Category Archives: Travel

National Monuments Public Comments

Posted on May 13, 2017 by Mark Egge

President Trump has issued an executive order declaring a “review” of the national monuments established in the last 20 years. Many (including myself) fear this “review” is a pretense for dramatically reducing the scope of federal protection for many of … Continue reading →

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Loving the Stuffing out of Bears Ears

Posted on March 2, 2017 by Mark Egge

I first visited Comb Ridge six or so years ago, during a rambling summer of exploring Utah’s nooks and crannies. My atlas marked a small archaeological site a mile or so off of the nearest dirt road. Intrigued, I hiked … Continue reading →

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2016 Year in Review

Posted on January 12, 2017 by Mark Egge

In rough sequential order, a run-down of my 2016: In January and February I burst my ski ego. Racing for CMU’s ski team humbled me, being both out-skied and out-drank by a group of fun-loving undergrads. East Coast ice is … Continue reading →

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The Return

Posted on September 2, 2015 by Mark Egge

I’m still settling into my return to America. I’m slowly readjusting to the idea of readily available high-quality coffee, to the superabundance of cheap, high quality food (there’s a paradox: the daily staples of an East African diet can be … Continue reading →

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Reading Out of Africa

Posted on August 9, 2015 by Mark Egge

Ask an American of colonial East Africa, and doubtless images from Out of Africa will come to mind. And, appropriately so. Set aside unhelpful-if-not-unfair “liberal” objections to the “romanticization” of colonialism, and you can gain some appreciation for an enterprise … Continue reading →

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Empty Hotels, Empty Restaurants

Posted on June 26, 2015 by Mark Egge

Speaking of tourists … where are the tourists? Everywhere I’ve been so far has seemed a ghost town. Egypt, understandably so, in light of its recent revolution. (Still, it was quite surprising to visit the pyramids at Giza and not … Continue reading →

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et två tre fyra

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Mark Egge

Ordnign och reda, which I’ll translate as “order and synonym-for-order”, is an important concept in Sweden. And, indeed, I find the country remarkably orderly. For example: I went and saw The Tallest Man on Earth perform in Stockholm last Friday. … Continue reading →

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Customs customs

Posted on June 2, 2012 by Mark Egge

I flew to Stockholm by way of Mexico City and Frankfurt. (Frankfurt, at least, makes sense.) Arriving in Mexico City, I completed two Customs forms. After deplaning, I presented these to a dour official with limited English, and discovered that, … Continue reading →

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