Ever since getting on a plane and flying to Rome 20 years ago with a backpack full of traveler’s checks (do those still exist?), I’ve never much worried about not having a place to stay when I arrived at my…
Germany Year Zero
I wasn’t sure what to think when I happened upon a memorial to victims of the war at St. Nikolai church in Hamburg, Germany. What remains of the church is basically a bell tower and a basement, some walls, now…
Is Ecuador Full of New Yorkers?
The Youthful Adventurer and I hadn’t even boarded the first plane on our journey to the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador when I began to wonder whether I was heading to a tourist trap populated by visitors from the tri-state area.…
Bosco Cafe: Chewing It Up in Red Square
The Kremlin: Napoleon Was Here
I’m not sure what I expected to see within the walls of the Kremlin, the centuries-old fortress that is the seat of the Russian government. That old cannons from Russia’s own War of 1812 were there surprised me as these…
Russia, Contrariwise
Five months back from Russia, I am still challenged to write about my trip, still trying to even begin understanding this vast country. Russia seems to me to be a nation of contradictions, the brute of a country cousin to…
Even Non-Birders Can Enjoy Galapagos
I didn’t head to Ecuador to be at one with the birds. I’ve never been especially drawn to the things. I didn’t appreciate the claws on the parrots at Parrot Jungle. My grandmother’s caged parakeets—still singing despite their incarceration—annoyed me.…
The First Thanksgiving Was in Florida
Sitting on the patio of the golf clubhouse at the Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel in Orlando and watching the pastel-clad golfers, their carts, and the sand traps, Florida’s dark history seems remote, a dream. Brutal Spanish explorers, Protestants killing Catholics,…
Survived the Apocalypse? Head to Disney
The Brawny Sherpa and I were more than grateful to head out of town after weathering Hurricane Sandy incredibly well—lost power for a few days, had only very minor damage to the purple bungalow, and temporarily hosted some of our…
Have a Limited Travel Budget? Try an Amazon Jungle Walk
Everything I needed to know about traveling, I could have learned from Ed Stafford’s Walking the Amazon: 860 Days. One Step at a Time. He’s the first man to have walked the Amazon, a little journey that took him just…
What’s to Fear in Guayaquil?
I was hesitant to fly in to Guayaquil for an overnight stay before departing for the Galapagos Islands, mostly because some Ecuadorians I volunteered with at a kitchen supplying lunches for the elderly kept telling me I would be mugged…
