It’s over a year since I last set foot in an airport. Now, thanks to the miracle of Covid vaccines, I can allow my mind to drift towards thoughts of international travel. I was hoping I’d had a mild version of Covid when I posted an earlier version of this infographic in May 2020; a… Continue reading Visualizing International Travel
Category: Adjust
12 Months of Microposts: 2020
Most days I post something about my day in a microblog. Without over-thinking, I’ve selected one post from each month of 2020. January Looking back from today, January 2020 seems like an alternate reality where we could sit in theater audiences, eat in restaurants, and ride public transport. The Minneapolis Guthrie Theater’s artistic director, Joseph… Continue reading 12 Months of Microposts: 2020
Balancing Coronavirus Risks
Every morning we read the New York Times, the Washington Post, and our local paper, the Star Tribune. We took out subscriptions to all three newspapers within days of the 2016 presidential election because we need to support good journalism to hold the US Administration accountable. Today, the news is uniquely disturbing. Most of us… Continue reading Balancing Coronavirus Risks
The Consequences of Being Too Paperless
A few years ago we decided we would eliminate as much paper as possible. Eliminating paper has been a satisfying but imperfect journey. Our records are available to us when we travel, we no longer have a filing cabinet. 100% of our tax records, including receipts, are electronic and meet Internal Revenue Service standards. However, along the… Continue reading The Consequences of Being Too Paperless
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.… Continue reading Destination Medicine
The Time I Was Denied Entry to China and How I Got In
I’m in Shanghai’s Pudong Airport about to board a Korean Airlines flight to Seoul. It’s not my choice to go to South Korea today. I would rather go to Japan. I actually have a ticket to Japan (Fukuoka), leaving at about the same time as my Seoul flight. But if I try to board the… Continue reading The Time I Was Denied Entry to China and How I Got In
An Indoor 9-Mile Urban Hike
A fierce rainstorm had hit California. People had died, a reservoir was bursting at the seams, evacuations had been ordered in several counties. The storm weakened as it crossed the Rockies on its way to Minneapolis and points east. On Monday, Presidents’ Day, the storm finally hit Minneapolis, dropping 0.6 inches of rain. This… Continue reading An Indoor 9-Mile Urban Hike
A Place Where Two Seas Collide
Getting to Rishiri Island via Wakkanai (northern Hokkaido) from Minneapolis is straightforward, with a few perturbations. A place where the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk collide is bound to have perturbations. An agent at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport warned me the flight to Wakkanai might have to turn back. I was sure… Continue reading A Place Where Two Seas Collide
Small Experiences on a Big Journey
We stood behind a crowd at Edinburgh Castle waiting for the one-o’clock cannon to fire. Many eyes were fixed on cell phones to catch the moment to share on Facebook. Bodies in Edinburgh, minds in other places. Meanwhile, my nephews were determined to climb up rocks where climbing was not allowed. Last month’s trip… Continue reading Small Experiences on a Big Journey
Travel Gear: Wot, No Passport?
On a recent flight from Tokyo to San Francisco, I found a Canadian passport. The owner of the passport would have been in for a surprise when he reached for his passport at US Border Control. Maybe he had a NEXUS card, or maybe United Airlines would have to fly him back to Tokyo where he… Continue reading Travel Gear: Wot, No Passport?