I see it just before it charges, a gaunt, grey beast crouching by the roadside with ears pressed back and shoulders hunched in anticipation. I swerve to the far side of the lane and accelerate, snarling at the dog as it leaps to give chase. Melissa tenses on the seat behind me as we pass …
Samoa
Swimming with Eagles in Savai’i
My body floats on the surface, buoyant and still. Flippers stir the sea behind me, and I glide over the haphazard world below. It’s my first time snorkeling in Samoa. The coral here still shows the after-effects from the cyclone which roared through 2 weeks prior. Closer to shore, everything is dead or dying, the …
Savai’i Road Trip
I open the throttle and the engine roars — all 110cc of it. Melissa and I perch on the seat of the little Suzuki scooter — bags strapped to our backs and chests, respectively — as it works its way up to cruising speed. The sky is a flawless blue overhead, and brilliantly hued plants …
Forks in the Road
When I first started The Open Road Before Me, it was early 2011 and I’d just decided to quit my job of three years to take up teaching English in South Korea. I was burnt out and desperate for change, and addressed the problem by veering down a vastly different road from what I’d been …