Monthly Archives: December 2017

Bicycling Around Taiwan

The southernmost point of Taiwan.

On this episode, my wife Katie and I talk about our time bicycling in Taiwan. We go over all of the highs and lows of our trip, as well as the unique cultural aspects we discovered on this small island.

As usual, you can get more info about my new book on Amazon.

Download this Episode (right-click and choose “save as”)

Show Notes:

I mentioned this podcast about trash collection in Taipei and the rest of Taiwan.
You can also check out this podcast about the Taipei 101.
And here's that Joe Rogan podcast with Russell Brand that Katie mentioned.

Random Thoughts with David Shand

Random: Picture of Dan Perry and David Shand.

Random thoughts with David Shand.

My guest for today is David Shand, from South Africa. We met in his adopted home of Chishang, Taiwan and chatted ceaselessly about random topics for two days. This podcast contains a snippet of those conversations.

Download this Episode (right-click and choose “save as”)

Did you know that I just released my second book? For more info, click here.

This osprey totally derailed our conversation.

This egret is was pretty cool to watch as well.

A darian redstart.

As soon as we recorded this podcast, we saw custard apples for sale everywhere. Yum!

Bicycle conformity.

Click for more of my photos from Taiwan.

Show Notes:

David was totally right: Hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons are the same thing. The only difference is where they originate.
Even as the threat of war builds, wildlife is flourishing in the DMZ. National Geographic has a great series of photos from the most dangerous part of the Earth.
Atomic bombs use fission, whereas hydrogen bombs use fusion. USA Today offers a longer explanation.
Some US diplomats were attacked in Cuba. This may have come from a mysterious sonic weapon.
Paul Tibbets, pilot of the Enola Gay, died in 2007 at age 92. He had no regrets about dropping the bomb.
Trusty Wikipedia has info about baghouses.
Here's some more info about Chromium 6.
And here's an article about the North Korean defector who was shot six times by his own countrymen. He had “enormous parasites” in his guts.

Google Nose!

Airplane! car phone scene

Bicycling Around Japan, Part 2

Picture of Katie admiring the fall colors in Japan.

Just leaf her alone.

On this episode, my wife Katie and I continue our talk about bicycling in Japan. We give you all of the ups and downs of our trip.

In case you missed it, my new book, 1000 Days Between Part 2 is now available.
Read more about it here.

And now for the podcast:

Download this Episode (right-click and choose “save as”)

Show Notes:

Here's a video of the toilet faucet that I talked about during the podcast. Genius!

How do you take a crap in Japan? I often felt lost, just like in this video:

One more toilet related link. Freakonomics did a podcast a few years called Time to Take Back the Toilet. Many of these problems have already been solved in Japan.
Yes, the Japanese government really issued an apology when a bullet train left 20 seconds early. Imagine Amtrak doing that.

And now for a few of my pictures from Japan:

We rode the Su Zhou Hao ferry for two days from Shanghai to Osaka.

First stop: Osaka, a foodie's paradise.

We found this heron at the Ritsurin gardens in Takamatsu.

One day we stumbled upon the Old Konpira, the oldest kabuki theater in Japan.

We saw plenty of rice fields while riding across Shikoku Island.

Many of the islands were connected by bridges...

…And other islands had an amazing ferry network connecting them.

Miyamoto the mask maker invited us to stay in his house one night.

Picture of Great Torii on Miyajima Island.

Our trip would not be complete without a visit to the Great Torii on Miyajima Island.

Sento (public baths) and Onsen (hot springs) were a big part of our trip. Staying clean and relaxing our aching muscles proved easy, even while bicycle touring.

We also visited many temples. This one featured the oldest Buddha statue in Japan, created in 609 AD.

Picture of colorful maple leaves in Japan.

And of course, the we experienced peak fall colors season. The maple trees had a wild array of yellows, oranges and reds.

For more of my photos from Japan, click here.

1000 Days Between Part 2 Is Now Available!

It is my great pleasure to announce that my newest book, 1000 Days Between Part 2: In Pursuit of the (South) American Dream, is now available!

Here's where you can get it:
Paperback Version
Kindle Version

This book picks up shortly after Book 1 left off (in case you missed Book 1, you can find it here).

Here's the synopsis:

Dan Perry is living his dream. He quit his job, sold his stuff and bought a one-way ticket for Peru. He spent the next ten months traveling around South America, before flying home to attend his brother's wedding. But he's not ready to settle down. He's got a lot more traveling left to do.

While he's at home, Dan buys a tent, a small stove and two pots. Together with the rest of his camping gear and camera equipment, he's ready for any adventure that comes his way. Or so he thinks.

Shortly after returning to South America, Dan learns the hard way that it's not a good idea to cook using diesel. He's a little older, not much wiser.

Dan later reunites with his Australian friend Craig. Together, they take a 1000-mile boat ride down the Amazon River, climb a tabletop mountain, hang out with Guyanese gold miners, trek to the highest single-drop waterfall in the world and build a raft out of bamboo. Dan gets deep into his adventure when he spends a month walking a puma through the Bolivian jungle. Afterward, he returns to the Andes for one of the biggest challenges of his life.

1000 Days Between Part 2 is the continued adventure of a man who left his high-paying job to embark on the adventure of a lifetime. When will he stop traveling? Only time will tell.

Thank you so much for your support. I'm really looking forward to hearing your feedback!