The Jaguar made a sound like nuts and bolts tossing in a dryer, somewhere by the front left wheel. It always made it now when you pulled up to the curb. Andy jerked his hand to the key and shut it down, both to stop the noise and any additional damage it might do. He…
21st Century Travel: Gear, Part 2
(See other articles in this series in the Travel section. This one ballooned, so I've split it into two parts.) Electronics Computer and phone Electronics make the quickest and most regular movements toward miniaturization and multiple uses. I started my travels with an iPad and a MacBook, and lugged the two a quarter of the…
21st Century Travel: Gear, Part 1
(See other articles in this series in the Travel section. This one ballooned, so I've split it into two parts.) Some of what I've learned about travel has come from going and doing, making mistakes and discoveries. Some has come from travel authors and people I've met on the way. But almost everything I bring…
Secret of the Incas

While reading about Machu Picchu, I learned of an American movie that was shot there in 1954. It looked to me like any other of the flood of exotic adventure pictures that poured out of the 50s. This one's stayed just above the brim of obscurity because it became the template for Raiders of the…
21st Century Travel: Intermezzo
(See other articles in this series in the Travel section.) I've been on the road again, and the next couple of posts in this series will be longer and more complicated. They're partly done, and I've also been writing down some of my impressions of walking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. I'll be more…