Places – Evolution Shaman

Beware Menus You Can’t Read

Post author:sparsonsster
Post published:July 12, 2026
Post category:Insights Places

Originally published on Substack. Read and subscribe here. https://deferocontra258173.substack.com/p/beware-menus-you-cant-read?r=3ouoi0 One evening, I sat down at a large open-air restaurant in Da Lat, Vietnam. I already knew this place catered almost exclusively to locals. No problem, I thought. I'm an adventurous eater. A few days earlier I'd used Google Translate to…

A Place Called Darjeeling

Post author:sparsonsster
Post published:November 13, 2018
Post category:Places

Yes - there is a place called Darjeeling. And yes, it's the same Darjeeling as the well known English black tea. The name even sounds strangely English. But what's especially thrilling about Darjeeling is it's relationship to Mt. Everest and the late Tenzing Norgay, above, who was the very first human…

Evolution Shaman provides uncommon observations and commentary on external and internal travel. These are actual reports not fictional creations, taken mostly from the life experience of the author.

Stephen Parsons

Mr. Parsons has traveled to and through 26 countries in North, Central, and South America, Europe, and Asia for personal and professional purposes. He has participated in 80 shamanic plant-medicine journeys in a variety of locations including Peru, Ecuador, and Mexico. He scaled an 18,000 ft. peak in the Cordillera Blanca of the Peruvian Andes. Over time, he has integrated these extraordinary experiences with non-dualist and embodied awakening teachings. Having earned an MA in science Journalism, Mr. Parsons has applied his writing skills to a range of personal and commercial projects in New York, Madison, Wisconsin and Portland, Oregon.