Finally Monkeys!
And finally – Monkeys!!! After scouring untold miles of rain forests for them, a family of howler monkeys took up residence in a mango tree across the road from my house in Playas del Coco. The [...]
Traveling With my Parents (!)
I’m roaming Scandinavia with my parents, seeing family, tracing the paths of my dad's ancestors and connecting with each other. Our days are filled with beautiful, incredible scenery, a mystifying language, and quite a bit of [...]
German Airports
Germany is a beautiful fly-over - it looks a lot like the Winona area from the air, except there are a zillion small towns separated by sometimes just a couple of miles of farm fields. I'm not [...]
Take Probiotics
I did not take my own advice and start probiotics two weeks before I came to Havana, and from midnight yesterday to this moment I've felt like I was going to die because I've been so sick [...]
Sevilla and the Rat Leap of (un)Death
Holy sh*t you guys. It's about 10:30 pm here and I was sitting on a high wall overlooking a river walk getting a little fresh air. I'd just come out of a flamenco show that I [...]
Off-roading it in Ronda, Spain
Oooooohhhhh. Today I found Spain. Don't get me wrong - Seville was nice and picturesque and interesting. I really enjoyed it. But this morning I arrived at Ronda, a small city I'm sure you've never heard [...]
Seville, Selfies, and Serious Architecture
Oh my God Seville... pronounced like Saveeya in Spain BTW - what a beautiful city. I mean the real-deal beautiful, where even though probably half of us are tourists, nothing feels very touristy at all and everything [...]
American Overheads
I am 10 hours into a trip to Rome and I haven’t even gotten out of Philadelphia yet. So far, I’ve been day drunk in La Crosse because of a long flight delay and a bartender with [...]
Sevilla’s Secret Convent Sweets
Seville, Day 2 (or 3, or whatever). This morning I set off in search of a convent. Don't get excited, folks - my love life isn't THAT bad and I won't be wearing a habit anytime soon. [...]
Dumb Mistakes and Spiritual Healing
I made a mistake yesterday. A dumb one. I handed my wallet to a total stranger and I turned my back. I paid. Sounds impossible, right? I've traveled for tens of thousands of miles by myself. Why [...]
Discovering the Algarve the Hard Way
I went looking for the end of the earth, and I found it - in more ways than one. With my trusty Ford Fiesta rental car and my Google Maps gps, I wound my way to [...]
Lessons From Portugal
So I'm sitting on a bus that just crossed the border from Portugal to Spain, heading for Seville. I'm sad to be leaving because it just wasn't enough time - Portugal has many layers of interesting and [...]
The Incredible Algarve
OKkkkk - today I discovered what all the fuss is about in the Algarve... I mean holy sh*t - have a look at THIS! It's Praia Marenha with cove after cove of these magical beaches. Some [...]
Portuguese is not Spanish!
It seems my language issues continue. Guess what folks? Portuguese is almost nothing like Spanish, and my English babbling has caused some confusion. Today I ordered an espresso, and then I asked for it to have just [...]
Tulum and the Beach Dogs
Every day that starts at 4:30 a.m. is a rough day, at least in Cindiland. But the carrot at the end of this day was a sugar beach in Tulum, 1,700 miles, 40 degrees, and a [...]