OMG it's today. Here's what I'm doing, thinking and feeling.

I’ve been thinking about how to write this for a while. Solitary souls are often described in the negative: The social situations and...

Yosemite's reputation for crowds and traffic  kept me away for the first six years I lived in the Bay Area. I saw my chance during the COVID pandemic, when a small number of entrance passes were rationed through a lottery. That 2020 trip was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the park with very few humans in it. I've returned every year, honing my strategy for a pretty good, low-hassle Yosemite visit at any time. Be an early bird If you're not willing to rise long

I cried in my Beijing hotel room  on one of the early days of the trip.  An accumulation of stressors contributed to the breakdown:...

PART 1: EMERGENCY The only real downside of living alone , I’ve always figured, is the risk of being stricken by a medical emergency in...