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 […]

El Chorrillo or How I Walked Through a War Zone

By Victor / April 10, 2019

When I travel the world, I always try to catch a soccer game-whether it’s kids playing on the streets of Buenos Aires, a high school game in Iceland, joining in on a game on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, or attending a professional match in the best-known stadiums in […]

Fumbling Around The World FAQ

By Julia / April 2, 2019

We are often asked the same questions by different people any time we mention an upcoming trip.  Usually, it goes something like this: Q:  Oh, wow!  That country! Do you have relatives or friends there? A:  Nope. Q:  Do you speak the local language? A:  No, not at all.  Not unless it’s English, Russian, or slowly spoken Spanish. Q: Why […]

The Happiest Pizza on Earth

By Julia / March 14, 2019

We were in Kampot, walking around the main touristy street, when I noticed a strange abundance of Italian restaurants, to be more precise – pizza restaurants.  All the menus displayed pizza and pasta and a few other Italian/Western dishes, alongside traditional Khmer cuisine.  Every restaurant had the word “Pizza” in […]

Karlštejn Castle, Czech Canyons, and How I Almost Died.

By Victor / March 11, 2019

Over the years, we’ve been in a lot of unfortunate, ill-fated, and plainly dangerous situations. We already posted about being attacked by monkeys and will soon write out how we visited Egypt in the middle of the Arab Spring, lost our luggage in Barcelona, and ignored all anti-mugging advice on […]

Southeast Asia – No Happy Endings

By Julia / March 6, 2019

The only thing I love more than massages is cheap massages.  Sure, a luxurious spa with relaxing music, aromatherapy, essential oils, and a highly trained therapist who will definitely not grope you in weird places is nice.  I splurge on one every birthday.  But it just cannot beat an hour-long […]

Iceland in a van

By Julia / February 24, 2019

We had 6 days and about $1000 each.  “The tickets to Iceland are super cheap!” Victor called out from the couch, “$400 round trip for around Labor Day.”  In the back of my head, I could faintly remember an article I read about the recession in Iceland and how much […]

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