Fans of single-malt scotch whisky associate single malts from the Isle of Islay in Scotland with bold and peaty flavors. Not every whisky produced on the island is heavily peated, but that’s the signature flavour of the distilleries along the…

The solitary road that leads to the top of Capulin Volcano National Monument in northeast New Mexico curves gracefully around to the top of the crater. Capulin Volcano is an almost-perfect cone-shaped inactive volcano that rises more than 300 metres…

Freemasonry is the world’s largest and oldest fraternity. It’s also sort of hard to define. It’s a fraternal organisation, but it’s also bound up with ideas of morals, charity, and social gatherings.1 For centuries, Masons have taken pride in constructing…

When one thinks of Antarctica, the word “desert” probably does not come immediately to mind. We think of deserts as hot, sandy, sun-drenched places. However, the technical definition is just a place that receives very little precipitation, less than 250…

In our previous exploration of Hong Kong, we looked at how a map of Hong Kong doesn’t give you a good sense of the city’s terrain. There are lots of islands, lots of hills and mountains, scattered neighbourhoods, and plenty…

Hong Kong is one of those places that is known for its skyline, its unique topography—and for being the most prominent example of a colony handed back to its government. If you’ve never been there (as I haven’t), it’s hard…