Thanks for joining me on the journey.
I’m an American travel writer dividing my time between Seville, Spain and California. I travel the world seeking intriguing curiosities and outrageously delicious comfort food so I can have the fun of writing about them here. — Karen McCann
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Thinking About Taking Your Dog Abroad? Read This!
Eskimo Pie in her crate, shortly before we took her to Spain. “We’re thinking of taking the dog with us when we go to Portugal for two months,” my sister-in-law said recently. “Like you did with Pie.” Boy, did that spark memories! When we lived in rural Ohio, Eskimo Pie hated to be left behind…
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Insider Tricks for Ordering Drinks in Seville’s Café-Bars
“Oh my God, I can’t drink that!” a British friend exclaimed recently, peering aghast into a cup she’d just fetched from the bar. She’d made the rookie mistake of ordering with a literal translation: té con leche (tea with milk). When I first arrived in Seville in 2001, I learned the hard way that such…
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Quirky, Oddball Places to Visit in Seville
It’s easy to become dazzled by Seville’s gorgeous architecture, passionate flamenco, great food, and vibrant street life. The city’s abundant charms and reasonable prices have made Seville the current darling of international travel, inspiring Rick Steves’ new video , The Independent’s “ 20 Photos that Show Why Seville Was Voted 2018’s Top Place to Visit…
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What You Won’t Find in Seville’s Winter Wonderland
The news that Lonely Planet designated Seville as the #1 Travel Destination of 2018 sent shockwaves through the expat community here. On the one hand, it justifies what we’ve been telling skeptical family and friends for years: this is one of the most delightful places in the world. On the other hand, we’re just a…
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A Traveler’s Guide to Creating Holiday Fun for the Whole Family
I love all holidays, including those that were never part of my family traditions. Rich and I were once in India during the spring Holi Festival, where people celebrate the triumph of good over evil by throwing paint on one another. We wore old clothes and considered it a hoot to get spattered in honor…
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Ordinary Women in Extraordinary Times
Among the joys of travel are encounters with ordinary women living in extraordinary times who accomplish seemingly impossible things with minimal resources. Take the Kenyan village that Rich and I once visited on behalf of an American charity. Located close to ground zero of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the remote jungle village had lost half its…
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Travel Is the Best Exercise
“Being entirely honest with oneself,” said Sigmund Freud, “is a good exercise.” And to be entirely honest, the only time I thoroughly enjoy exercise is when it doesn’t feel like exercise at all. Tell me I’m on a weight-loss program that requires 10,000 steps a day and I immediately want to stretch out on the…
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How to Choose Great Travel Clothes
This Halloween, Rich caused a sensation dressing in a Cardinal’s outfit (the religious official, not the bird or Arizona’s football team). He looked splendid in his red satin robe, and as we walked through Seville, people roared with laughter, dashed out of bars to kneel and pretend to kiss his ring, and asked to have…
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Dive Bar Survival Guide
Last month I introduced a French friend to my favorite California dive bar, the Silver Peso , and it was clearly love at first sight. Smiling with delight, Sandra glanced around the dim room, slid onto the ragged bar stool, leaned across the sticky wooden bar, and said, “White wine.” Aghast, I tried to shout…
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Petaluma, CA: “These two chickens walk into a dive bar…”
“Hey, the new SMART train is finally starting,” Rich said. The endless delays, over everything from technical glitches to permit issues, had become a local joke. “We should try it out.” I instantly thought of Petaluma , where we were scheduled to meet friends for lunch on Thursday. “How about an overnight stay at the…
TRAVEL with CURIOSITY
These days I’m cultivating curiosity, which science says will keeps my brain agile. I figure spending more time on the road and indulging my natural nosiness about the world will be good therapy and a cheerful counterpoint to today’s headlines. And I will never run out of quirky stuff to write about.
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