Perspectives of a Wandering Geographer

Story and photos by Will Mahoney   I awoke around 6:20AM as it was getting light.   The lush agricultural land and scattered woodlands passing my window reminded me that I was now far from Colorado.   I checked Google Maps on my phone and saw that the little blue dot marking our progress was now nearing Gretna in eastern Nebraska.   Downtown Omaha in the early morning light viewed from the Amtrak station.   At 7:00, we made a brief stop in Omaha.   Instead of immediately heading east across the Missouri River and into Iowa, the train headed south 20 miles to Plattsmouth, Nebraska where it finally crossed the Missouri.   South of Omaha, the Zephyr crossed the Platte River just above its confluence with the Missouri.    The logical route for Amtrak across Iowa from Omaha would cross the center of the state, serving Des Moines (the state capital, population 215,000), Iowa City (76,000, home of the University of Iowa), and the Quad Cities (Incl...

Story and photos by Will Mahoney   Those of you who know me well have learned that I have an unusual, nerdy hobby:  stamp collecting.  I was infected by this affliction at age 6 just after starting first grade in Southern Pines, North Carolina in 1952.  I now specialize in stamps of the colonies, territories, and protectorates of the British Empire and my collection is housed in more than 100 three-ring binders.  I won’t bore you with further details but would be glad to regale interested parties with countless stories about, and scans of, my collection. A silly hobby, yes, (aren’t most hobbies?) but it has had a major influence on my life.  It got me interested in the world at an early age which eventually led to an M.A. in geography which, along with my undergrad degree in geology, was an excellent background for my career in environmental science.  When I realized earlier this year that the 4-day Great American Stamp Show (probably the largest annua...

from Tom, Broomfield, Colorado I spent eight years teaching in China and got to see much of the country, traveling to lesser-known spots, such as you favor doing. One thing I enjoyed tremendously about your ride to El Salvador, was your inclusion of highway numbers on your route. While reading, I followed along on Google Maps and had a sense of being on the trip with you. I easily found Highway 12 and could visualize your description of the major bottleneck. Many of my trips in China used multi-modal transportation methods and frequently incorporated hitchhiking. As I read about each of your delays, I tried to think of what I might have done differently, had I anticipated the delay (which I admit, you couldn’t). A few years after the 2008 Sichuan, China earthquake, I was in Sichuan Province, traveling one way from Jiuzhaigou (valley of nine villages), one of China’s most beautiful national parks to Chengdu, the provincial capital. At that time, there were only two buses per week, a...

I didn’t take very many photos in Antigua as I already have dozens in my files from the two weeks I spent there in 2014.   This time, during my last few days in Antigua, I shot some pix which focused less on the standard tourist attractions and more on my impressions of life in the city.   Some of the better ones (with annotations) are below. I’ll have one more post in a couple days – it’s a “guest post” from a reader discussing his experiences on a trip to China which I hope you will find interesting. After that, I’ve been encouraged by all the positive feedback I’ve received from readers.   Therefore, The Wandering Geographer would like to do some more international travel to provide fodder for my “pen” and camera.   I don’t have any specific plans yet but I might like to focus on environmental themes.   This blog (and other three that you can access by clicking on VISIT PROFILE on the left side of the page under my photo and name) is not a profit-making...

My final days at the School of Hope meant my final days lodging with Violeta and Fernando.   They were great people and made me feel very comfortable and welcome.   However, on Monday the situation with Michael (the weird guy staying at their place across from my room) finally got nasty. Michael and I had seemed to have reached a sort of truce.   We said “hello” when we saw each other but mostly stayed out of each other’s space.   When I arrived back from the school on Monday afternoon, the 18 th , Michael was sitting in the common area outside our rooms engaged in another of his long phone conversations.   I had wanted to write in the common area because of the comfortable chair but figured I could try to write in my room.   There was only a stool without a back and a small desk in my room, so I had to sit on the bed which had a very uncomfortable headboard.   I persevered for close to an hour listening to a waterfall on my white noise program.  ...