Monterrey, Mountains, and Unexpected Mexico
For those of you following along, I mentioned how our tickets to Monterrey had been canceled twice, and it was becoming increasingly unclear whether the universe really did not want us visiting this part of Mexico or whether Viva Aerobus was only pretending to offer flights there. Well, we finally […]
In the Saddle: Conquering Cerro de la Silla
Its image is everywhere — on labels of tostadas and tortillas, wall murals, and even in the logo of the local baseball team. It’s the symbol of the city. The most recognizable landmark. It is as iconic as Rio de Janeiro’s Sugarloaf or Cape Town’s Table Mountain. Cerro de la […]
São Paulo: Hate At First Sight
“Skip São Paulo. It’s just a concrete jungle. Nothing to see there,” was the advice I received while planning a trip to Brazil. Nonsense. We are big city people. We love architecture, museums, and restaurants. Big cities have this never-ending energy and are always full of activities and things to […]
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 […]
The Full Irish Experience
“I want to try the Full Irish Breakfast,” I said as the plane was picking up speed down the runway, “As soon as we arrive.” “You will get the Full Irish experience,” I promise you that.” Victor smiled. As the plane lifted off and I closed my eyes, a stray […]
Mexico City: Love at First Sight
I was in a dentist’s chair with my mouth wide open. The dentist, holding his hand deep in my mouth, was eager to chat. “So, where are you traveling next?” “Mmm… meiii… ko …shity,” I muttered, drooling from the side of my mouth. “Say it again.” He said, taking his […]
Mind The Gap: The Gap of Dunloe
After so many years of traveling, I know how to spot a problem in the itinerary. “Let’s talk about the Gap of Dunloe hike,” I said to Victor. “We have three hours to hike 11 kilometers through a mountain pass? Exactly three hours or we miss the boat that takes […]
Pub-Hopping, Pub-Crawling, Pub-Learning: The Truly Irish Experience
Although we repeat that we rarely drink, we finished almost every day of our recent trip to Ireland in a pub. We drank in pubs, we danced in pubs, and once we even slept above a pub. Our travel philosophy of adapting to the customs of the place we visit-and […]
All Aboard the Coffin Ship!
We stood in the queue at the Embarkation area, clutching our boarding passes. Through the windows, we could see Dunbrody, a three-masted sailing vessel, moored at the quayside, its wooden sides gleaming in the sun. A woman, dressed in a dark shawl and clutching a large bag, rushed past us, […]
In The Skies Above Medellin
On our final full day in Medellín, we met the car and the driver at the trendy El Poblado neighborhood, as scheduled. We got there early enough to eat breakfast and for Victor to buy a few bags of coffee beans at Pergamino Coffee Shop. As we climbed into the […]