Romania was one big question mark when I first went, but after a couple months exploring the country, a clear chain of top notch attractions populated my mental map. Add in an incomparable… Continue reading
Sometime in the mid-1980’s my family went to Seaworld, in large part to see Shamu the killer whale. (We didn’t know any better.) My brother had recently been given one of those thin… Continue reading
On Day One of my 6-day hike in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, I had no idea what to expect. Apparently my guides were playing it by ear a bit too. The route normally… Continue reading
The goat-thing in front of me was perfect. And I was worried that I’m a bad traveler. For starters, I confess that I wasn’t 100% sure of how to pronounce Kyrgyzstan when I… Continue reading
The night before my first tour of Europe after two years of covid-enforced sabbatical, I wrote a post about the energy filling my mind and rattling through my body. But then I took… Continue reading
I’ve rarely been so sorry to be right. January 2020, at our annual Rick Steves’ Europe annual guide conference, they asked me to say something about preparing tour members for the crowds. Those… Continue reading
The Romanian people have responded to the flow of Ukrainian refugees into their country with a tide of rides given, food donated, and homes shared. In doing so, they have also given us… Continue reading
To one degree or another, it’s been One of Those Days lately. You know the kind. Not that bad, not that good, weights on your emotional ankles that make you want to just… Continue reading
To be honest, the war in Ukraine is straining my higher principles of unity, human brotherhood, and tolerance. The reptilian part of me wants to see Moscow become a smoldering ruin. It’s just… Continue reading
The magazine’s reception desk was empty when we arrived, but we could hear voices not far away. My former partner and I had come to Cuba during the heady days of Obama’s second… Continue reading
My friend in Kyiv managed to send her two children outside the city. They should be safer there, but she has to remain with her elderly mother, sleeping on a mattress in the… Continue reading
