Tag: travel

Dizzy Spell

A dizzying ride at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, N.J. Photo credit: M. Ciavardini

This ride at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, N.J. reminds me of three-year-olds twirling themselves to dizziness and then collapsing on the ground in laughter. Why do we go to such great heights to drive ourselves dizzy? When does…

A Closet History at the Eastman House

Are the bedrooms of historical figures really this neat? A bedroom in the George Eastman House in Rochester, N.Y. Photo credit: M. Ciavardini

Hat Boxes and the Past in Rochester, N.Y.   Should visitors to Kodak founder George Eastman’s house in Rochester, N.Y. feel nosy upon peeking into closets at the old place? What would someone find if she were to glance into…

A Spiritual Altitude Adjustment at Machu Picchu

Looking out at the world from Machu Picchu, Peru Photo credit: M. Ciavardini

I am so concerned with the physical challenge of Machu Picchu—how much will the altitude affect me? will my head hurt? will I be able to breathe?—that I don’t spend as much time as I should contemplating the spirituality of…

Embracing Winter

Because January is not cold enough in the mainland United States, the Bashful Adventurer embraces winter and heads to Iceland

Machu Picchu for Tea Time

Set back by the mid-January wind chill and an ick-disease variation of the flu, I turn to Mark Adams’s Turn Right at Machu Picchu to carry me away far from the sniffles and Nyquil-charged fog. I am already enthused by…

Have a Quirk and a Smile

A counter at Burger King in Moscow with the name of the restaurant written in cyrillic. Photo credit: M. Ciavardini.

The Bashful Adventurer experiences the joy of visiting everyday places, those frequented by residents but not always by tourists.

Tempted to Walk the Path of Saint James

Until reading Sonia Choquette’s book, Walking Home: A Pilgrimage from Humbled to Healed, I had no idea that travelers deliberately seek to walk the paths of original disciples of Jesus Christ. In a little over a month, and not being…