In sync with sand
Sahara sunset | Photo by Lauren Girardin Sometimes your love for a place comes on as hard and fast as food-poisoning. Other times, a place is forgettably bland, bringing on neither bitter aversion or the sweet desire to return. Then…
Riding the camel train
Humping through the Sahara, Morocco | Art by Todd Berman Riding a camel through the parched Sahara dunes is like riding a mechanical bull that has a banana seat, though a bull that moves in slow motion. Your one-humped ride…
Cold fusion in the hot Sahara desert
This way to the Sahara| Photo by Lauren Girardin It’s 7 a.m in Marrakesh and Todd and I have just been sold from one tour agency to another, like so many camels.
You’ll never die of scurvy in Marrakesh
Djemaa el Fna at night | Photo by Lauren Girardin In between awkward, head-jerky naps on the monarchy-run CTM bus from Essaouira to Marrakesh, Todd tells me what has him the most excited for Marrakesh.
Rejuvenating in a riad
Todd and tajine in the Riad Sidi Magdoul, Essaouira | Photo by Lauren Girardin It’s 95 degrees Fahrenheit and stunningly sunny as I wind through every little alley and souk in Essaouira’s medina. I’m getting desperate to find a new…
Dining (mis)adventures in Morocco
Escargot aux espice in Casablanca | Photo by Lauren Girardin I like snails. I like them steaming hot on a cart in Casablanca. Stick a toothpick in their cute little head and yank them out of their shell. The meat…
Here’s to the extended tribe and baked ziti on Long Island
Our trip becomes a geography lesson | Photo by Lauren Girardin On the day of our departure from the U.S., for the international leg of our round-the-world trip, I spent part of the day watching my friend Sheri sort through…
In Brooklyn, Big Dawg is king
Waiting for Food in Red Hook | Drawing by Todd Berman As a gravelly, authoritative disembodied voice boomed out over the loudspeakers, the hundreds of Brooklynites swimming at Red Hook public pool fell silent. “Big Dawg sez yous got two…
Brooklyn, New York travel tips
Where we ate and drank: Louis’ Ices – If someone asks “Can we stop for Italian ices?” the answer is always, “yes”: YEH
Chicago has no edge
Painting interrupted | Photo by Lauren Girardin Fanny packs. Shorts riding up in the crotch. Socks with sandals, or worse, black socks with sandals. Cameras hang from necks. McDonald’s sausage muffin breakfast with a diet Coke. Disposable rain ponchos. Maps…
