I Was a U.S. Diplomat and I’m Done Defending America In my travels across 86 countries in the last 30 years, I have often sparred with foreign nationals who dislike or even despise my country. I joined the Foreign Service a few months after 9/11 and...
[caption id="attachment_18582" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Eric Orwoll (left) and Peter Csere[/caption] Ravenden, Arkansas About an hour into my visit to Return to the Land, America’s only whites-only, no gays, no Jews, no Muslims community, it was clear I was in danger of being kicked out. “You are ruder...
A lot of people ask me how I plan my trips. I do a ton of research using books, articles, guidebooks, Reddit, Trip Advisor, Google reviews and by reaching out to my friends in the travel community. I start making Google Maps and as I...
With the cost of vacationing in the U.S. escalating and the Japanese yen at a 38-year low against the U.S. dollar, there’s never been a better time for Americans to visit Japan. But in recent months, the global media’s been selling the overtourism in Japan narrative so hard that...
My father wasn't a rich or famous man, but he was a celebrity to all who knew and loved him. Handsome, charming and ever-optimistic, Carmen was a family man, a salesman, a traveler, a gambler, and a storyteller par excellence. He appreciated a good challenge...
How many people do you know who lived life with no regrets, no compromises, and no fear? I know just one and he was my brother, Peter Seminara, who died at his home of natural causes at 58 in New Jersey on August 14. Peter...
Here are some Footsteps of Federer updates: So far, we already have great reviews and/or mentions from Federer biographer Rene Stauffer in Tages Anzeiger (syndicated to 11 Swiss newspapers, Swiss Info, Tennis, the Daily Telegraph, Newly Swissed, Tennis Now, Thrive Global, and Perfect Tennis. I...
I had high expectations for Chris Clarey's new Federer biography because I'm a huge Federer fan and because Chris has done a fine job of covering tennis for NYT for many years. But sadly this book misses the mark on many fronts and I'm shocked...
** Read the first chapter of Mad Travelers via Literary Hub ** Wanderlust Magazine (UK) named it one of the best travel books of 2021. ** Listen to this podcast interview I did on Footsteps of Federer and Mad Travelers with Joe Hamilton of the St. Pete...
My recent interview with Roger Federer is now out on The New York Times website! Big thanks to Switzerland Tourism and The New York Times for giving me the opportunity to interview my favorite athlete of all time, a man who is not only a...
You may have heard that my hero, Roger Federer, became an unpaid spokesperson for Switzerland Tourism on March 29. That's right folks, the man is selling Switzerland for nothing more than love of country. Can you imagine Lebron James or Tom Brady doing this for...
WARNING: There may be some spoilers below depending on how much or little you've already read about William Baekeland and my book, Mad Travelers. When I first heard that HBO was making a film about William Baekeland"”a wanderlust-stricken Brit accused of being a con man by...
On April 22, HBO/MAX debuts a new 10-episode series about con artists and hustlers produced by Jigsaw Productions and CNN Original Studios called Generation Hustle. Episode 6 is about William Baekeland, the primary character in my forthcoming book, Mad Travelers: A Tale of Wanderlust, Greed...
I've heard authors liken publishing a book to giving birth. Maybe, but I pulled all-nighters when my sons were born and I do not plan to do that tonight even though my new book, Footsteps of Federer, comes out tomorrow, March 2. When I traveled...
I've been busy covering tennis for the Atptour.com website lately and have been remiss in reporting some exciting news I received a few weeks ago. My publisher inked a deal with Tantor Audio to release an audiobook edition of my forthcoming book, Footsteps of Federer:...
It was 63 degrees this morning in St. Petersburg, Florida, but it felt like 43 to my soft ass. I've only been living in Florida for just over a year and this is my first time living in the Tropics–save for a three month stint...
I'm excited to announce that I'm doing at least a pair of Zoom talks to discuss my new book, Mad Travelers: A Tale of Wanderlust, Greed & the Quest to Reach the Ends of the Earth, comes out. The first event, on June 1...
Driving around town with an unwanted set of snow tires in my trunk, I felt like a thief who had just pulled off a jewelry heist and needed to sell his hot merch. Quickly. Bend is the only place I've ever lived in where snow...
Bend is, in the words of a guy I recently met, a "frickin' magical place." Many of us have moved to this High Desert playground for its myriad of recreational opportunities–hiking, cycling, tubing, fishing, you name it, we got it. And so, we take this...
For most of the year, it's just too damn early to get up and out in time to get good sunrise photos. But the winter is a different story. While in Vancouver, B.C. last week, I noticed on my phone that sunrise wasn't until around...
The truly magisterial thing about life is that, when you wake up each morning, you can never be completely certain about what the day has in store for you. This applies to President Obama, Pope Francis, a weird guy I hired to rake leaves at...
Crispin Scott's semester abroad in Barcelona was supposed to be the adventure of a lifetime. But on January 6, 2012, the night before he was to attend the program's orientation session, the handsome 20-year-old math major and rugby star at Dartmouth met a tragic fate....
When it comes to barbers, I've never been very monogamous. Oh sure, I've had some good barbers whom I was faithful to for periods of time over the years. But something always comes between us–a long line of others waiting for the same guy, a...
I'm cheap and I don't care as much about my appearance as I probably should. That's why I don't mind patronizing beauty schools, where you can get a haircut–and sometimes a shampoo–for as little as five bucks. It takes longer because the students often have...
Here's a question I bet you haven't given much thought to: why the bloody hell is sexually assaulting a dog only a MISDEMEANOR in Oregon? Behold this revolting story in the (Bend)Bulletin about this depraved couple who are accused of sexually abusing children and also,...
"You got any trash for me?" asked the cute teenage girl at the Shell station dressed in an all-white 1950s soda-jerk style uniform. I thought I had heard her wrong. New to Oregon and its delightful law mandating that gas station attendants, not customers, pump the...
There are plenty of places to commune with nature in and around Bend, but I'd be hard pressed to think of a better place to spend the night than in a tent by the banks of the Metolius River at the Allen Springs Campground inside...
Where else but in Bend, Oregon can you take out 100 books at a time and then return them up to 7 days late with no fine? I'll be damned if I know. We moved to Bend from Evanston, Illinois, and I used to be...
If a place like Sparks Lake existed within 100 miles of a major city, the place would be a zoo. Thankfully it's in Central Oregon, just about a 40-minute drive from Bend along the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway. On a recent Saturday morning, there were...
The evolution of digital photography has made it cost effective to be a narcissist. And the emergence of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others provides today's Digital Narcissist (DN)-LOOK AT ME! LIKE THIS! FOLLOW ME!- with ample platforms to indulge their apparently...