Travel

Although I travel for work (both in the US and abroad), I rarely have the time to deeply immerse myself in other cultures. That’s in part because my primary responsibility is not as a researcher anymore. Nonetheless, when I do travel, I take great pleasure in taking pictures both to record my experiences and as a creative pursuit. A few of my most memorable trips are linked below.

I also chronicle some of my more mundane travels – including many family trips to the vibrant and varied blue waters of of Lake Michigan – on another blog I call faeriewigs.

India

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In my role at ZS, I travel to Pune and Delhi to visit team members and leaders there. Occasionally I have a trip that bridges a weekend, and in those cases my team members have been gracious guides and hosts. Because my undergraduate degree was in Religion & Biblical Literature (with a focus on the traditions of the Indian subcontinent), I really enjoy the opportunity to experience the culture firsthand. In addition to the posts below, I also shared some photos of the new Mumbai airport and a purification ceremony at a co-workers house on my faeriewigs site.

Temple Run - I’m back in India this week, so that I can spend some time with my growing team. The trip is inevitably hard on me and my family, but at the same time I really enjoy having some time in person with all the amazing people who have joined our organization in the past year or […]

Japan

In 2010, I had the opportunity to travel to Tokyo for the Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference (EPIC). It was such a pleasure to travel with other anthropologists and once again learn and explore another part of the world. The posts below capture some of my favorite images and moments from that trip.

Inspiration from Japan - I’ve been browsing through some of my old posts in draft, trying to figure out which ones I might actually get around to finishing. I did come across a few different posts about Japan (one is from my trip to Japan in 2010!) which I thought it might be fun to combine. The inspiration to […]
Ikebana - As part of the cultural immersion experiences that were planned at EPIC in Tokyo, we had a chance to engage in some Japanese traditions. I had learned a little about ikebana (flower arranging) in an undergraduate course on Buddhism in Japan. It was great to watch the masters at work!
Shibuya -
Oedo-Onsen - As part of EPIC we had the opportunity to select activities that would give us a sense of the local people, culture and environment. A few of us chose to go to a traditional Japanese day spa, along with our local guides. I chose to visit Oedo-Onsen, which was very different from anything I had […]
Philosopher’s Walk -
Ryoanji Temple - By the time we got off the tram, we were definitely feeling like public transportation pros! We walked up the hill from the station to the temple gates, paid the entry fee and wandered around. Although I enjoyed the exploration, I felt that we had seen other more impressive structures earlier in our trip. And we were both […]
Imperial Palace -
Ashayamira & the Bamboo Walk - We got a slow start on our second day, partly because of the time difference, but also just the fatigue. After some reading of books, discussion, and suggestions from the concierge, we decided to explore a totally different part of Kyoto called Ashayamira – all the way on the West side of the city, and from there […]
Kiyomizu-Dera - After Nishiri, Inga and I continued on foot to Southern Higayashima area as planned. I was enticed there in part by my Lonely Planet guidebook, which said something like “if you only have one day in Kyoto, this is the place to go”. And so, we went! We climbed steadily uphill, still sweating like crazy. And, defying […]
Kyoto back streets - It was fun to travel to dinner on foot through the streets of Kyoto! I love all the little details that you catch when you’re on foot! The pictures below gives a lovely sense of the feeling in the area. Peaceful, older, but well tended. Our dinner spot. Extra yummy sushi! And … the experience of […]

Bali

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As part of my Masters degree in Whole Systems Design, I traveled to Bali Indonesia in 1993. I lived in the compound of a family that owned the Anoman Weaving Factory, which produced handwoven ikat fabric. It was my first real immersion experience in a foreign culture, and one that ultimately led me to the field of Anthropology. Pictures and some excerpts from my fieldnotes are available in the posts below.

Anoman Weaving Factory - At the core of my experience in Bali was the opportunity to live with a family that owned and operated an ikat factory called Anoman Weaving Factory. I experienced the home life of a normal (but I suspect relatively wealthy) Balinese family, and observed daily life and activities of workers in the factory.
Rites of Passage - One of the extraordinary parts of my trip to Bali was getting to act a participant-observer in several rites of passage. During the 3-4 weeks that I stayed with the family who owned the Anoman Weaving Factory, I participated in funeral preparations and a cremation, as well as the coming-of-age ceremony for a five year […]
A trip to Bali - As part of my Masters’ degree program in Whole Systems Design at Antioch University Seattle, I traveled to Bali Indonesia in 1993. My stated purpose was to visit a culture where religion and art were both integral to daily life. I was also very interested in experiencing a Hindu culture, as my undergraduate degree in […]

China

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In 1991, I traveled to mainland China with some of the classmates from the graduate program I was attending at Antioch University Seattle. It was my first experience in a third-world country, and it was life-altering for me. We spent nearly a month there, during which time we saw the sites in and around Beijing, traveled by overnight train to Seattle’s sister city Chongqing, and then back to Shanghai. I shot 24 rolls of film (yes, it was a long time ago!), and as an impoverished graduate student it was months until I had enough money to develop them all properly. I’ve collected some of my favorite images into a few blog posts, which are linked below.

Other

Amazon Books - I was in San Diego for work last week, and while I was there I had a chance to visit a brick-and-mortar Amazon bookstore. I didn’t really have any expectations, but I was curious. I have been a longtime Amazon customer and I value the convenience. I love independent bookstores and I worry about their […]
Lessons Learned at the Lost & Found - Losing my phone gave me a chance to reflect on how we create experiences, large and small -
It’s different here - I visited the SAP headquarters in Germany a few weeks ago. Although the week was jam-packed, I really enjoyed the face time with so many German colleagues and executives. It has been a few years since I was there, and things have certainly changed a lot. One of the nice changes was that I stayed in […]
Mazes & labyrinths - As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, I read A Whole New Mind by Dan Pink in 2010, and shortly thereafter I had a chance to hear him speak in a webinar on his new book Drive. Both works continue to inform my thinking. During the holidays, I was talking with my sister and my father […]

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