This isn’t a travel guide — it’s a record of learning to move through the world and letting the world move through me.
What you’ll find here are the highlights: fragments of longer journeys, gathered across decades of exploration and change. Over time, my family grows, my focus shifts, and my writing matures — yet the impulse remains the same: to see, to feel, and to grow. To learn compassion for myself and my family, and to better understand my place in the world.
Once, I thought that I needed adventure to provoke change. Over the course of these writings, though, I learned that my writing only required truth to reveal it.
From the beaches of Central America to the mountains of China, from crowded Varanasi streets to quiet ferries across the Baltic — each journey has been a small act of surrender, and a reminder that discovery begins when control ends. Travel, I find, is when I’m most self-aware, most intentional, and at the same time, most present. Away from the noise of routine, I see my place within the surrounding motion — the quiet intersections of people, culture, and chance. It’s where compassion comes easiest, and empathy has room to breathe.
In many ways, this is not the collection I expected. Instead of documenting the travel experience itself, I show a reflection of myself, seen through the eyes of travel.
So, whether you’re here for travel inspiration, a glimpse of life abroad, or simply to walk alongside the story for a while — I’m glad you found your way here.
Inspired by My Dad, Dedicated to My Children
Night after night growing up, my siblings and I would beg my dad for his adventure stories — and night after night, he obliged.
He told us of running from wild bears in Yosemite, of drinking from waterfalls midair, of climbing sheer cliffs to escape the Pacific’s undertow.
He always began the same way:
“A long, long time ago…”
His stories blurred myth and memory, and I never imagined I’d have any of my own to tell. It wasn’t until traveling abroad that I realized I had — that I’d crossed the invisible line between listener and storyteller. One day, when I tell these stories to my own children, I hope they’ll hold them with the same sense of wonder I felt hearing his.
These are my “Adventure Stories.”
Disclaimer
Travel is uncertain. History is messy. Culture is never one-sided.
What you’ll find here are personal reflections — shaped by my background, my perspective, and my learning over time. I aim to share honestly, not definitively. I don’t claim the full picture — only what I saw, felt, and understood.
At times, I’m critical — sometimes of actions or encounters, never of entire cultures. I recognize that people act within systems and histories larger than themselves.
Every place I’ve visited has given me something meaningful: joy, insight, surprise, or grace. Even in conflict, I’ve found beauty and generosity, and I carry deep gratitude for that.
If something I write lands poorly, I invite you to read with that context in mind. I’m still learning, and this space reflects that process.
Please Note:
Names and identifying details have been changed for privacy. The stories otherwise remain true to my experience.
Copyright Notice
Unless otherwise noted, all photographs are original, taken on location by either me or my wife.
All text, images, and media © Caleb Davis. Please do not reproduce without permission.