Recent content by tomintucson

I'll be in Sequoia National Park next week. Then, for a bit of a change of pace, I'm returning to Burma and Thailand for 2 1/2 months on Nov 30. Some of you may recall that I just spent two months in the region this past summer. Sorry, but I'm not much for photos (can you say "disposable...

I'm really looking forward to James Grant's appearance on Consuelo Mack's 'Wealthtrack' on Friday Oct 30. (I don't have cable, so I will be watching on her website, available the following Monday.) Mr. Grant is not always correct in his prognostications. Nor am I. But he is a wonderful market...

Megacorp, Yes, a good idea to actually confirm the reservation with the airline. I just got off the phone with All Nippon. My flights have indeed been booked and paid for by Best Travel Store. A completely satisfactory experience. I presume you are also traveling Monday thru Thursday for the...

I've used Best Travel store to book my travel to Burma and Thailand several months from now. (Their website has a link to the Los Angeles Better Business Bureau report on their business, which established their bona fides in my eyes.) I booked one heckuva good deal with them. I will fly to...

I lived in Phoenix for eight years, then two years in San Francisco, and now I've been in Tucson for nineteen years. It's kind of a cowtown, pretty shabby next to relatively glitzy Phoenix, and that's just the way I like it. Four degrees cooler on average, which is actually fairly significant...

Anyone object to this? Off-topic, but sort of on-topic, depending on which topic one assigns to this thread...a recent experience of mine may fly in the face of some of the generalizations being made here not only of Western men, but also of Asian women. I just spent two months in the...

I'm not perpetual, but I travel a bit.I just spent two months at the Thai-Burma border, based in Mae Sot , Thailand, with four short trips into Burma. It was by far the best overseas trip I've taken. Some pleasure, but the focus was on service work. I taught English every day at a high school...

He made a ton of money on the way up, and lost a bunch on the way down. I can relate, that's my story too. You pays your money, you takes your chances. I'm a big fan of both Consuelo Mack and David Swensen. He's a brilliant investor, much smarter than I am. He's quite aware of his shortcomings...

Point well taken. Tom

Vietnam is a lovely place, with lovely people. As an American, I was treated extremely graciously. The war was a long time ago. I must say that I traveled only in the north. Hanoi, Halong Bay, eight days in the Sapa area, and then crossing the border into China for a local bus to Kunming. My...

Akaisha, I've been out of town for awhile, so I didn't see your post. Thanks for the links, but I had previously seen them all when poking around your website! This Sunday I'm off for my two months in Southeast Asia. I don't guess you and Billy are in Chiang Mai now, are you? I'm probably not...

Coach, kudos for your mention of Seven Samurai. A classic American western, in Japanese. As you probably know, Kurosawa was a great admirer of the American director John Ford. High and Low, Hidden Fortress, The Bad Sleep Well...help, someone stop me! I love good films.

I'm seeing some good taste in film here. I'm a bit of a cinephile myself. Sorry, can't be bothered with links, but here's a few off the top of my head. Blind Shaft, The World, Seventeen Years, Mabarosi, Nobody Knows, Bolivia, La Cienega, La Promesse, Red Lights, Springtime in a Small Town...

Everyone's words are too kind. I've always been embarrassed by praise; perhaps at age fifty, it's time to get over it. FUEGO, your wife must be Cambodian, is that right? I'm wondering if she ever travels "home", and if you accompany her? And if you don't mind my asking, is it a mixed-race...

I'd add only that Barron's often has fabulous interviews with less-than-household names like Ray Dalio, Stephanie Pomboy, Rudolph Riad-Younes, et al. I've learned a lot from these folks and others. (Didn't stop me from having my a** handed to me in the collapse of 2008, though!) Tom ps Big...