Taiwan: Shaking in Our Boots

It was an evening of our last day in Kaohsiung, and we were visiting the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas.  Temples in Taiwan usually have dragons painted by one set of doors to indicate that those doors are used to enter the temple, and tigers by another set of doors, which […]

Day Lilies, Yuli Noodles, and the Mountain Mist

Of the four days in the East, we spent three days driving up and down the coastal highway.  These days were filled with stopping at ocean viewpoints, exploring the shoreline’s rugged geoparks, and learning about local indigenous culture. But as we navigated through this narrow stretch of land, sandwiched between […]

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 […]

Driving in Oman: 5 Pros and 1 Con

By Victor / February 13, 2024

I must admit I was a little bit nervous about the prospect of driving in Oman. Driving in the Middle East is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you are going to get. On the one hand, you can get Turkey with its excellent network of roads, […]

How I Became a Fashionista

By Julia / February 8, 2024

Back in 2011, when we were preparing to visit Egypt, it never even occurred to me that this would not be an average trip.  And I am not just talking about ending up in the middle of the Arab Spring with violent and deadly protests happening three blocks away from […]

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 […]

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