosque: How to Visit Sarawak's River Icon
A stranger's invitation led me from a quiet cemetery to Kuching's floating mosque — here's how to visit it on your own Sarawak trip.
Sep 9, 2026
Kuching Mazu Festival First Night: A Traveler's Guide
I wandered into Kuching's Mazu Festival first night completely by accident and ended up in a volunteer shirt. A firsthand Kuching Mazu Festival first night guide for travelers.
Sep 8, 2026
How to Join Kuching's Mazu Festival Dragon Parade
I ended up carrying part of a 288-meter dragon in Kuching's Mazu Festival dragon parade — here's how it happened and how you could see it too.
Sep 7, 2026
How to Eat Balut in the Philippines: A First-Timer's Guide
A first-timer's guide to how to eat balut in the Philippines, from a Manila host's kitchen table to the funny, awkward reality of the first bite.
Sep 6, 2026
Visiting the Pink Mosque in Kuala Lumpur: A Traveler's Guide
A practical guide to visiting the Pink Mosque in Kuala Lumpur — plus the unplanned bracelet-and-fire-station detour that turned our visit into one of Malaysia's best travel stories.
Sep 5, 2026
Crossing King Fahd Causeway: Bahrain Visa on Arrival Guide
Driving Saudi Arabia to Bahrain via the King Fahd Causeway, and what the Bahrain visa on arrival process is actually like for tourists crossing by car.
Sep 4, 2026
Inside Kuching's Shop for the Afterlife: A Visitor's Guide
Inside a Kuching afterlife shop where families buy paper beer, houses and money to burn for the dead.
Sep 3, 2026
Kuching Buddhist Temple Memorial Stones: A Visitor's Guide
Inside a Kuching Buddhist temple where families buy memorial stones to reserve resting places for loved ones, a rare look at Malaysia's Buddhist funerary traditions.
Sep 2, 2026
Hitchhiking From Qatar to Kuwait: A Desert Border Guide
A firsthand account of hitchhiking Qatar to Kuwait, where walking the desert border is banned and every mile depends on a stranger deciding to stop.
Sep 1, 2026
Mazu Festival in Kuching: A Dragon-Burning Ritual Guide
Inside the Mazu Festival in Kuching, Malaysia, where a giant dragon we helped carry by day is burned in a blaze of fireworks after dark.
Aug 31, 2026
Qing Ming Festival in Kuching, Malaysia: A Cemetery Ritual Guide
Inside Kuching, Malaysia's Qing Ming Festival, where families burn paper money, light bonfires, and set off explosions in the cemetery to honor their ancestors.
Aug 30, 2026
Tokyo Capsule Hotels and Manga Cafes: A First-Timer's Guide
Landing in Tokyo alone for the first time meant capsule hotels, manga cafes, and hauling oversized luggage through Japan's train stations.
Aug 29, 2026
Hitchhiking Kuching to Sibu in Monsoon Season: A Borneo Guide
Hitchhiking Kuching to Sibu during Borneo's monsoon season meant tropical storms and hours ignored on the roadside, until two strangers changed the day.
Aug 28, 2026
Hitchhiking to Sibu, Sarawak: A Borneo Jungle Guide
A real guide to hitchhiking to Sibu, Sarawak: hours on empty jungle roads, real dehydration, and what it actually takes to reach this Borneo river town by thumb.
Aug 27, 2026
How to Visit an Iban Longhouse in Sarawak, Borneo
What it actually takes to visit an Iban longhouse in Sarawak, Borneo — a stranger's invitation, a chief's stories, and a night that ended under a highway overpass.
Aug 26, 2026
Hitchhiking Sibu to Bintulu: A Sarawak, Malaysia Guide
Hitchhiking from Sibu to Bintulu in Sarawak, Malaysia meant a pickup truck ride, a bridge crossing, and McDonald's workers who'd never seen a tourist before.
Aug 25, 2026
Hitchhiking Sarawak, Malaysia: A Bintulu to Miri Guide
Hitchhiking from Bintulu to Miri in Sarawak, Malaysia, brought a stranger's detour, kids waving roadside, and oil field workers who turned a ride into a place to sleep.
Aug 24, 2026
Visiting Brunei During Ramadan: What to Expect
Crossing into Brunei during Ramadan means quieter streets, a McDonald's with its own prayer room, and days that end with a cannon marking iftar.
