In the Sea of Clouds

When we travel, we usually try to avoid pre-planning everything. By rigidly scripting every activity down to the minute, you can easily deprive yourself of genuine travel experiences, instead just following the “script”.  But that doesn’t work with sunrises and sunsets, especially if you want to catch them from a […]

Hugging Trees in Alishan

Alishan was giving me a headache. Trying to fit this mountainous forest into our itinerary was a challenging task. No direct trains from Taipei. No direct buses. Renting a car and driving up there? Maybe. But that wasn’t ideal. The most reasonable option was to get to the city of […]

Getting My Ears Picked in Taiwan

One of the pleasures of going to Asia, at least for me, is the massages.  Everywhere from Thailand to Vietnam to Cambodia, the massages are excellent, cheap, and widely available. From restorative foot massages after a long day of hiking, to full body deep tissue rubdown that leaves me in […]

Kaohsiung 高雄市: My kind of town

“Please just point to it on the map. Don’t try to pronounce it!” Julia pleaded with me as we approached a ticket counter at the Tainan train station to buy tickets to our next destination. The day before, she was chatting with her massage therapist and tried to tell him […]

Introductory Course: Taipei 101

All of a sudden, everyone knows what Taipei 101 is, after Alex Honnold scaled Taiwan’s tallest building with no ropes and no fear, live on Netflix. We were in Taipei a month before this death-defying stunt, and when Victor mentioned that we would visit Taipei 101, I had no idea […]

Welcome to Oman!

By Julia / February 1, 2024

We arrived in Muscat early in the morning, having spent the last two nights in an airplane, the first flying from Chicago to Frankfurt, and 14 hours later, from Frankfurt to Muscat.  Unsurprisingly, we were exhausted.  We checked into the hotel, ate breakfast, and collapsed into bed.  Four hours later, […]

Christmas Miracle in Frankfurt

By Julia / January 18, 2024

It was 11:30 am and I was in the office, finishing my morning tasks and wondering what I was going to do for lunch.  It was a regular day as any other, except we had a 9 pm flight to Munich and after a 12-hour layover another flight to Muscat, […]

The Cotton Castle in Türkiye

By Julia / December 13, 2023

The first time I saw a picture of Pamukkale, I had no idea what I was looking at. Was it snow? Super white sand? White marble? Salt deposits? Was this natural or man-made?  These questions were not answered until we physically got to Pamukkale, mostly because Victor insisted that I […]

The Lycian Way: The Guide for the Unprepared.

By Victor / December 6, 2023

In moments of blissful daydreaming, I often imagine what I would do if I had unlimited time and was in better physical shape.   One thing that immediately pops into my mind is embarking on a long-distance hike.  Wouldn’t it be great to walk the entire length of the Appalachian Trail […]

BRAAAAINS! It’s Not Just a Zombie Snack!

By Julia / November 23, 2023

After snacking on sütlaç, Turkish coffee, and one bite of boyoz, while wandering around Kemeralti Market in Izmir, it was finally time for lunch.  After a whole morning of delicious smells coming from various food carts and small cafes, Victor and I already had our preferred meals picked out. While […]

Izmir Food Special

By Julia / November 16, 2023

When Victor visited Istanbul last year with his parents, he was so impressed with Turkish markets that he later wrote three blog posts on this topic (post #1, post #2, post #3). So obviously, while visiting Türkiye this year, we couldn’t skip Kemeralti Market in Izmir, one of the oldest […]

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