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 […]

Tour de World

By Victor / June 15, 2021

When we travel, we generally rely on all modes of transportation available to us. Through the years, we flew on domestic Brazilian and Peruvian airlines, took overnight trains in India and Egypt, rode subways in Mexico City and Barcelona, and bounced in packed minivans in Jamaica and Guatemala. We also […]

NAKED BATH JAPANESE GIRLS

By Julia / June 8, 2021

It’s always interesting for me to see which of our posts get more traction and which barely get a trickle of visitors.  I often find it to be completely unpredictable when some of my own favorite posts fly under the radar (example 1, 2, 3) while uninspired 20-minute write-ups are getting […]

There Is Always Room for More: Exploring Japanese Cuisine. Part II

By Julia / May 30, 2021

My last post was all noodles – soba, udon, ramen, but there is so much more to Japanese culinary traditions.  To expand our food horizons, we visited Dotombori Street in Osaka.  The name “Dotombori” refers both to the Dotombori Canal and to Dotombori Street, which runs parallel to the canal’s […]

Welcome to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Coffee Capital of the United States

By Victor / May 21, 2021

For many people, Milwaukee is and has always been the U.S. beer capital. The stereotype is understandable given the city’s history, but a little bit outdated.  Milwaukee’s breweries thrived in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and for a time, the city was home to the four largest breweries in […]

Eating Our Way Through Japan

By Julia / May 14, 2021

The first and only thing I used to think of any time anyone said the words “Japanese” and “food” in the same sentence was “sushi”.   I was faintly aware of noodles and tempura but have never been a big fan of either.  Sushi, on the other hand, has been my […]

Jamaica: The World’s Highest Coffee

By Victor / May 6, 2021

Last month, we did something irresponsible. Are you ready? We paid $15 for a cup of coffee. Yes, frugal backpackers who run this blog did that. Before you judge us for the splurge, all I can say is that we did it in the fancy, four-story Starbucks on Chicago’s Magnificent […]

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