BY DENA ROD Welcome to The Transgender Sabbatical Blues, an ongoing series exploring Dena Rod’s experience as a transgender, non-binary, Iranian American Bay Area local who took a five-week sabbatical all over the Northern Hemisphere. But stopped I was. Without anyone responding to me on WhatsApp, there was no way that I

Long ago, it was common for members of the Yurok Tribe to catch 50 salmon per day in the Klamath River east of Crescent City near the tiny town of Klamath, population 850. These days, it’s rare for the Indigenous people of Northern California to get seven. But after the

There are a bazillion ways to spend a pleasant day in the City by the Bay. You could meet up with the surfers at Queer Surf, best for the beginners rather than venturing into the froth at Ocean Beach on their own. The radiant jewel neighborhood Bernal Heights is worth

The circumambulation of Mt. Tam. A backyard pilgrimage and hang-out for the Beats since 1956. A student of Zen Buddhism, Snyder had heard of a ceremonial walking practice in Kyoto and around India’s holy Mt. Kailash.

Welcome to The Transgender Sabbatical Blues, an ongoing series exploring Dena Rod’s experience as a transgender, non-binary, Iranian American Bay Area local who took a five-week sabbatical all over the Northern Hemisphere. I couldn’t plan something like a trip to Iran by myself. Despite her fear, Becky still helped with gathering

What to do with mine was so clear to me: I had to go to Iran. After a lifetime of my parents always advising me I should wait until my thirties to sojourn to the motherland (something I’ve explored before), here was the perfect opportunity. What could possibly go wrong with planning this type of adventure? 

A few years ago, I ventured into the mysterious depths of Marin County’s history when a friend convinced me to join them on an exploration of an abandoned cult house – once owned and operated by a now-defunct cult. Little did I know that in the upcoming fall of 2023,

I dash across the landing and just like an Olympic high jumper, I hurl myself, and my giant protruding pregnant belly high up in the air and leap over the head and body of a large man lying lifelessly smack dab in front of my Bart doorway