< more recent | 22-31 October 2025 | older >
27 October 2025: The final evening of the trip, with an early wake up tomorrow morning, meant spending a quiet (or not so quiet) night at “home base.” At some point in the middle of the night I woke up to a light on across the way and made one last photo of a favorite rooftop view through the window. Now it’s time to go home to New York, but am already wondering when I can get back here again (soon, I hope)…
26 October 2025: One of the coolest things about this part of Paris is finding the random bits of street art everywhere. It is like the city streets are one big gallery and just going for a walk is an opportunity to experience it if you pay attention and look around you. And it is almost constantly changing as new posters paper over old, or street murals get painted on empty walls, and sometimes it is just more graffiti added on top of the previous work, creating a kind of collage in time …
25 October 2025: While I have been busy doing some urban exploring I have also been spending a lot of time reconnecting with good friends and enjoying some quiet moments away from the “spotlight” or the “streetlight.” As this trip is coming to a close soon, these moments are even more important to savor…
24 October 2025: Continuing with my creative exploration in parallel with my Paris wanderings, and playing more with reflections and the random collages they can make when they combine seemingly bizarre elements into a common frame. Having a lot of fun with this…
23 October 2025: Getting back in the habit of stopping in at one of the corner cafes on my favorite “crossroads” on my way home after doing some exploring or even just running a few errands. It’s a moment to “pause” and appreciate the place where I am and take in the hustle and bustle of the urban world while slowing down my own pace long enough to really look around and observe life being lived in all it’s variety …
22 October 2025: This part of the 10eme arrondisement is vibrant and full of life, and it’s sometimes fun to just hang out and spend the whole day wandering from place to place, stopping in the different cafes, walking around and just soaking up the ambiance. Today I did just that, and worked on some of the Photo Challenge prompts, including playing with reflections and framing juxtapositions…
THIS MONTH:
Returning to the “city of light” after a way-too-long hiatus and reconnecting with friends, favorite places and some urban exploring to change things up a little bit …
COMING UP SOON:
Taking part in a World War Two battle re-enactment at the Museum of American Armor on November 16th. The event features some of the museum’s armored vehicles in action during a simulated combat scenario from the allied liberation of France in 1944…
December is Holiday Roadtrip time, and this year we are heading back to a few favorite locations in the southeast as well as exploring a couple of new ones…
We will be taking part in an international overland expedition from the Sichuan Basin to the Tibetan Plateau in April, where we will be tracking snow leopards and working with local nomadic herders in cooperation with wildlife conservation efforts that aim to reduce human-wildlife conflict in one of the most remote areas of China…
USnomads.org is very proud to be presenting the fifth edition of the Nomad Rally in 2026. This is a unique kind of rally experience — a ten week event that participants can do from anywhere within the continental U.S.A. Competitors design their own routes as part of the rally, then drive it in a points-based online competition that includes optional activity tasks, quests and weekly challenges. The 2026 rally will run from 8 June – 17 August and is open to any driver within the United States who has an off-road capable vehicle — stock or modified. Registration for 2026 is currently open. For more information see the Rally website …
PARIS STREET ART
Street Art was once marginalized in Paris but now it has evolved into an accepted contemporary art form in its own right. It’s success and ephemeral nature have seen it move to galleries and other publicly sanctioned spaces around the city. And of course it is still everywhere else, too. The term “street-art” refers to an artistic movement that uses public space as a means of expression. It is said to have originated in Philadelphia in the early 1960s, initially with the “graffiti writing” movement launched by two American artists, Cornbread and Cool Earl. One of them is said to have written his love for a lady on a wall, as he was too shy to admit it to her directly. Over the decades, street art has been democratized and has found its way into museums. And while some artists now display their work in galleries, leaving behind the counter-culture spirit that characterized the discipline in the first place, others insist on staying in the street. They have made protest their spearhead, and many of the Paris walls bear witness to this. Among the artists who have left their mark in Paris are Shepard Fairey aka Obey, Monsieur Chat, Banksy and C215. Whether exhibited in a gallery or on the street, street art is the epitome of freedom. And as the Fonky Family rap group liked to sing in their 2001 hit “Art de rue”, when it comes to street art, “the most important thing is to do what you like the way you like”. In 2025, the Petit Palais is opening its doors to urban artists, for the first time, inviting them to engage in a subtle dialogue with its permanent collections and architecture. But the street remains the “home” and the whole city is covered in street art, from Montmartre to the Marais, via Belleville, Ménilmontant and the BNF district, from Saint-Denis to Vitry-sur-Seine, Ivry and Montreuil the writing is on the wall…
Nesconset | Paris | Belgrade | Chittenden | Winooski | Grand Isle | Brattleboro | Bridgeport
MORE NOTES FROM THE ROAD:
16-21 October – Paris
1-15 October – Paris
22-30 September – Vermont
13-21 September – Vermont
1-12 September – New York
16-31 August – New York
1-15 August – New York
July – New York
June – New York
May – New York
18-30 April – New York
8-17 April – Eastbound
1-7 April – Eastbound
22-31 March – California
17-21 March – AZ to CA
8-16 March – Arizona
1-7 March – Glamis
22-28 February – Roadtrip SW
15-21 February – Roadtrip SW
1-14 February – New York
January – Paris
23-31 December – Holiday Roadtrip
16-22 December – Holiday Roadtrip
18-15 December – New York
8-30 November – New York
1-7 November – Roadtrip South
23-31 October – Roadtrip South
Archive
ROADTRIP
An epic journey crisscrossing the USA from east to west and back again, exploring some of the beautiful wild spaces that make up our “public lands.” The roadtrip covered almost 15,000 miles, much of it off-grid and off-pavement, focusing on the deserts of the American southwest. Some locations were truly “iconic” while others were little known, and the segments of independent exploration where punctuated with some fun events across the region… [read]
SPECIAL REPORT
All about exploring ghost towns and abandoned places in the USA and beyond, with tips, and information on the many different types of sites to be found across the globe, including detailed guides for eight specific sites… [read]
