The Mist, the Cloud, the Tea, and the Sunset: The Trails of Shizhuo

The hardest part of any itinerary is usually not where to visit or when, but for how long. There are always disagreements online over how much time each place deserves, with some people claiming to have fully explored everything in one day, while others take a week. And when it’s […]

Spilling the Tea about Alishan

Victor loves coffee, and this blog is a clear testament to that. There are so many posts about coffee tours, coffee shops, coffee destinations, conversations about coffee over coffee, and even hiking through coffee plantations. Yet if you were to go through our kitchen, you’d find at most two bags […]

In the Sea of Clouds

When we travel, we usually try to avoid pre-planning everything. By rigidly scripting every activity down to the minute, you can easily deprive yourself of genuine travel experiences, instead just following the “script”.  But that doesn’t work with sunrises and sunsets, especially if you want to catch them from a […]

Hugging Trees in Alishan

Alishan was giving me a headache. Trying to fit this mountainous forest into our itinerary was a challenging task. No direct trains from Taipei. No direct buses. Renting a car and driving up there? Maybe. But that wasn’t ideal. The most reasonable option was to get to the city of […]

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 […]

All Aboard the Booze Train!

By Victor / May 8, 2020

After visiting blue agave fields, our tour continued at the Jose Cuervo distillery known as La Rojeña. Choosing to visit Jose Cuervo over any other distilleries in the area was an easy decision. Jose Cuervo is the birthplace of tequila mass production and one of the oldest distilleries in Latin […]

We Drink Tequila in Tequila (Mexico)

By Victor / April 30, 2020

For many people, tequila is one of the most recognizable products of Mexico-the country’s brand.  And that’s why when we visited the state of Jalisco, we couldn’t pass up an opportunity to see the town of Tequila, known obviously, for tequila. Located just 40 miles northwest of Guadalajara, Tequila was […]

Part II: How We Lost Our Luggage and Minds in Barcelona

By Julia / April 23, 2020

Read “Part I: The Train Ride from Hell” here. After spending the entire night being tortured by bright lights, uncomfortable seats, and unruly passengers, we finally reached Barcelona. It was early morning, cloudy and chilly, and we barely had an hour of sleep last night. Shivering, we ran down the […]

Part I: Spain – When Everything Goes Wrong

By Julia / April 16, 2020

Part I: The Train Ride from Hell We started seriously traveling around 2008, so the trip to Spain in August of 2010 came pretty early in our traveling career.  We were in unfamiliar territory with just a few international trips under our belts, no knowledge of Spanish, and rudimentary 2010 […]

Part II: Buenos Aires – Through the Eyes of Locals

By Victor / April 9, 2020

Read “Part I: Buenos Aires – Travel Like a Local, Travel with a Local” Buenos Aires met us with blooming jacaranda trees, their beautiful violet flowers carpeting sidewalks and lawns.  It was a warm spring morning, as is traditional in the southern hemisphere in November, as we started exploring this […]

Part I: Buenos Aires – Travel Like a Local, Travel with a Local

By Victor / April 2, 2020

In January 2012, right after returning from our two-week trip to Egypt, Julia and I sat down to discuss our travel plans for the upcoming year. I was only days away from starting a new job at a large law firm and was understandably nervous about taking any time off […]

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