< more recent | 16-21 October 2025 | older >
21 October 2025: Did a bit of exploring again today, and finished in one of my favorite cafes on my favorite “crossroads” corner. I ordered a beer at the comptoir and observed the world going by outside for a little bit before heading back upstairs at the day’s end…
20 October 2025: Walking around the 10eme is always full of visual surprises and random discoveries if you keep your eyes open and just look around. Today I played with that idea as I continued with the Photo Challenge prompts as I wandered the neighborhood …
19 October 2025: Yesterday was chock full of activity and today I slowed it down a little bit and just took some time out to “breathe” and relax with friends for the day …
18 October 2025: Spent some time along the Canal St. Martin again, then headed to check out a new “museum” that recently opened nearby — the Maison des Mondes Africains. I entered the world of Roxane Mbanga’s exhibition NOIRES, the museum’s inaugural show. A world of vibrant colors and collages of fabrics, objects, spaces and sounds, that engulf the artwork and where the spectators are an integral part of the ever-changing scene. It was inspirational and aspirational and a space for exchange, and I really appreciated getting to be part of it for a few moments today…
17 October 2025: Have been working on the photo prompts from the Mindfulness and Photography workshop over the course of the week and am managing to push some creative boundaries, looking farther and deeper at the world around me and finding interesting imagery in the everyday spaces I am passing through…
16 October 2025: It’s probably my favorite crossroads, and there is a cafe on each of the four corners, which makes it a perfect place to take a break and watch the world go by. The neighborhood has changed drastically over the years, as gentrification had its effect, but there is still a bit of the old Paris populaire that can be felt here, where people from all parts of the world pass each other and sometimes still even engage with each other…
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 …
MAISON DES MONDES AFRICAINS
The Maison des mondes africains, aka “MansA,” is a cultural institution dedicated to the promotion, transmission and celebration of contemporary African and Afro-diasporic cultures. It is conceived as a space for encounters and creation, as well as a place for reflection and critical thinking. MansA explores the artistic and cultural dynamics that traverse the continent and its diasporas, affirming their essential role in contemporary history and aesthetics. Through exhibitions, concerts, screenings, performances, literary encounters and debates, MansA highlights the richness and diversity of artistic expression. It champions multiple narratives, reveals shared heritages, and interrogates the major contemporary issues shaping our societies. It is a living laboratory where artists and intellectuals, researchers and activists converge to invent new forms of creation and dialogue. The inaugural exhibition, NOIRES by Roxane Mbanga (October 4 – 26, 2025), sets the tone: MansA will be a house open to all disciplines, at once rooted in heritage and looking to possible futures. Roxane Mbanga’s exhibition presents her Grand Salon, conceived as a place for meeting, listening and hospitality. The Grand Salon imagined by the artist becomes the centerpiece of this house: a living space, inhabited by voices, presences, silences and memories. Through original creations – illustrations, paintings, sculptures, textiles, furniture, and objects with emotional significance – Roxane Mbanga proposes a place where everyone can find refuge and tell their own stories. At the heart of this installation, door sculptures inspired by traditional African and West Indian architecture open up passages between heritages and identities. With no hierarchy of values, each object finds its place and composes an indissociable whole: a total, generous work that affirms that there is nothing to give up, that we are whole and in our place. The Maison des Mondes Africains is located at 26 rue Jacques Louvel-Tessier, 75010 Paris…
Nesconset | Paris | Belgrade | Chittenden | Winooski | Grand Isle | Brattleboro | Bridgeport
MORE NOTES FROM THE ROAD:
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
15-22 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]
