A blog about traveling and adventure and such.

About Dave Ford Does Earth: A few year's back I made a list of life goals--quite a few of them ended up being travel related--that led to a truly life changing 18 month journey. Along the way I made lifelong friends, experienced things I had never dreamed of, and put a serious dent in that original bucket list. I learned so much out there-- including the fact that I have the ability to grow a pretty significant and amazing afro.

Read more

The WorldNew York City
January 18, 2011

Clinton Hill, A Taxi Cab Driver from Darfur and Subway Break Dancers

I am currently sipping on a Six Point Stoudt at Maggie Brown’s, a rocking little bar in Clinton Hill. Clinton Hill happens to be a rocking little neighborhood that I had never heard of as of a month ago. Its located about halfway between Park Slope and Williamsburg. I am beginning a search for my next neighborhood to live in New York. So far in my three years here I have lived in South Slope (Brooklyn) and the East Village (Manhattan). It feels good to experience the Brooklyn energy again first hand– it is so much different from that of Manhattan. There is so much more space over here. Things are a bit grittier, the energy is raw, and I am riding my bike again. Overall, I dig it.

Read more

Popularity: 9% [?]

Clinton Hill, New York City (2008-Present), Street Performers Comments ( 0 )
January 15, 2011

Australians, World Trade Center Lamps, and some thoughts on writing

When I traveled in 2007 and 2008, one of the best friends I made on my trip was a wonderful young lady from Perth named Jessica Ledger. Last week, Jess made her triumphant return to New York City and travel memories have been rushing back like a waterfall. Jess and I traveled together in the same crew, on and off,  for a good part of a year.  We met in La Paz in Bolivia, navigated the Amazon in Rurrenabaque (Bolivia), partied in Cusco (Peru), and she was one of the first person to see me after I was stung by the infamous scorpion on the Lost City Trek in Northern Colombia. She was also a part of our crew that cross country road tripped from Baltimore to LA,  which culminated with one of our top travel experiences ever trekking through the Grand Canyon. Jess is back at it and traveling again. So, naturally I am getting the bug just being in her presence. She is staying with some friends in Soho–and we have hung out a quite a bit in the last few weeks. We have been telling a lot of stories and remembering old times.

Read more

Popularity: 8% [?]

New York City (2008-Present), People I've met along the way Comments ( 1 )
January 10, 2011

Subway Violinists, Fatherhood Initiatives, and the Opera

In New York City, it is amazing what happens when you strike up a random conversation with the person you are sitting next to in a coffee shop or a bar. I have been making it a priority to talk to strangers as of late and am finding it one of my “best practices” of living in NYC.

Today I went to a bar called Mullane’s Grill in Fort Greene for the first half of the Raven’s game–and sat next to two guys (Tony and Mike) who were the only other Ravens fans in the place. Before long, I found myself in a deep conversation with Mike, who works for the city in the Department of Youth and Community Development. He is a Harvard grad, and for years managed hip hop acts. Somewhere a long the line, he had a change of heart and and a change of life and got into the public sector. Now he is the director of the fatherhood initiative for New York City. He is responsible for thousands and thousands of fathers. Through community initiatives, counseling, and other methods his life is dedicated to reunited fathers with their children. I never thought about how tough it is for many men out there that are not permitted to see their children because they do not have any money. The thing that Mike said that hit me the hardest was, “lots of these guys are not so much dead beats, but dead broke”. Much of his energy is spent putting together programs that will help and support fathers reconciling–and getting back into conversations with the mothers of their children. It was an eye-opening conversation–with an extremely passionate and intelligent guy.

Read more

Popularity: 23% [?]

New York City (2008-Present), Street Performers Comments( 3 )
December 16, 2010

“Tron, Burning Man, and Zaragoza”

So, a friend of ours hooked up  Mike, Warner, and I  with tickets to the sneak preview of “Tron” tonight at a ginormous IMAX 3D on the Upper West Side. Before I knew anything about the movie, I was quick to write off the entire general concept of Tron as the nerdiest thing that I had ever heard of. Then, I had vivid flashbacks of being a little kid playing Tron (I think the original came out in 1983 and I have memories of throwing socks at other kids, weird right?).  After that,  I heard through the grapevine that the cinematographic landscape of Tron’s “alternative universe” was inspired by the physical landscape/layout of  Burning Man, Jeff Bridges was the star, and Daft Punk produced the entire soundtrack.

Read more

Popularity: 18% [?]

East Village, New York City (2008-Present) Comments ( 0 )
December 8, 2010

The Russian Turkish Baths – A completely different kind of spa in the East Village

Right around the corner from our place in Stuy-Town, is a legitimate Russian Turkish Bath. The series of saunas has apparently been on 10th street between 1st Avenue and Avenue A since 1892. As of late, I have become a fairly addicted to the completely unique experience. Which, is a bit wild and cultural to say the least. You would never think you were in the middle of downtown Manhattan.  The spa is located in what looks like a few big apartment buildings in the middle of a residential block.

As you come up the stairs into the main room you’ll find very quickly that there are absolutely no frills–except for free razors and Q-tips. They provide towels, robes, and shorts to all comers. The influence is heavily Eastern European both in visitors and employees–and they are not exactly the warmest people you have ever met. They save the “warm” for the saunas downstairs.

Read more

Popularity: 12% [?]

East Village, New York City (2008-Present), NYC Places to check out Comments ( 1 )
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »