Thailand in April – Sightseeing in the Heat

Ask any expat who has lived in Asia for a stretch, or any seasoned traveler who has spent time mapping the region’s tricky monsoon seasons, and they will likely give you the same piece of advice: avoid Thailand in...

Best things to do in Tauranga

Tauranga is New Zealand’s stunning coastal paradise, a sun-drenched gem on the North Island’s Bay of Plenty. With its crystal-clear beaches, majestic mountains, thriving metropolitan energy, and world-class dining,...

Whirlwind Weekend – California Road Trip to Point Reyes and Yosemite

Another weekend, another opportunity for me to question my husband’s sanity and my own.  Which begs the question, who is crazier – the guy who attempts a road trip to visit both Point Reyes National Seashore and...

Maldives – What Five Days in Paradise Looks Like

I hate it when my husband’s right. Fortunately he’s kind enough to refrain from the litany of “I told you so’s” afterwards, but I can tell that’s what he’s thinking from the obvious glint in his eyes. He...

Dog Tripping Through Mammoth Lakes

Before we adopted dogs, I wasn’t a huge fan of road trips.  The very idea would conjure up images of cramped seats, monotonous scenery and not-often-enough potty breaks.  This all changed when we became a dog-centric...

Whirlwind Weekend – Beach Hopping in San Diego

There once was a time when my husband and I would spend a week or two of our vacation days sprawled poolside at a fancy beach resort doing nothing more than lose track of time and contemplate what to order at our next...

Fly and Ride: Fall Foliage Along the Blue Ridge Parkway

Ever since our trip to Asheville over Labor Day weekend, Jimmy has been enthralled with the notion of going back to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway in the late fall. As someone who sat in the backseat during Jimmy’s first...

Eight Things I Learned in Maui

The more I travel, I find I am less interested in checking off bucket lists and more interested in reflecting on the imprints each place leaves on my heart. Often times this will earn me empty stares from friends when...

Whirlwind Weekend – Road Trip to Yellowstone National Park

Two days and a full tank of gas inspired us to undertake a road trip that would be considered a stretch for even the most seasoned travel maximizer.  To round out what my husband has termed our “National Parks Extravaganza”...

Romance of the Eternal City

The thing I remember most about Rome and the Vatican is that we did a lot of walking.  While the same could be said about our entire Italy trip (a detail that still scares some of our close friends and family from taking...

Unsent Letter to Mom

I want to kick off the countdown to ten years ago with an unsent letter to my mom that I fished out of my draft folder just the other day. It was a casualty of the confluence of last-minute travel plans and everyday...

Magical Daydream in Como and Milan

For those who have been following our whirlwind trip through Italy in 10 days, I have saved the best for last—but not for the reason you might think. The last leg of our trip took us back to Milan to catch our flight...

Whirlwind Weekend – Seattle – Deception Pass and Mt Rainier

This past weekend my husband and I hopped on the plane to visit our dear friends in Seattle, WA to kick-start what I’ve decided to call “Wacky Whirlwind Weekends” (“WWW”).  Plural.  As in there is more to...

Tis the Season to be Grateful – Postcard from Prague

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but in some cases, the picture cannot tell the whole story. This particular one was taken during our one-day exploration of the lovely city of Prague en route to Switzerland....

Five Reasons to Take Your Parents Along on Your Next Travel Adventure

Make no mistake that cramming 4 adults into a confined space (car, plane, hotel rooms) for extended periods of time with few intermissions for over 20+ days is a guaranteed recipe for conflict. In fact, by day 5 we’d...

Peru & Chile in 11 Days – Part 7 – Hiking to Machu Picchu’s Intipunku Sun Gate

Like a scene from an epic adventure movie, our first glimpse of Machu Picchu was shrouded in mist.  Past the turnstiles, we were greeted with a narrow, non-nondescript trail that turned a sharp corner several hundred...

Peru and Chile in 11 Days – Part 2 – Exploring Cusco

Lack of adequate sleep will do crazy things to your mind.  Usually, on the days I don’t get enough sleep, life appears to unfold slowly and deliberately.  The cadence of everything around me becomes a stark contrast...

Peru and Chile in 11 Days – Part 1 – Travel to Peru

Our Itinerary: Day 1: Flight to Lima, Peru Day 2: Flight to Cusco, Peru + tour of Cusco + tour of Cinchero in Sacred Valley Day 3: Full-day tour of Sacred Valley – Pisaq (or Pisac), Ollantaytambo, and Moray Day 4:...

Three Days in Paris – The Trip

Having potentially set ourselves up for a disastrous first trip to Paris with a jam-packed itinerary, it’s time to assess and evaluate. How did we do? It’s definitely not an experience everyone (actually, most) would...

Free Transit Tour – Best Way to Spend Five Hours in Seoul

Ever since I’d learned that Korea’s Incheon Airport offers free sightseeing tours for transit passengers I’ve been itching to route a trip through Seoul just to experience it. For experienced DIY- travelers like...

Kayak Adventure in Virginia Beach

You see, when you make you one change in your life (say, travel more often) inevitably you feel empowered to try even more new things.  Which is how we found ourselves on the sandy beaches of First Landing State Park,...

Free Istanbul City Tour

Sometimes, the best things in travel are actually free. The best city tours are the ones that have you pondering the possibilities of a return visit even before the day’s done. We had such an experience with Turkish...

Battle at Hiroshima

I don’t have very many pictures from our day trip to Hiroshima because when you’re fighting the last thing you want to do is snap a picture to commemorate the moment. As we made our way from Osaka to Hiroshima on...

Peru & Chile in 11 Days – Part 9 – Exploring the Machu Picchu Ruins

On route to the main attraction – the ruins of Machu Picchu – we decided to make a brief stop on the terraces to refuel and rest our weary feet.  Along with a few wandering llamas and a handful of hostel-hopping...

Peru & Chile in 11 Days – Part 8 – Hiking to Machu Picchu’s Inca Bridge

Our itinerary for the 11-Day Trip to Peru and Chile was: -Day 1: Flight to Lima, Peru Day 2: Flight to Cusco, Peru + Tour of Cusco + Tour of Chinchero in Sacred Valley Day 3: Full-day tour of Sacred Valley – Pisaq...

Peru & Chile in 11 Days – Part 14 – Easter Island in a Day

Most of Easter Island was still asleep when our plane touched down on the single landing strip of Mataveri International Airport.  In fact, the airport itself appeared to slowly awaken only minutes after the airplane...

A Tale of Twin Buddhas

Japan is one of the best places to get lost in. Although Tokyo is a dense, sprawling metropolis of people, buildings and activity, traveling a few hours by train can land you in storybook towns that showcase Japan’s...