Citrus Kingdom
Through Sicily's citrus groves, from Palermo's hidden courtyards to the volcano oranges of Mount Etna.
Four Journeys Through Sicily
The Citrus Kingdom series, with more parts to come.
IPalermo and the Citrus Kingdom
How a strange fruit made Palermo the capital of a citrus kingdom.
IICefalù and the Sour Orange
An amaro at dusk and the bitter orange that quietly held up a kingdom.
IIILipari and the Colonel's Lemon
A strange lemon leads from an island garden to the making of Italy.
IVTaormina and the Volcano Oranges
Lizards, Portuguese ships and blood oranges beneath Mount Etna.
Of all the places on Earth, nowhere are the distances so vast, the sense of isolation so intense.
Stories from the Road
Experience Erik Gauger’s immersive travel writing and photography.
Dry World
The Marrakech Orangerie
Why do we travel? In these notes from Marrakech, Morocco, I offer a different view of the pleasures and purposes of travel as I pursue the color and taste orange.
EXPLORE
The Infrastructure of Everything
On Costa Rica's Turrialba Volcano, a journey through cloud forest reveals the hidden systems that make a habitable world possible.
Turrialba Volcano
The cloud forest, and the living systems beneath the world.
II
A Drop of Water and Lago Angostura
At Lago Angostura in Costa Rica, a drop of water reveals the hidden infrastructure of life.
III
The Evidence at Río Guayabo
Along a quiet river road, the hidden systems of life come into view.
A lovely place can be stumbled upon; a fantastical one feels composed.
"Beautiful, Edge To Edge."
- Craig Federighi, Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, at the 2017 Apple Keynote Address.
Apple featured Notes from the Road to introduce the Apple iPhone X, another example of how we have been innovating the look and feel of the future of the web here at our little travel blog.
There is no wind in the air, and so my paddle-dips are silent, they feel like butter.
A series in eight parts
The Owyhee Puzzle
What do you do when you find an undiscovered native site? I decide to find out.
EXPLORE
It is a smell that is all good things; more than just nostalgia, the smell of the campfire being lit.
Europa
Ancient Improvisation in Paros
On the Greek Island of Paros, I explore whether a musical improvisation master could have built up a following in the ancient Mediterranean.
EXPLORE
The Collections
Here are some of my most recent long-term projects. These are Notes from the Road projects I keep regularly updated or spent up to two years to create.
Chili Peppers of the World
Origins, diversity, cultivation and history.
Hot Sauces of the World
As many types as there are cultures.
Cacti of the United States
My sketches of every cactus in the United States.
Yuccas of the World
Every yucca species, hand-drawn with short notes.
Doors and Windows of the World
Doors, windows and details from my travels.
All you do is get a head start and you are back in 1983, or 1583, every alley you share only with the street sweepers.
One of my great joys in travel is to form a ritual around a simple local food.
Oceania
Tikehau of the Tuamotus
On the small French Polynesian atoll of Tikehau, I discover a ringworld of life.
EXPLOREI don’t like this idea; the idea of going to a place to see what you already know of it.
For us, it’s none of the above, but rather wandering in flip-flops, going nowhere, achieving nothing, petting alley cats.
Sketch Journals
Travel drawings, field notes, and illustrations captured in Moleskine journals and in larger ink and wash formats.
If in our future our flying machines can imitate the efficiencies of flying animals, may they fly like Santa Marta Woodstars.
Featured in Time, National Geographic Traveller, Lonely Planet, the Washington Post and the Boston Globe.
