Pottery for Pets

I woke up the next morning with my heart fluttering. It was the first day of my pottery retreat. I threw on older clothes I didn’t mind getting dirty with clay and hurried outside. I hadn’t really seen the courtyard the night before. We arrived after dark, when little was […]

First Lesson. Rishton.

It was late evening, and we had just arrived at the pottery studio of one of the most famous ceramic artists in Uzbekistan. We were exhausted and sweaty and weren’t sure if our long day of travel was over or if we would now need to look for alternative accommodation. […]

Getting There.  Rishton.

I’ve been talking about doing a pottery retreat for a long time – somewhere I can learn new skills, work with different types of clay and glazing techniques, get some fresh ideas for my craft.  It was always “one day” and “wouldn’t it be cool” type of idea.  I might […]

A Long-Overdue Affair: The Wisconsin State Fair

Last year, it finally happened. I went to the Wisconsin State Fair! Although I had lived in the state for over a decade, for whatever reason, I’d never made it to the festival grounds in West Allis until last year. Ironically, it took me to move out of Wisconsin to […]

Chicago: Keeping the Blues Alive

Today is a special day in Chicago: Buddy Guy celebrates his 90th birthday.  Although we are currently busy writing posts about Uzbekistan, this milestone-and America’s 250th year-makes it the perfect moment to celebrate one of the country’s greatest musical traditions: the blues. At his birthday bashes, Buddy Guy usually tells […]

A Traveler’s Dilemma: The Human Zoo

By Victor / May 28, 2020

In December 2013, while traveling through northern Thailand, we had the option of visiting a hill tribe village. In Chiang Mai, nearly every tourist agency advertised these tours with photos of smiling indigenous women with unnaturally long necks wrapped in brass rings. Initially, the trip looked tempting, and we even […]

Egypt: Camping in the Desert Mustafa-Style

By Julia / May 21, 2020

Our Egypt desert adventures start here. As the sun was setting over the White Desert, our Jeep headed towards the overnight camping spot.  With no large dunes or stones to block our view of sunset or sunrise, our guide and driver found a spot in a large flat valley, white […]

Egypt: Black Desert, White Desert, Best Desert

By Julia / May 14, 2020

We’ve never had a bad trip.  We’ve had a lot of mishaps and quite frankly several shitshows, but we never have been to a country we didn’t like.  And now, looking back at dozens of excellent trips we’ve taken around the world, I can tell you with complete honesty and […]

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 […]

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