My blog has migrated to a new host and is being painstakingly reconstructed here. Please bear with me as I iron out wrinkles, hammer out the dents, and apply enough spit and duct tape to hold it all together.— Karen
During the first two days of our Cost Rica honeymoon, Rich and I took dozens of snapshots of friendly locals, exotic jungles, and each other, until I finally thought to ask, “Say, how many shots do we have on that roll of film, anyway?” And that’s when we discovered neither of us had remembered to…
Iranian family in Isfahan, Iran. Photo by David Stanley When American Jeff Greenwald went to Iran to photograph the solar eclipse in 1999, he didn’t seriously expect gunplay to erupt during the astrological event. True, Iran was a strict Islamic republic in the run-up to 9/11, but so far the Iranians had been helpful and…
A TRAVEL SKILL YOU MAY NEED SOMEDAY? Runaway camels. UFO abductions. Leeches. The world is full of catastrophes waiting to strike, and the sensible traveler is prepared to encounter pretty much anything. On my own journeys, I’ve dealt with tornados, snakes, earthquakes, inebriated Americans in Japanese karaoke bars, and broken bones when camping in deep…
THIS SENTIMENT WAS NOT SHARED BY THE CROCODILE. Here’s a hot packing tip: leave your live reptiles at home . Unfortunately, one passenger didn’t get the memo on this, and he stuffed a crocodile into his duffle bag just before boarding a small plane in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The crocodile got loose…
THIS WENT VIRAL WITH THE CAPTION “BEST SELFIE EVER?” Living in a destination city like Seville, I’ve had ample opportunity to observe tourists behaving badly. And before I go any further, let me just say that most visitors are perfectly delightful guests – energetic, cheerful, and appreciative, contributing to the city’s bonhomie as well as…
“Reading old travel books or novels set in faraway places,” writes Phil Cousineau in The Art of Pilgrimage , “spinning globes, unfolding maps, playing world music, eating in ethnic restaurants, meeting friends in cafés . . . all these things are part of never-ending travel practice, not unlike doing scales on a piano, shooting free-throws,…
OK, I’ll admit that those of us who have passed our 50th birthdays (and then some) can rarely stay up all night partying with rowdy strangers, crash on the floor for a few hours, then bounce up feeling fit, fabulous, and raring to go. But unless that sort of evening is essential to your itinerary,…
The Spanish siesta is, in my humble opinion, one of the greatest inventions of human civilization and justifiably famous around the world. What most people don’t know is that it’s usually followed by a small, delightful meal known as merienda , usually a coffee and pastry, often eaten in the company of family and friends…
“Do you have any idea how hard it is to buy a guidebook for Albania?” I asked a friend recently. “I could almost hear the Amazon computers thinking, ‘Seriously? Why would you want to go there ?’” A response I’d been getting a lot lately from various humans of my acquaintance. “Albania I can understand,”…
I knew something was wrong when our cab driver, a twitchy guy with glassy eyes, popped the clutch, stalled out, then tore off into traffic as if we were being pursued by the undead . Careening along Madrid’s freeways, he kept squirming, fidgeting, mumbling, and spitting out the window. When he wasn’t doing that… “Yikes!”…
CELEBRATING GOOD NEIGHBORS These days I’m writing about Good Neighbors, exploring how the people around me are working to help each other get through these challenging times. My weekly posts appear on Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on my travel and research schedule.
THIS BLOG IS A PROMOTION-FREE ZONE. As my regular readers know, I never get free or discounted goods or services for mentioning anything on this blog (or anywhere else). I only write about things I find interesting and/or useful.
