I have just returned from two and a half wonderful weeks in Japan, leading an intrepid, engaged and enriching group of eight travelers through Kyoto and Shikoku. The trip turned out to be full of magic and delight, but as I began the journey, before I knew how it would ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Stories
An Enchanted Expedition In Kyoto
I have just returned from two and a half wonderful weeks in Japan, leading an intrepid, engaged and enriching group of eight travelers through Kyoto and Shikoku. The trip turned out to be full of magic and delight, but as I began the journey, before I knew how it would ...Forget Mykonos, Try Syros, Your Friendly Neighborhood Greek Island
I arrived on the Greek island of Syros on the night ferry from Samos at 2:30 a.m., bleary-eyed and in need of coffee or a bed, maybe both. My sons, then 2 and 4, were still half-asleep, wondering why the hell we'd hustled them out of their tidy bunks in the middle of the ...California Coast Redux
I was driving around the West Coast aimlessly in February of 2011. It was chillier than I hoped it would be, but I bundled up. I'd been thinking about California's Highway 1 longingly ever since I drove down it in 2007 and I'd been hoping to replay the visuals I'd stored ...Falling In Love With The World's Most Hyped Churros At Xoco In Chicago
I'm almost never game to wait in a long line to eat. But I joined a line stretching outside the door at Xoco in Chicago last Saturday because I couldn't stand to hear another rave about the place without experiencing what all the fuss is about for myself. Xoco is a fast food ...Mucking About: Stepping Into The Unknown On The Banks Of The Ganges
Stair-stepped ghats hug the western shore of the Ganges River like a string of very old pearls, one after the other, fused together by faith and history and mud. The stairs link the mucky dung-spattered streets on land to the murky brown water of the holy river below, ...Riviera Maya: An Accidental Honeymoon
I was in Mexico last December, just before the 21st of the month. The date would come and go without catastrophe, of course, but the fringe theories had brought Maya culture to the forefront of the media and I took the opportunity to learn a bit about the ancient and ...Your Kickstarter Vacation. My Money. No.
When we ran out of money, we were on a beach in Corfu. My boyfriend trawled the construction sites until he found a job hauling cement. I checked in at restaurants and hotels, but failed to turn anything up. I gave up after about a week; there was no work to be had. I ...Vagabond Tales: Where Is The Roof Of North America?
For some reason, every continent seems to have a roof.
Bolivia is known as "the roof of South America" for its high, empty and multi-colored altiplano that has an average elevation of 12,300 feet.
Mt. Kilimanjaro has been called "the roof of Africa" for its ...April In Paris At The Bagatelle
April in Paris is about spring buds, blossoms, lovers and delicate sunshine – everyone knows that. Just because the temperatures are often in the 30s or 40s Fahrenheit, branches still barren, makes no difference at all. So it was with a light heart and step that I ...Drive Nacho Drive: Bloggers Navigate China By VW Bus And Kickstarter Campaign
We've heard of camping excursions and perhaps the occasional extended road trip in retrofitted buses, but what about an around-the-world adventure? That's exactly what's planned for Brad and Sheena Van Orden, an Arizona couple who has already trekked from the United States ...Festival Of Colors: New York City
It's the weekend of one of New York City's Holi Festival of Colors and spring is just beginning to appear in the cloudless and bright blue sky. This particular event is being held outdoors in an elusive location in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. The address was only released a ...Vagabond Tales: Fear And Loathing In San Felipe
The strip clubs in San Felipe, Mexico, aren't open on Tuesdays.
For most travelers to Baja, this isn't overly concerning. After all, with all of the surfing, fishing, diving and fish taco eating that can easily consumer your entire day, the fact that strip clubs are ...Think Your Job Is Tough? Take A Tour Of The Beckley Coal Mine In West Virginia For A Reality Check
If you want to feel better about your job, take a tour of the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine in Beckley, West Virginia. On a recent tour of the vintage mine we learned about the extreme dangers and hardships miners faced a century ago when hundreds of thousands of people in ...A Traveler In The Foreign Service: Tribute To Slain Diplomat Anne Smedinghoff
The Foreign Service lost one of its own on Saturday when a suicide bomber detonated explosives that killed 25-year-old Foreign Service Officer Anne Smedinghoff and four other Americans, three soldiers and one civilian Department of Defense employee in Afghanistan. ...Trekking Couple Circles Planet Three Times In 424 Days
They started trekking the planet more than a year ago, promising to travel the globe bringing children in classrooms from around the world with them, virtually, as they visited scores of countries and continents. Now their journey is complete and Darren and Sandy Van Soye ...A Journey To Sissonville, West Virginia, Home Of Shain Gandee And MTV's 'Buckwild'
Tourism officials are always looking for promotional hooks, and using connections to popular TV shows has long been a common way to market a destination. In the '80s, television programs like "Miami Vice" and "Magnum P.I." boosted tourism in South Florida and Hawaii, while ...Video Of The Day: New York City In 3 Words
"3 words for NYC" from Cokau on Vimeo.
New York City might be polarizing in that love/hate kind of way, but in the end, the reasons to love the city seem limitless. One could use thousands of words to describe what's to love about NYC, but the more difficult thing to ...
No Bones About The Wonders Of Vézelay
Once upon a time, in the days of gluttonous yore - the 1980s - the celebrated Burgundian hill town of Vézelay, crowned by the Basilica of Mary Magdalene, was known as "a site of gastronomic pilgrimage." Rarely did anyone evoke Magdalene's relics or her UNESCO ...A Personal Lament To The Death Of Guidebooks
It was with a heavy heart that I read the news last week that Frommer's guidebooks will cease to be printed. The guidebooks were purchased by Google last summer, and as of this year, the entire future list of titles will not be released. With the takeover of digital apps, ...Galley Gossip: The Worst, Funniest And Most Common Bad Passengers I've Encountered
From time to time I get asked questions about bad passengers. I thought I'd share a few of them here.
What's the worst passenger behavior you've witnessed?
I've caught passengers taking other people's luggage out of the bin to make room for their own bags. I'm not ...