Aug 23, 2026
How to Cross the Malaysia-Brunei Border by Land
Hitchhiking out of Miri to the edge of Brunei, this is what a Malaysia-Brunei border crossing by land actually looks like — duty-free rules, a fresh shave, and one long-awaited gate.
Aug 22, 2026
Brunei's Strict Rules for Tourists: What to Know
A day in Brunei brought a river sunset, a McDonald's surprise, and a crash course in Brunei's strict rules for tourists — including one sign that stopped me cold.
Aug 21, 2026
Brunei's Only Buddhist Temple: How to Visit
On a last day in Brunei, a walk leads to the country's only Buddhist temple, honest talk with Bangladeshi workers, and one final hitchhike goodbye.
Aug 18, 2026
Hitchhiking Sarawak to Sabah: Why You Still Need a Passport
Hitchhiking from Sarawak to Sabah still means a passport stamp, even though both are part of Malaysia — one surprise from a ferry ride during Ramadan toward Kota Kinabalu.
Aug 17, 2026
Kota Kinabalu Budget Travel Guide: A Night on a Golf Course
An accidental Kota Kinabalu budget travel guide — camping on a luxury golf course, a passport check from the police at dawn, and a shower in McDonald's before the day began.
Aug 16, 2026
A Slow Walk Through Kaleiçi, Antalya's Old Town
Behind Antalya's postcard views of Hadrian's Gate and the marina, Kaleiçi's stone alleys are still home to families, workshops, tea gardens, and cats sleeping in doorways.
Aug 15, 2026
Gaya Island's Floating Village, and the Feeling of Being Followed
A speedboat from Kota Kinabalu to Gaya Island's floating village started out as an ordinary day trip. Partway through, it started to feel like someone was following them.
Aug 14, 2026
A Night in a Kota Kinabalu Pavilion, Talking With a Stranger
On their second night in Kota Kinabalu, they slept in a public pavilion — and a quiet morning conversation with a local man staying there turned into something more than a travel story.
Aug 13, 2026
Manila's Cemetery Where People Live and Work Among the Graves
During Qingming Festival, a Manila cemetery reveals multi-level graves — some with air conditioning — and the people who spend much of their lives working there.
Aug 10, 2026
Inside Manila's Temple for Remembering the Dead
A Qingming-season visit to a Manila temple where every photo frame represents a real person, kept alive with food, drink, and burning incense.
Aug 9, 2026
A Day in Baguio with a Local Friend Named Jupiter
A day in Baguio's city center with local friend Jupiter — mountain-cool weather that skips air conditioning, chicken adobo, and a walk through the night market.
Aug 8, 2026
A Baguio Day: Dawn Exercise, a Temple, Then a Sea of Clouds
A full day in Baguio — dawn tai chi and zumba, a Taoist temple with a city view, strawberry farms, then a campfire at Goatcliff as clouds rolled through camp at sunset.
Aug 7, 2026
Learning Real Vietnamese Spring Rolls, Not the Tourist Version
A hands-on spring roll lesson from a Vietnamese woman — rolling technique, a secret dipping sauce, and the real street-food version instead of the tourist one.
Aug 6, 2026
Inside Singapore's Marina Bay Apple Store: iPhone Price Check
A March 2025 stop at the Marina Bay Apple Store in Singapore, checking iPhone prices one by one against what they cost back home in Turkey.
Aug 5, 2026
San Pedro Cutud: Witnessing a Real Crucifixion Reenactment
In San Fernando, Pampanga, Good Friday means flagellants, cross-bearers, and penitents voluntarily nailed to wooden crosses — a Holy Week tradition unlike anywhere else on Earth.
Aug 4, 2026
Waking Up Above the Clouds at Goatcliff, Then Rappelling
A simple breakfast above the clouds at a Goatcliff campsite in Atok, Benguet, followed by a first, nerve-wracking try at rappelling for about $15.
Aug 3, 2026
Baguio's Igorot Stone Kingdom: A Hand-Built Castle
Deep in Baguio, past pine forest and a botanical garden, sits a castle the Igorot people built by hand — with a real gold mine tunnel underneath.
Aug 2, 2026
The Magdarame of Angeles City: Blood, Faith, and Choice
Every Holy Week in Angeles City, the Magdarame whip their own backs through the streets — not for show, but by choice, as a vow, a thanks, or a plea.
Aug 1, 2026
Buscalan: Inside the Philippines' 100-Year-Old Tattoo Village
A two-day trip into Kalinga's mountains for the hand-tapped tattoo tradition made famous by Whang-Od — plus waterfalls, rice terraces, and village life along the way.