Getting My Ears Picked in Taiwan
One of the pleasures of going to Asia, at least for me, is the massages. Everywhere from Thailand to Vietnam to Cambodia, the massages are excellent, cheap, and widely available. From restorative foot massages after a long day of hiking, to full body deep tissue rubdown that leaves me in […]
Kaohsiung 高雄市: My kind of town
“Please just point to it on the map. Don’t try to pronounce it!” Julia pleaded with me as we approached a ticket counter at the Tainan train station to buy tickets to our next destination. The day before, she was chatting with her massage therapist and tried to tell him […]
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 […]
Jamaica: The Wild Northeast
As we wrote in our Kingston post, our first instinct when planning a trip to Jamaica in 2017 was to avoid what most tourists consider to be essential Jamaica: Negril, Montego Bay, and Ocho Rios. We opted for the less touristy and less developed Northeast Jamaica and didn’t regret it […]
Flamengo ‘Till I Die
When Julia and I planned our trip to Brazil, we turned to our friend Will for advice. Will was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro and was a huge help in planning the itinerary. Also, when he learned we were going to visit his hometown, Will offered for us […]
GOOOOOOOAL in Brazil
As I’ve mentioned, I love soccer and try to visit a stadium or catch a game whenever I travel. So, naturally, when we went to Brazil in December 2015, I was beyond excited about everything soccer-related in a country where my favorite sport is such a prominent part of the […]
Georgian Food on My Mind
“You must be happy when making dough,” said Levon. “That’s the most important part of Georgian cooking. Your happiness will seep into the dough and make it delicious. An unhappy person cannot make authentic khachapuri or khinkali.” We were in a small restaurant in Kakheti, the type of place where […]
Georgia the Country, Not the State
There are a lot of things in this world I do not understand and probably never will. One of the most confusing concepts for me is why, how, and what is going on with Georgia not being on every “You Need to Get Your Butt to This Country ASAP” list […]
I Fell in Love With a Dog in Tbilisi
Someone once asked me what was the most romantic, poignant, heartbreaking thing that happened in all my travels. I told them the truth – once upon a time, I fell in love with a dog in Tbilisi. I was sitting on a bench, and she walked up to me, large […]