Thomas Kennedy

Strains of Waltzing Matilda under the stars on the Nullarbor Plain Perth arrival, nearly missing my train, but my Sikh taxi driver set me straight…. During all my years of travel to over 100 countries, I had never been to Australia. But a seven - hour flight from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport with the strains of “Waltzing Matilda” stuck in my head (1959 - remember that movie “On the Beach”, primarily set in Australia, describing the apocalyptic nuclear war’s end?) would ch

I have logged thousands of miles in airplanes, through good weather and bad, but some of the most severe turbulence of my many years of flying struck my Vietnam Airlines Airbus 320 as we descended towards Noi Bai Airport on a mid – Sunday morning. Strong sideways jolts were more than an inconvenience as we descended further; friends had told me yesterday there were severe thunderstorms in Hanoi – apparently some still remained. Finally at about 500 feet, the air cleared pavin

Footprints of the American War; searching for an experience that never was. It was July 1968 and the Vietnam War was raging. A lot had happened in the past couple of months for me – graduated from university, started work at the railroad and, most importantly, I lost my student draft deferment. Suddenly, I was now an inductee on my way to Ft. Campbell Kentucky. Cold sweats as I boarded the bus in Indianapolis for the nocturnal trip. Some trepidation, surely, and the depressi

New Mexican Railway – Tren Maya Having worked and traveled in many countries, lived in South Africa and Central Asia during my international consulting career, I realized that I had never been to the closest foreign country to the south, Mexico. While Mexico has lost it once – vast passenger railway network it is the home to the world’s newest, and controversial railway – the Tren Maya. Clearly, this is something I had to see for myself. Immediately, I worked out an itinerary

OCTOBER 2025 In the world travelers’ fraternity, of which I count myself as a full-fledged member, some countries/regions just burst out in their prominence as the location of important and significant experiences that have shaped our lives forever. For me, it was Britain. A rail journey through Egypt and the Sudan, a consulting job in Bangladesh and a chance meeting with a French painter of seascapes from Wales; following up on all these seemingly disparate events, led me to

But it was not all about trains; a meetup with a long-lost relative and canine hounding There is a saying: “Chicago’s El is Hell”. I...

“Would the Sofia Express passengers please remain in the waiting room until the bus is ready”. This chilling announcement was déjà vu...

Trains are the greatest dream machines. From the moment I step aboard a train, I feel transformed into another dimension. The familiar...

Following my recent trips on Amtrak's high speed train, the Acela, I wanted to compare price and service quality with similar trains...

Serious rudder problems with my Seattle – bound 747 from Taipei during a night of driving rain at Narita Airport finally resulted in the...