My Hike Close to North Korea

April 2017: I set myself the goal to hike on my own as close as possible to North Korea without breaking any laws.

The demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas was certainly out of bounds. As was the area immediately to the south of the DMZ where civilian access is strictly controlled. The southern boundary of this area is called the Civilian Control Line, marked by military checkpoints and fences with signs warning of landmines.

Destination Medicine

The Plummer Library at the Mayo Clinic. This is not a museum: staff and students study here.

A couple days ago I took the light rail to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport. I walked past destination boards, trying to avert my eyes from the Tokyo/Haneda departure.

My destination, Rochester Minnesota, was not on those airport boards. No Bloody Mary in the lounge, no splendid isolation on a 12-hour flight, no stepping off a plane in a foreign land.

I boarded an airport shuttle to take me to Rochester, 80 miles to the south.

The sprawling IBM facility alerted me we had reached the outskirts of Rochester. Years earlier I had visited that site to meet with two of their scientists and some engineers from the Mayo Clinic. Much of the wealth of Rochester can be attributed to the Mayo and IBM.

Private jumbo jets fly directly to Rochester's airport from around the world carrying the ultra-wealthy to confront their mortality at the Mayo Clinic. People like me take public transport or drive themselves. This is called Destination Medicine.

Finding Traces of Henry David Thoreau's 1861 Visit to Minneapolis

Our Lady of Lourdes Church, built 1854-1857, with later additions.

In May 1861, Henry David Thoreau visited Minneapolis. He was terminally ill, and would die within a year.

I found myself wondering if there are any traces of places or institutions Thoreau would have seen or visited.

There is very little contemporaneous documentation about his visit to Minneapolis: no newspaper articles, no subsequent book. We do have Thoreau's handwritten field notes, and letters written by his 17-year-old companion Horace Mann, Jr.

How I Tunneled through the Great Firewall of China

For political and commercial reasons, China blocks Internet sites. Services I use daily, like Google, Blogger, Twitter, and the New York Times, simply do not exist on China's Internet, thanks to the Great Firewall of China.

Before my trip to Shanghai in April 2017 I made sure I would have access to all the Internet services I use at home. I took the following steps:

1. Took inventory of blocked sites I would want to access. The logic used by the Chinese authorities to decide which sites to block is not always intuitive. Google's Gmail is blocked, but the Microsoft Outlook email service is freely available.
2. Researched VPN (Virtual Private Network) solutions which would provide encrypted tunnels through the Firewall to the outside world. I learned not all VPN services work in China.
3. Developed workarounds if the Chinese authorities decided to defeat the VPN services I chose.

I succeeded in defeating the Firewall at no cost. I got to use the Internet while I was in China as though I was in the outside world.

An Empty Chair

She sits beside an empty chair outside the Japanese consulate in Busan, South Korea.  A sad, lonely figure.

Until the statue was installed last year, Korean women took turns to sit on a chair for a day beside an empty chair.

It's a dignified scene. There's fresh flowers, and three engraved panels. One panel lists thousands of the women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese before and during World War II as so-called comfort women. There's a mail box where people can leave messages.

70 Hours on Airline Seats

Aviation Safety Lounge, Seoul ICN.

A thirty-something neighbor once announced he would love to visit Europe, but he would have to wait until he could afford to travel that distance in Business. He appeared to be in good health, so I can only assume he wasn't particularly interested in the wider world.

I would willingly travel that distance holding on to a subway-style strap if that was the only option.

But it's not the only option. When I knew my bum would be on airline seats for about 70 hours during my recent trip around the Northern Hemisphere, I made plans to maximize my comfort for the minimum price.

How I Got to Five Korean National Parks by Mass Transit

In April 2017 I visited five of South Korea's twenty-two national parks. In this post I document how I got to each park by rail and bus.

I had not planned to spend much time in South Korea, but thanks to the authorities in Shanghai, China, I found myself with an extra week in South Korea. This was an opportunity to explore some national parks.

I spent a good part of some evenings figuring out how to navigate the next day. Some people like crossword puzzles or sudoko, I like figuring out how to get around like a local who does not own a car. On all my solo visits to Asia I have relied 100% on public transport, my feet, and the occasional unsolicited car ride; I have never taken a cab.

Walking the Dales Way

Last week, two friends and I explored parts of the Dales Way over three days. The long distance footpath starts in Ilkley, Yorkshire, progresses through the Yorkshire Dales National Park, then finishes in Bowness-on-Windermere in England's Lake District.

We chose start and end points served by rail: Ilkley at the start and Ribblehead at the finish. We stayed in inns and a bed and breakfast (a private home). What we had was on our backs.

A Fully Baked Truth

Today, in Montmartre, Paris, I stared at the Moulin Rouge, explored the elaborate cemetery, and walked past a boulangerie (bake shop) where a sign quoted a simple truth from Benjamin Franklin.