Small Planet Big World Is Moving Again

There was a time when this blog felt like the center of everything.

A place to write things down. To slow moments down. To try to understand what travel meant, not just where I went.

And then, like a lot of things, it went quiet.

Not because the curiosity disappeared. Not because the movement stopped. If anything, the opposite happened. Life kept moving, trips kept happening, stories kept unfolding. They just weren’t landing here.

For a long time, I told myself I’d come back to writing. That I’d pick it up again, the way it used to be. But something had shifted. Not away from storytelling, just toward a different way of doing it.

So instead of forcing this space back into what it was, I decided to let it evolve into what it can be now.

Small Planet Big World is still here. It’s just… in motion again.

Over the past few years, Nefertiti and I have been documenting our travels on video. Not just highlights, but full days. The in-between moments. The long drives. The unexpected turns. The feeling of being somewhere, not just passing through it.

That’s where the stories are landing now.

👉 https://www.youtube.com/@smallplanetbigworld

It’s a different medium, but the intention is the same:

To explore what it means to move through a world that is physically small, but endlessly expansive in experience.

This blog isn’t going away. It just won’t be the primary place for the story anymore. Maybe it becomes a place for reflection. Maybe it fills in the gaps that video can’t quite reach. Or maybe it just sits quietly and occasionally wakes up when there’s something worth saying in words.

For now, if you’re looking for where we’ve been—and where we’re going next—that’s happening on YouTube.

Still the same idea. Just a different form.

If you’ve been following along here over the years, I’d love to see you over there.

Andy

Sunset at the Museum of Science and Industry from Jackson Park

Here are a few photos I've taken in the past month through my Celestron 8" EdgeHD telescope. The first was taken using my Canon EOS T1i camera. The second is a mosaic of 45 images created with a special astrophotography camera (ZWO ASI120MC).

Lunar Eclipse, October 8th 2014

Waxing Gibbous Moon

Back to Fog City

"One day if I do go to heaven I'll look around and say, 'It ain't bad, but it ain't San Francisco." - Herb Caen

I love San Francisco.  Anybody who knows me has heard me talk about it.  My fascination with the city by the Bay started long before I ever traveled there.

A picture is worth a thousand words... so here's like twenty-thousand words to tell you about my latest visit!








.... more to come!

The Eiffel Tower: What Paris Means to Chicago

December 25th, 2009

Let's travel back in time. Not just to 2009... but to 1851. The very first "World's Fair" exhibition of culture and industry was held in Hyde Park, London. An enormous "Crystal Palace" was built to show off England's prowess as a world leader in industry and empire. This became a symbol of the Victorian Age as the industrial era kicked into high gear and began to demonstrate what our species can do with our mastery of combustion, our artistic ability, and our love for the dramatic and grandiose. Inside each of us is a crowd junkie craving to be part of the herd, just hoping to catch a glimpse of our greatest glittering achievements. The Great Exhibition, as it was known, sought to exploit that craving to the fullest.

Across the channel on the continent of Europe, Paris was not going to take this sitting down. The Anglosphere had spoken and it said, "wake up Paris, we know you're in there!!" And so she did... in 1889 Paris threw her very own World's Fair on the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. The "Exposition Universelle" featured something even more dramatic and eye-catching than a Crystal Palace. Paris had a tower... the Eiffel Tower. Built as the entrance arch to the fair, the 1,063 foot tall tower was the tallest man-made structure in the world until the Chrysler Building was completed in New York in 1930. Indeed, Paris had shown the world that she was in charge of Europe and she was as relevant as ever in the industrial age.

Chicago was still a dusty outback to Europe, but there would be a challenge - a gauntlet thrown down. Little did most Europeans know at the time, Chicago was a bustling metropolis that was about to throw a massive World's Fair of her own. To celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus' journey to the America's, Chicago threw the greatest World's Fair yet. Our challenge to the Eiffel Tower was the world's first Ferris Wheel. This demonstrated America's nature to the world: Your tower was great. Our wheel is better! We didn't just do something big, we did something impossible. Suddenly Chicago was on the world stage and she has never turned back - "laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of Youth" - the world is still listening.

