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 […]

Perfect Pitch – Jazz and Baseball in Japan

By Victor / December 17, 2019

If someone tells you that they experienced jazz and baseball on their trip, would you be able to correctly identify the country? If you guessed the U.S., try again! I am talking about Japan. The Japanese are passionate about jazz and baseball. The American presence after World War II left […]

Portugal: And This Is Why We Don’t Drink

By Victor / December 11, 2019

We rarely drink alcohol.  Julia claims that she is too much fun as is and that alcohol would be wasted on her. I like to keep my head clear and maintain a healthy lifestyle. When we are in the U.S., we don’t drink at all.  But when we travel, we […]

The Places We Go and The Places We Stay

By Victor / December 4, 2019

If I ever decide to run for a political office, I will take an unconventional step of having Airbnb provide my character references. A quick glance at our Airbnb guest review page will quickly demonstrate what an honest, punctual, clean, quiet, and non-intrusive person I am. It really sounds like […]

A Night in the Cemetery – Picnic with Ghosts in San Andres Mixquic, Mexico

By Julia / November 26, 2019

Continuing from the previous post: Day of the Dead in Mexico – This is not Disney’s Coco. After the Day of the Dead parade was over, we grabbed a few tortas and coffee at a local restaurant to warm up.  It was 5 pm, and the weather was turning again […]

Day of the Dead in Mexico – This is Not Disney’s Coco

By Julia / November 19, 2019

We had conversations for years about visiting Mexico on the Day of the Dead (Dia de Los Muertos) but wanted to wait until celebrations fell on the weekend.  Finally, in early 2019, we bought tickets to Morelia and excitedly started planning the trip.  Around Lake Patzcuaro, an hour from Morelia, […]

Tombstone Tourism

By Julia / November 11, 2019

A cemetery is not something you travel to another country to see.  Not usually, anyway.   Maybe you stop by for an hour or two to stand at a grave of a long-dead celebrity, pay respect to fallen American soldiers of WWII as we did in Normandy, or explore a beautiful […]

Subscribe to receive our stories in your inbox

Loading