Aaron Brownell in Tel Aviv 2019

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The Website for Author Aaron T. Brownell

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  • The Mysterious Ruins of Nan Madol

    The Mysterious Ruins of Nan Madol

    If you’re a history buff or you’ve spent any wasted time watching shows like The Unexplained, Ancient Aliens, or Unbelievable then you’ve probably heard of the ruins of Nan Madol. The quick overview is that Nan Madol is an archeological site on the east side of the island of Pohnpei, in Micronesia. It was the…

    vern2011

    January 20, 2026
    Travel, Uncategorized
    Backpacker, Expat Life, international travel, Micronesia, Mysterious Places, Mystery, Nan Madol, Pohnpei, Ruins, The Pacific Ocean, Travel
  • Diving the World Famous Wrecks of Chuuk Lagoon

    In March of 2025 I was able to check a huge box in the travel bucket list. I went wreck diving in Chuuk Lagoon. Chuuk (or Truk as most of the world still refers to it) is a tiny Atoll in the middle of the western Pacific Ocean. It’s part of a larger collection of…

    vern2011

    January 11, 2026
    Uncategorized
    Expat Life, international travel, Micronesia, new experiences, scuba diving, The Pacific Ocean, travel advice, Truk Lagoon, World War Two, Wreck Diving
  • Stuck in a Tropical Hell.

    Stuck in a Tropical Hell.

    The joys of tropical island travel. Wanting to get away and travel back off the grid, I took a job on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It seemed like a good idea, at the time. General Information Stopping to take a good look at the blog posts while updating the book…

    vern2011

    February 26, 2024
    Expat Life, Travel, Uncategorized
    B25 Bomber, Coral, Corsair, Ex-Pat, Expat Life, international travel, Marshall Islands, scuba diving, topical Island Travel
  • Bratislava. Good God, i’m in Eastern Europe!

    Bratislava. Good God, i’m in Eastern Europe!

    Alright, it’s time to start with a straightforward confession. I went to Bratislava for the Eurotrip jokes. I’ve seen that movie about 50 times (a conservatively low number) and have always loved the Bratislava part. I also confess that I knew the city didn’t look like it was portrayed in the movie. No cities really…

    vern2011

    September 5, 2021
    Travel
    Backpacker, beer, Bratislava, castle, Eastern Europe, euro, Europe, Europe2019, international travel, new experiences, Slovakia, The Danube
  • More Observations from the road. Another round of stuff that I noticed while backpacking around europe.

    It’s never during the excitement of the experience that you tend to notice the oddities of the world. It’s during the quiet down time, when you’re stuck in an airport or sitting quietly on a park bench or waiting out a transfer at the train station that you notice something about what you’ve experienced was…

    vern2011

    July 5, 2021
    Travel
    Ammon, Backpacker, Bucharest, coffee, Europe, food, international travel, Istanbul, Lima, new experiences, taxis, transfers, travel advice
  • Vienna, Austria. Two Days is not enough time.

    I confess that I wasn’t naturally attracted to Vienna at the beginning. I needed a place to stay, that was a quick train ride from the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, and Vienna fit the bill. it was big, had lots of stuff to do, was easy to get in/out of, and was a straight…

    vern2011

    April 5, 2021
    Travel
    Austria, Austrian National Library, Backpacker, Europe, Europe2019, Grand Prix, Hapsburg, Hapsburg Palace, Red Bull Ring, Vienna, western europe
  • Poland, Part 2. Learning history at Auschwitz, Birkenau, and the wieliczka salt mine.

    A Quick Overview If you spend more than a brisk afternoon in Krakow, or spend any amount of up-front time researching things to do when you get there, you will come across the obligatory Concentration Camp/Salt Mine Day Trip. It is absolutely guaranteed. I think I first stumbled across it in Prague when searching for…

    vern2011

    March 15, 2021
    Travel
    Auschwitz, Backpacker, Birkenau, Day Trip, Europe, Krakow, middle aged traveler, Poland, Rick Steves, Salt mines, Summer 2019, traveler
  • Poland, Part 1. Krakow! My new favorite place.

    Upon proofreading this blog post, I confess it comes off as a little utilitarian. Trust me when I say that its utility in no way reflects my new-found love for the city of Krakow. I travel a lot, and its easy to get jaded. You see things as another museum, or another beach , or…

    vern2011

    January 14, 2021
    Travel
    Backpacker, Bulldog Bar, Churches, Dragon's Den, EURail, Europe, Europe2019, international travel, Krakow, Krakow Old Town, museums, Pierogi, Poland, travel advice, Wawel Castle
  • Prague! Europe’s Current “It” City.

    Everybody I know has either been to Prague or wants to go to Prague. So yes, I too made a stop to check out this trendy city on the banks Vltava River. I found the capital city of the Czech Republic to be both charming, and (sadly) ridiculously overrun with people. Many of the city’s…

    vern2011

    October 29, 2020
    Travel
    Backpacker, beer gardens, castle, cathedral, Charles Bridge, Czech Republic, Eastern Europe, enjoying life, Euro Zone, international travel, museums, new experiences, overrun, Prague, travel advice
  • Budapest! Hungarian Magnificence.

    ***I wandered into Budapest in June of 2019. This blog post, minus the currency information and the updated COVID information, reflects that adventure. Please check with your embassy regarding the current travel situation. Budapest, Hungary is a city where the beer is cold, the tourist sites are amazing, and the people are friendly. Two cities,…

    vern2011

    September 27, 2020
    Travel
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