Tag Archive: vacation

A Day Driving in Romania

Today was a day of missed photographs, passing too quickly outside the window of my rental car. Tradition seems mostly held by women in this world, and Romania has so many moments of… Continue reading

Your New Holiday is Here

Holidays tell the stories of those who celebrate them, so when Thailand celebrated its 3-into-1 Loy Krathong festival a few weeks ago, it mirrored the blending of history, religion, and ancestral veneration in… Continue reading

How Do We Travel in an Age of Travelers?

How do you take a group of people to see the Sistine Chapel? A guided tour of the Vatican Museums is a rugby match between 50 teams at once, played out in beautiful… Continue reading

Different Holiday, Same Message

My favorite part of Thailand’s Loy Krathong festival wasn’t the enormous street market the first night, though the long rows of artwork, clothing, and sparkly souvenirs that filled the core of Chiang Mai’s… Continue reading

Tastes like Empire

My language acquisition usually begins on the menu. I don’t speak French but when it’s cold in Paris I look for a boisson chaude. I don’t speak Turkish but every morning in Istanbul… Continue reading

Is it safe to go to Europe right now?

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 Salt Mines of Salina Turda

Have you ever taken one of those glass-sided “sky elevators”? Up the side of the Victor Emmanuel Monument in Rome, in the Reina Sofia museum in Madrid, and China has a doozy or… Continue reading

Click here first!

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

Bucharest’s Ugliest Street and Weirdest Hotel

It may be the ugliest street in Old Town Bucharest. So much so in fact, that I took a photo there on my first trip, without noticing the hotel behind me. But it’s… Continue reading

Bucharest Gifts and Mailing List Debut

I’ll be honest, I don’t always read the newsletters I sign up for. Who has the time? So now that I’m going to be producing one, can I help people not feel that… Continue reading