Bad Things

We arrived in Taipei on December 13th and left on the 18th to explore Alishan. On December 19th, 2025, a 27-year-old man threw smoke grenades and stabbed people in a Taipei metro station, killing three people and injuring eleven others. He then killed himself by jumping from a building. This […]

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 […]

Horseback Riding Day 2: Chocolate Declares War and Loses His Manhood

By Julia / March 23, 2023

Please start with Part I here. On the second day in Viñales, I woke up with a dull ache in my legs. “The four hours of horseback riding yesterday certainly left an uncomfortable reminder.” I mused as I waddled to the bathroom.  The problem was that my adventures in the […]

Galloping Through Viñales

By Julia / March 16, 2023

“Do you know how to ride horses?” our Airbnb host in Viñales asked. “Yes!” I answered without thinking.  If I had thought about it, the answer would have been, “Yes, I sat on a horse twice this year while the owner led it up a mountain, so I can enjoy […]

Havana Ooh Na Na

By Julia / March 9, 2023

There are two pictures I can show people who want to know the impression Havana left on me, both taken on our very first day, the first few pictures in the city. The first is the view from the balcony of our Airbnb. The second is the inside view of […]

Top 20 Things to Do in Mexico City

By Victor / March 2, 2023

As we wrote before, Mexico City is one of our favorite cities.  We’ve been there half a dozen times, and every visit we discover something new and fun.  Here are our 20 reasons why you should visit.  1. Explore Zocalo and Centro Historico The city’s main square is the most […]

More Money, More Problems

By Julia / February 16, 2023

Please start with the previous post, “Money, Money, Money,” where we ask money questions about Cuba, and then continue here, where we answer them.   As we were settling into a colectivo (a shared taxi), one of the fellow tourists started rummaging through his backpack.  Unable to find what he […]

Money, Money, Money

By Julia / February 9, 2023

The biggest headache in planning the Cuba trip wasn’t the itinerary, flights, or visa.  It was money.  Due to the official embargo, Cuban banks do not recognize U.S.-issued debit and credit cards.  So, paying with credit cards and withdrawing cash through ATMs is absolutely not possible for anyone using American […]

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