This is a story about finding love just when you’d sworn off looking for it.
In early September, Audrey and I co-presented at a conference in Monterey, California. Monterey just also happens to be the place where we’d first met almost exactly 15 years before, where our joint approach to life on the road got its start.
The driveway where it all began, 15 years later.
In the driveway, the exact spot where our lives together began, we got to thinking how best to answer another oft-asked question: “So how did you guys meet?”
This is the story, roughly and in brief, like we might tell it at a bar. His and hers, back and forth, crumpled unlined notepad paper, speckled with red wine. History, revision, and an occasional differing point of view. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: North America, United States by: Daniel Noll
40 Comments | 25 October 2012
This is a story about crisscrossing North America, speaking to audiences in Vancouver, Miami and Denver, recharging in a defunct hippie commune outside of Seattle, preparing to speak to 1,000 people in Portland, and apologizing for withholding a few pages of our story from you over the last couple of weeks.
Our recent view of Mt. Rainier on a rare, clear day in Seattle.
Continue Reading »
Filed Under: United States by: Daniel Noll
14 Comments | 27 June 2012
One part transportation hub, another part monument to the human experiment, Grand Central Terminal is said to be number six on the world’s most visited places list with 21,600,000 visitors each year.
Hitler sent spies to sabotage it, Croatian nationalists attempted to bomb it and visions of the future once conspired to demolish it. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Panorama, United States by: Daniel Noll
14 Comments | 27 January 2012
Last weekend, I arrived in Asheville, North Carolina to visit family. And boy, was I tired.
The last two months have been chock full: traveling from Central Europe to Crete to Istanbul to Iran, back to Istanbul, Germany and finally to a series of family visits up and down the east coast of the United States.
But I’ve been feeling a little spent. It’s not only the movement, but also my head, to the brim with fresh experiences and quite frankly deprived of the time and space to properly process them all. Amidst the fatigue, I began to wonder if perhaps I had reached some limit in what I could do, what I could take on.
Then I began to listen to my 95-year-old grandfather and his pals telling stories at their retirement home. They offered me a lift and a few lessons about life and determination. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Personal Growth, United States by: Audrey Scott
14 Comments | 16 December 2011
It’s a long road home.
Over the course of five days last weekend, we made our way from Iran to Turkey to Germany to the United States by two trains, a boat, two planes and a car — arriving home in time to spend Thanksgiving with family.
And for this, we are thankful. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Panorama, United States by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
11 Comments | 24 November 2011
Ah, kids these days. The list runs long of their digital addictions: texting, gadgets, Facebook, internet, and video games. But during our visit to the U.S., we bore witness to a few fleeting moments that reaffirmed that kids are still kids. That is to say, kids as we knew them: little girls leveraging the lemonade-stand model to raise money for an afternoon trip to the toy store, middle schoolers oohing and aahing over stories about eating bugs and engaging with giant rodents, and high schoolers jumping off absurdly high cliffs to demonstrate their mettle.
With cultural evolution at high speed, it’s comforting to know that while many things have changed, a few remain the same.
Note: If you are looking for eye candy, check out the time lapse audio slideshow of the kids jumping off the ledge at the waterfall here. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Perspectives, United States by: Audrey Scott
14 Comments | 8 June 2010
Only two days ago, we were learning about biodynamic Chilean wines and ziplining through vineyards in the hills outside Santiago, Chile.
Just yesterday, en route from Santiago to New York City, we took advantage of a long layover to peek into and poke around the colonial streets of Bogota, Columbia.
Today we arrived in New York. (We are writing this on a bus from New York City to Washington, DC.)
As we catch our collective breath from a rapid change in context (it took almost 15 months to go the opposite direction), we thought it might make sense to bring you up to speed as to what’s going on. After all, some of you might be wondering: “Is this the end?” Continue Reading »
Filed Under: United States by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
26 Comments | 14 May 2010
In our previous piece, we shared – hopefully with a bit of levity – a few features of life in America that we’ll miss.
Now comes the part where we offer some critical observations from our recent visit home, the longest in seven years. Continue Reading »
- Saying Goodbye to America, Again: What We’ll Miss
- Saying Goodbye to America, Again: What We Won’t Miss
Filed Under: Perspectives, United States by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
22 Comments | 16 March 2009
Our recent visit to the U.S. was our longest in over seven years. Becoming reacquainted with our home country was in its own right a learning experience. Having just departed a few days ago for the Latin America leg of our journey, we take inventory of a few things that we’ll miss – and a few that we won’t.
Continue Reading »
- Saying Goodbye to America, Again: What We’ll Miss
- Saying Goodbye to America, Again: What We Won’t Miss
Filed Under: Perspectives, United States by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
15 Comments | 13 March 2009
Can somebody please come up with a better name for the ongoing financial crisis? Vote in the poll below with your choice.
Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Polls, United States by: Daniel Noll
6 Comments | 13 February 2009
