…and when I am, this blog will have live “from the road” updates. When I’m not traveling (which, alas, is most of the time), I’ll be living vicariously by posting about previous travels.
Mar 212013
One thing I like about travel is that it takes you out of your own space—home, culture, daily routine—so you can look at your life through the lens of a new environment. This always gives me a fresh, more objective view of my life. Some of my best life decisions have been made while traveling—like [...Read more]
Mar 062012
The hospitality was bounteous, if not terribly personalized. A short visit with the mayor and his wife, then they handed us over to the guesthouse where we’d be staying that night. As with every Ukrainian meal, plates of food covered every square inch of the table’s surface. But the guesthouse owner hovered over us like [...Read more]
Mar 032012
The stout, kerchiefed woman took one look at the Americans appearing in her village and whisked herself away from the group gathering around our van. It couldn’t be something we’d said, because we hadn’t said a word. At least, not one she would have understood. The four of us stood by as Serge our interpreter [...Read more]
Feb 092012
It had all the makings of a charming mountain town. There was its well-preserved historic district and its past as a rough and tumble pioneer mining area. There was its location in the Idaho mountains, with a bike trail through the forest and a nearby ski resort for winter sports. The town even showed its [...Read more]
(Originally written on July 3, 2011) My memory of past Fourth of Julys is a blurred collage of barbeques and family picnics. Usually I’m wrapped in warm clothes and shivering since summer in Seattle traditionally starts on July 5, though a few clips in my memory collage also reflect the sunshine of long lazy holiday [...Read more]
A year ago, my idea of a hike was a brisk walk around Green Lake. In fact, I was convinced I hated hiking. Even though I knew that Mt. Si was one of the most popular hiking destinations in the area, my eyes would slide past it as I drove I-90 to go skiing or [...Read more]
Jan 302011
Traveling is all about visiting new locales and seeing interesting and unusual sights, isn’t it? When you think of exotic travel, the Taj Mahal or Great Wall or the Parthenon or Pompeii may come to mind. But for someone like me, from Seattle, where annual snowfall is only about 7 inches (according to NOAA), seeing [...Read more]
I’ve sometimes wondered what it would be like to ride a luge, lying on your back, careening downhill at the mercy of the icy track beneath you with little control of your direction or speed. Of course, I’ve never wondered enough to actually try it. I’ve been very happy just watching the Olympics and wondering [...Read more]
Jan 172011
If you’re stuck in a blizzard, there are worse places to be than a cozy house overlooking a snow-covered lake, with internet access, satellite TV, and a well-stocked freezer and pantry. My ancestors who settled on these prairies had a much tougher time when they encountered blizzard conditions—crammed together in a sod house, the sheet [...Read more]
The Explorer in me is always at war with my inner Road Warrior. The Road Warrior comes from my childhood and my dad’s approach to a road trip. It’s not that we didn’t stop along the way and do fun things—we always did. I have great memories of national parks and horseback riding and river [...Read more]