PROMPT: Local Custom

Posted on May 10, 2026 by B Gourley

Daily writing prompt

What’s the most interesting local custom you’ve encountered?

My wife and I once had tea in Nagaland with men who’d been cannibals in their youth, but they weren’t anymore (and — in point of fact — probably didn’t have the teeth for solid food anymore,) so I don’t think that counts.

For the most part, I don’t think of customs as being more or less interesting, just — sometimes — unexpected. I’ve noticed that most people see cultural customs as the strange behaviors other peoples do, while their own culture’s customs are largely invisible to them (i.e. “That’s just how things are done; it really couldn’t be done any other way.”) So, I guess it’s been most interesting, having returned from living abroad for more than a dozen years, noticing just how many strange and baffling things Americans do.

PROMPT: Decision

Posted on April 17, 2026 by B Gourley

Daily writing prompt

Describe a decision you made in the past that helped you learn or grow.

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Every decision to travel anywhere has paid a dividend.

PROMPT: Never Want to Visit

Posted on April 16, 2026 by B Gourley

Daily writing prompt

What place in the world do you never want to visit? Why?

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The molten core. Because it’s not a dry heat.

PROMPT: Favorite Restaurant

Posted on April 14, 2026 by B Gourley

Daily writing prompt

What is your favorite restaurant?

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I can’t tell you, precisely, but I know it has one location, is authentically itself, and is what some might describe as a dive. Interestingly, you can find it anywhere in the world if you know where to look.

Nomad [Free Verse]

Posted on March 24, 2026 by B Gourley

Photograph taken in the Parsi Temple of Baku, Azerbaijan.

One who doesn't feel 
   a lot at home anywhere
 Begins to feel a little
   at home everywhere.

He sees not strangeness 
   in strangers --
 No more than he sees
   in himself.

Any one place is not
   greater nor lesser
      than anywhere else.
 
Lands of gold and riches
   are as likely devoid of 
      authenticity - of soul -
   as impoverished places
      are dripping with it.

PROMPT: Cross-Country

Posted on March 17, 2026 by B Gourley

Daily writing prompt

You’re going on a cross-country trip. Airplane, train, bus, car, or bike?

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Could be any or all of the above, plus camel, foot, or snowmobile — depending on the country, of course.

I can’t say how I’d take a cross-country trip without knowing which country it is that I’m crossing. Vatican City frowns on you driving a bus through it, Russia is too long to do entirely on cross-country skis, and one can’t transit Bolivia in a ferry.

Vagabond [Lyric]

Posted on March 4, 2026 by B Gourley

Photograph of a statue of a young vagabond taken at Fo Guang Shan [佛光山,] near Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Each Soul contains its Vagabond 
   - Who yearns to travel light & free -
 But they load too much baggage on,
   Then tether him to a big tree.

PROMPT: Dream Home

Posted on February 11, 2026 by B Gourley

Daily writing prompt

Write about your dream home.

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Regularly teleports to new and interesting places. Ideally, compact from the outside but comfortable inside. So, I guess a TARDIS would be my dream home.