Updated March 2022. It’s a mystery to me how we ever traveled (or dealt with life!) without smartphones and apps. I remember using MapQuest printouts to try to navigate around cities and find my hotel, and I guess if I think hard enough I’d recall paper maps, handwritten directions and road atlases. And how did we […]
Traveling
#TRAVEL HACK- 9 Must-Have Items to Pack
Updated April 2022 I’ve been traveling full-time now since December of 2017, and I’ve learned some great lessons along the way. What to bring/what to leave at home, how to track cheap flights and then book them, which apps are indispensable while traveling, how to find amazing work exchanges to get free accommodations, and so […]
#TRAVEL HACK: Solo Travel: 5 Easy Steps to Get Out There On Your Own
Updated July 2022. “Oh wow. You travel alone? By yourself? Aren’t you scared/lonely/bored?” These questions are asked of me often: Why do you travel alone? Isn’t it boring? Aren’t you lonely? What do you do all day? Why don’t you travel with a friend? (You do have friends, don’t you? 🤔) And always…. I am […]
#TRAVEL HACK: 9 Outstanding Reasons You’ll Love Staying in a Hostel (#yourewelcome)
Hesitant to stay in a hostel? Here’s 9 solid reasons to try it.
A Rainbow of Color – the Villages of the Alentejo in Southern Portugal. (Spoiler Alert: Lots of Photos!)
Updated June 2022 After spending some time in the southwest corner of Portugal exploring the beauty of the ancient port towns of Lagos and Faro, I headed north from the Algarve to the Alentejo region of Portugal to hike parts of the Rota Vincentina, a little-known long-distance trail along the spectacular Portuguese coast I had […]
Cadiz – Camera Obscura, A Michelin Restaurant and More
Edited December 1, 2024 Cadiz: aka Gaddith. Cadith. Gadi. Coddi. Not quite sure what drew me to plan to visit Cadiz except for the name, which as you can see, can be pronounced many ways. I had never heard of it, but saw on the map that it was near the southwest corner of […]
House-sitting in Tuscany: Livin’ the ‘Villa Loca’!
Updated October 2022 Want to know how I landed here in Tuscany in an incredibly amazing 15th- century villa as a caretaker for two months, with free accommodations and my very own room, all for spending just a couple of hours each day doing some flower watering and picking up any bits of trash that […]
Bathroom Humor: Finding Fun in Unusual Places
One of the things I love about travel is how it expands your mind, your opinions, your preconceived ideas and notions about people, places and history. I always learn so much about where I am, where I’ve been, and also about me! But…sometimes it’s not all serious learning and discovery. Sometimes, travel in different countries […]
Going nowhere fast.
In which I try not to bore you with too much of the details of the debacle that became my outward bound trip…
The second most often question I get asked is…so what are you bringing to wear for the next four months??
Surprisingly little. But still quite a lot. Here’s the list of what I have in my trusty rusty 60L pack, a Gregory Jade. She probably weighs around 22 -25 lbs. and can be used as a carry-on or you can check it as baggage. Great pack – took her first spin with me to Thailand, […]
