The Wild, Wild East: Taiwan’s Enigmatic East Coast

Like Alishan, we considered cutting the East Coast out of our itinerary entirely. The region was remote, and it was a logistical puzzle to plan.  Also, it was the only place in Taiwan where we needed to rent a car and potentially drive through what looked on the map like […]

Food.  Taiwan.  Must I Say More?

I wanted to write about the top 10 dishes we ate in Taiwan and quickly realized that the list was way longer than 10 and each dish deserved its own blog post, and this would quickly spiral into Two Cats Backpack Eats Taiwanese Food for Entirety of the Foreseeable Future […]

Breakfast of Champions in Taiwan

One thing that never stopped surprising me about Taiwan is how you can be strolling down a sidewalk one moment and the next, you are suddenly in the middle of a busy restaurant. And I don’t mean just outdoor seating, which is common enough around the world. I am talking […]

Little Teapot Short and Stout

If your country historically has rocks and water in close proximity to each other, I will probably end up writing a post about it. Let me explain. Anywhere in the world where there are rocks and water, there will usually be deposits of clay, created by the breakdown of igneous […]

The Mist, the Cloud, the Tea, and the Sunset: The Trails of Shizhuo

The hardest part of any itinerary is usually not where to visit or when, but for how long. There are always disagreements online over how much time each place deserves, with some people claiming to have fully explored everything in one day, while others take a week. And when it’s […]

Español Nicaragüense Es Pura Deacachimba

By Victor / February 20, 2025

My First Post in Spanish “Sabes qué,” me dijo el guia nicaragüense, “eres el primer gringo que conozco que habla español muy bien.” Estabámos en la cima del Volcán Telica, a cien metros del cráter, y no podía creer lo que acababa de eschuchar.  Antes de visitar Nicaragua, no podía […]

Volcano Day: Up We Go

By Julia / February 13, 2025

In 2014, Victor was in Panama, and his favorite story was visiting Embera village and watching a pet toucan wash itself in a small outdoor sink.  Victor turned on the faucet to wash his hands, and the bird flew right in and started splashing around and trying to awkwardly fit […]

Volcano Day: Down We Go

By Julia / February 6, 2025

The way it usually goes is like this: Victor plans the itinerary, and I book the transportation and accommodations.  One thing about Victor is that he is meticulous, detail-oriented, and thorough. He doesn’t make mistakes, he doesn’t forget small details, he doesn’t just leave off details from the itinerary for […]

Skipping Managua.  Part II. Leon

By Victor / January 30, 2025

One week after visiting Granada, we drove into its long-time rival-Leon. Like Granada, Leon is set in a breathtaking location.  Approaching the city from the north, we counted at least six volcanoes on the horizon, all part of the Cordillera de Maribios. As we got closer, it became obvious that […]

Skipping Managua.  Part I.  Granada

By Victor / January 23, 2025

One clear trend in our travels is that Central American capital cities don’t get much love from us. It’s just the way it is.  In Guatemala, upon arrival, we left the capital, Guatemala City, without ever seeing it.  In San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador, we spent only half […]

A Whole New Life

By Julia / January 16, 2025

Start with Part I Here We were walking from Airbnb towards the livestock barns, and I noticed it wasn’t quite as dark as I thought it would be.  As we were driving up the mountain, my fear of encroaching darkness made me feel that it was much later in the […]

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