What Is this?
Common Sense and Whiskey is a longtime Wordpress blog, now on Substack. I try to deliver sharp, intelligent thinking on current events, and I write about off-the-beaten-track travel destinations.
Who is this guy?
I'm Bill Murray, travel writer, amateur photographer and occasionally insightful observer of the world out there. I contribute a monthly column to 3QuarksDaily.com. I curate EarthPhotos.com, a collection of 20,000 photos from 100+ countries. I quit Twitter when it lost its mind, but because it’s useful, I still maintain a Twitter list of 200 experts on Russia’s War on Ukraine, which is currently used by about 1900 followers. I joined Bluesky in November 2024 as a replacement and if it seems useful, I’ll build out a presence there in the new year. I live in Atlanta and my wife and I spend summers on Lake Saimaa in southeastern Finland.
I’m author of four travel books: Common Sense and Whiskey (2011), Visiting Chernobyl (2013), Out in the Cold (2017) and Out There (2021). My wife and I live in Atlanta and spend part of most summers in Finland.
What about the Name?
Common Sense and Whiskey started as a blog sometime back around 2011, first on Typepad then on Wordpress, to compliment to my first travel book, also called Common Sense and Whiskey, which is a collection of essays about travel to many different countries. After a three month trip around the world to places like (then) Burma, Thailand and China, each with their own incomprehensible scripts, I decided even when you have no idea what’s going on around you, you can handle just about anything that comes at you with three essentials: a believable smile, common sense, and whiskey. There wasn’t room on the book cover for all that, so the believable smile lost out, and the book became Common Sense and Whiskey.
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Please recommend CS&W to friends. Maybe say something nice on Twitter, Bluesky or wherever you hang out online. Email me anytime about anything. If you’d like to communicate in real time, the best time to catch me is usually from 10:00 to noon US eastern time. Talk to me. Thanks for reading, and thanks for your time.
