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 […]

Hail Mary at Taoist Temple

“You enter on the right through the dragon door and exit on the left through the tiger door. And you never enter or exit through the middle door. That door is for gods.” We sat on a bench in front of a brightly colored Taoist temple with a rooftop looking […]

Taiwan: The First 24 Hours

The first 24 hours in Asia are crucial. This isn’t an easy 4-hour flight to Mexico City, where we get out of the airplane and hit the ground running, only occasionally stopping to marvel that just a few hours ago we were at home. It doesn’t have a mere 6-8 […]

When the Night Falls: Night Markets in Taiwan

A few days before our trip, I was talking to someone who had previously visited Taiwan and their only piece of advice was straightforward and without mincing words: “Do not eat street food there.” This was completely unexpected. If they’d said, “Don’t go there under any circumstances,” that would have […]

Back to Asia: Discovering Taiwan

The last time we were in Southeast Asia was in 2019, which now seems like a lifetime ago. Our first trip to that region was Thailand in 2013, followed by India in 2014, Japan in 2016, China in 2017, Cambodia in 2018, and finally Vietnam in 2019.  On our first […]

Raki-n-Roll or Getting Drunk in Albania

By Victor / September 2, 2021

We’ve mentioned in this blog that we don’t drink alcohol unless we travel. No, this is not a complicated loophole in a mostly sober lifestyle; we are simply submerging ourselves in cultural explorations.  We firmly believe that learning about the drinking culture of a country can help us get a […]

Impossible to Ignore All the Red Flags: A Dive into Albanian Past

By Victor / August 26, 2021

If you look at the map of Europe with no political borders, you may not even find Albania.  Where exactly does Greece end and Albania begin?  If you remember that just a thin strip of the Ionic/Adriatic Sea separates it from the heel of Italy, your task finally becomes achievable.  […]

We Ate and Paid for It: The Best Restaurant in Albania

By Julia / August 12, 2021

We were driving down from the mountains, returning from spending three days in Valbona National Park. The narrow mountain road curved and zigzagged between steep ridges and precipitous cliffs, occasionally revealing breathtaking views of lush valleys and a fast-flowing river. We were heading towards the port city of Durres and […]

Albania: When The Price Is Right

By Julia / August 5, 2021

I never planned on going to Albania.  Albania was never on my “Top Ten Places to Visit List” or even on “If I Live to be a 100 Travel Bucket List”.  Albania was not even on the radar.  Until one evening when Victor and I were both on our computers, […]

The Magic Dancing Dolls or The Scam That Took 15 Years to Solve

By Julia / July 30, 2021

In 1999, a few girlfriends and I decided to take our very first international post-college trip to Europe.  We had no idea how to go on our own, so we booked a bus tour that would take us across seven countries in a span of two weeks.  The tour company […]

A Lesson On How Not To Get Scammed From People Who Got Scammed

By Julia / July 15, 2021

From the moment we strap on our backpacks, tell the cats we love them and to behave themselves, and head out to the airport, an invisible target appears on our backs.  We are now tourists and therefore the target of every tourist scam in the world.  We are strangers in […]

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