Back to that tower, though... since we were talking about my trip to Europe. We came out of the Metro station to find the clouds starting to clear up. The lines were extremely long to get into the tower, but we didn't mind the view from ground level. After taking many photos of the tower, we walked across the river and past the Museum of Man. Around this time I began to recognize Paris. She is not just a pretty tower, some broad boulevards, and a warm baguette. Paris has something... a vibe, a personality, an underlying brilliance that feels exciting and new - despite its 6,200 year history. I fell deeply in love with that personality, that brilliance.

Notre Dame

December 25, 2009 - Christmas Day

My first morning in Paris! After everybody woke up, we put away the air mattress and then I went to a bakery a few doors down to pick up some fresh croissants, chocolate bread, and baguettes. Apparently this is normal in France, to live a few doors down from a bakery... and to eat fresh bread every day. I love it!

 

After eating breakfast and having some coffee, we decided to go see some of the sites in Paris. We hopped on the train to Gare de l'Est and from there took the M4 train to Cité station, which is on an island in the Siene River. From there, we walked past the Palais de Justice to one of the bridges over the Siene and took some pictures.

 

Then we walked back across the island and over to the famous Notre Dame cathedral. We waited in line to get inside, but once we were in we took lots of photos. My new camera was able to get much better pictures in the low light than I've ever been able to get before!

After winding our way through the cathedral, we got back on the M4 at Saint-Michel and took it to Montparnasse-Bienvenue where we transferred to the M6 and rode that to Bir-Hakeim, the closest Paris Métro station to Eiffel Tower.

Basel -> Paris by Train

 

After picking up some snacks at Aldi and packing things frantically, Andreas drove us to the train station in Basel, called Basel S.B.B. I took a couple pictures in the station of the other trains while Andreas told me from what country each had originated. Then I boarded the train with Isabelle and her mom. Once the train got moving I got up from my seat to explore the other cars.

 

We were riding the French TGV - the fastest train on wheels in the world! The ride was so smooth you could hardly tell we were moving at all. It was also dark outside so we could not see the scenery flying by. I walked to the cafe car where there were tables and a small bar that served snacks, coffee, beer, and wine. I opted for an Alsatian Riesling and enjoyed it with a stick of landjäeger - a German smoked meat snack. Isabelle and I spent the rest of the ride looking at the photos I had taken in Australia the month before.

We arrived in Paris at 9:35 and made our way to the commuter train that would take us out to Christéle and Papito's apartment. This was a quick ride but at first I thought that I had lost my train ticket and the conductors were coming through the car to check! After frantically searching all my pockets, it turned out to be with Isabelle and we were relieved that I would not be fined by the train conductor on my first night in Paris.

We arrived at the Vaires-sur-Marne station and met Papito waiting for us on the other side of the turnstile. I was excited to finally reach a destination, and when I pushed my bag through the turnstile it came back up and hit me in the knee -- hard! This would leave me sore and limping for the rest of the trip...

It was Christmas Eve in Paris and all the decorative holiday lights were on. We walked a few minutes to the apartment and met Christele and baby Sohane and a HUGE meal already prepared! We had some Champaign and Desiree had prepared a platter of toasted bread with foie gras, lox, and a pink spread made with caviar. For the main course, we had roasted chicken, goat, and fried plantains. I was stuffed by the end of the meal! I sat back and listened to the family members catch up in Ewondo - not understanding a word. Every now and then Isabelle would try to explain what was going on.

 

We watched the Christmas Eve mass in Rome on the TV and finally we were ready to sleep. We inflated an air mattress and got the earplugs ready for a noisy night of crying Sohane. I slept well dreaming of all the things we would see the next day in Paris... my first visit to the City of Lights!