2026 FIFA World Cup: Hogwarts vs. Narnia

Those who follow this blog know I am a big soccer fan and try to attend games in every country I visit.  This fact is even listed in my section of “About Us” on this website.  So, it won’t surprise anyone that attending the World Cup this summer was on […]

Travels with My Mother: Uzbekistan Episode

During the pandemic, our favorite show on Netflix was Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father.  In this series (filmed in pre-COVID times), the British comedian Jack Whitehall travels the world with his elderly, curmudgeonly father, Michael, who detests travel and the exotic destinations Jack takes him to.  The show is […]

Monterrey, Mountains, and Unexpected Mexico

For those of you following along, I mentioned how our tickets to Monterrey had been canceled twice, and it was becoming increasingly unclear whether the universe really did not want us visiting this part of Mexico or whether Viva Aerobus was only pretending to offer flights there. Well, we finally […]

In the Saddle: Conquering Cerro de la Silla

Its image is everywhere — on labels of tostadas and tortillas, wall murals, and even in the logo of the local baseball team. It’s the symbol of the city. The most recognizable landmark.  It is as iconic as Rio de Janeiro’s Sugarloaf or Cape Town’s Table Mountain. Cerro de la […]

São Paulo: Hate At First Sight

“Skip São Paulo. It’s just a concrete jungle. Nothing to see there,” was the advice I received while planning a trip to Brazil. Nonsense. We are big city people. We love architecture, museums, and restaurants. Big cities have this never-ending energy and are always full of activities and things to […]

Eating Our Way Through Vietnam

By Julia / March 27, 2020

Asia has the best food.  Period.  No arguments.  Every time I state this unequivocal fact, Victor tries to mumble something about Mexican food, then realizes that I am willing to physically fight him over this and quickly changes his tune.  And so, Victor and I agree – Asia does have […]

Clothes Make the Man, Vietnamese Tailors Make the Clothes

By Victor / March 19, 2020

“Twenty-seven and a half!” the woman called out and quickly slid the measuring tape down my body. “Right shoulder higher than left shoulder!” I started twisting to look at my unequal shoulders in the mirror, but she quickly forced my body back, while methodically calling out numbers and body parts. […]

Murder on the Dragon Pearl

By Julia / March 12, 2020

Part II of Adventures on the Anti-Love Boat in Halong Bay Our first lunch on the boat was served on the lower deck, on dark red tables covered by crispy white linens.  Victor and I picked the table closest to the railing, so we could enjoy the unobstructed view of […]

Out of Our Comfort Zone – Backpackers on a Luxury Cruise

By Julia / March 5, 2020

Part I of Adventures in Halong Bay Through the years of traveling, we have slept in cars, vans, buses, trains, airplanes, a garden shed, a hut, bungalows, a remodeled horse barn, hostels, motels, guesthouses, strangers’ houses, hotels, and once on a lawn in a park (well, that was a nap […]

Part II: Welcome to the Jungle … on Motorbikes!

By Victor / February 28, 2020

Start with “Part I: Asia, Motorbikes and Us” here. Our evening in Hue we spent rearranging our next day’s schedule and our understanding of who we are as people. “I moved our Airbnb stay in Hoi An by one day and rescheduled the tailor appointment,” Julia said, “We are all […]

Part I: Asia, Motorbikes, and Us

By Victor / February 20, 2020

A year ago in Cambodia, we had the misfortune of spending a night in a rat-infested, side-way leaning, bamboo bungalow which simultaneously happened to be 50 feet from a busy road full of thundering trucks, while also tilting into a muddy river where local fishermen started their morning calls to […]

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