It took me almost a year to convince Glenn we should build a little house in our backyard. They go by a lot of different names – granny flat, mother-in-law apartment, or accessory dwelling unit, to name a few. Glenn didn’t care what I called it, he just knew it meant strangers living in the […]
I learned a lot of things on a recent weeklong backpacking trip with a bunch of guys… …including the fact that boys like to talk about poop. A lot. Their poop-banter was delightfully juvenile and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I also loved having the opportunity to spend so much quality time in nature with friends […]
“That’s on my bucket list” is a common refrain I’ve used in the past. In reality, I didn’t actually have a list – just a general sense of things I wanted to do if and when I ever got around to it. So, several years ago – long before we began losing weight and getting […]
There is always that one person on most every group travel trip. You know… “the one.” They often exhibit one or more of the following characteristics: An exhausting personality or offensive sense of humor. The embodiment of the crass and entitled (North) American tourist stereotype. Talking your ear off at dinner, all the while complaining about […]
For longer than I can remember, my work has had a tradition where fellow staff give lunchtime presentations about their international trips. It’s a fun way to learn about the world and dream up new exotic locations to visit before returning to the email-meeting-email hamster wheel we all seem to find ourselves stuck on. When […]
The instant I touched the wizened cheek of a rescued elephant in Thailand my heart grew tenfold and I knew my soul had been irrevocably changed. I’ve always had a thing for elephants. They pull on my heartstrings like no others. We are often awed by how much elephants are like us humans – their […]
Somewhere along the way Glenn and I lost that sense of awe that comes from traveling. We no longer felt the little tingle in the pit of our stomachs that said “oh wow, look at that” or “huh, this is a new and somewhat uncomfortable situation.” Traveling went from a grand adventure to a little […]
Where has the time gone? We only have a few weeks left in our amazing six-month adventure traveling the world. Both Glenn and I are sad that our trip is coming to an end…but also excited to return to the comforts of home. We spent this past week backpacking the Overland Track in Tasmania. (You […]
I’m trying not to develop a complex, but natural disasters seem to follow us everywhere we go. I feel like our arrival in a new country should be taken as a bad omen as the power of nature will soon befall those in our path. When we arrived in Quito (Ecuador) the nearby volcano Cotopaxi began […]
Kiwis are an endearing lot. The people, not the birds. Although I am sure the birds are nice too. New Zealanders always seem to be happy and positive. I love how they tell you to have a great day and actually mean it. I love that they seem genuinely excited when you give them your […]
Weather in New Zealand is a fickle beast. Baking in the scorching sun one minute and then huddled under a tree trying to escape the freezing wind and torrential rains the next. The weather forecasts are no good – as evidenced by today’s forecast of a “zero percent chance of rain” which we read on […]
I think the sizable dose of codeine found in the over-the-counter cold medicine I was taking last week (no prescription needed here in New Zealand!) was dulling my senses and making my introduction to this country seem less than spectacular. I look back on my blog post highlighting my somewhat blasé attitude about New Zealand and […]
“You’re spoiled by the world!” was the response of my friend Michelle when I told her I wasn’t yet gaga over New Zealand. I agree with her; I think I have been traveling to too many phenomenal locales lately. Part of what makes something extraordinary is when it is compared to the ordinary…and it has […]
I’ll never forget the feeling of coming face-to-face with a wild polar bear. We had been hiking through the sub-arctic tundra for a couple of hours – trudging over banks of drifted white snow, through rusty brown willows that had gone dormant for the winter and across frozen lakes made of crystal clear ice. My […]
When I was a little girl in Casper, Wyoming, we had a set of encyclopedias that were stacked next to the fireplace. I loved looking at the “M” encyclopedia because the things in that book started with the first letter of my name. I remember being mesmerized by the image of Machu Picchu, the Inca […]
