It has been 1,788 days since we left on our overseas adventures, and today, we returned home to Portland. We are thrilled to be closer to family and friends, to listen to the pitter patter of rain on the roof, to smell the lush forest, to eat the bounteous crops of Oregon’s seasons, to sip a hoppy IPA, and frolic with friends and family. The … Continue reading Yalla!
We slept, lulled by the gentle rhythm and sway of the train on our way to Ninh Binh. Several friends had recommended we include Ninh Binh on our itinerary and we were looking forward to seeing the beautiful countryside. The sunshine peeked through the train cabin’s curtains and we awoke to the scenes of rural Vietnam outside our window. We arrived at the station in … Continue reading Hidden Caves and Songkran Splashes: Vietnam and Thailand Part 2
After a red-eye flight from Abu Dhabi to Bangkok, we had low expectations for our first night in Bangkok. We decided to stay relatively close to the airport in a residential neighborhood and didn’t plan much, knowing we would likely be tired and had our flight to Vietnam the next day. We braved the heat and humidity to explore our local neighborhood and grab lunch … Continue reading Golden Buddhas and Marble Mountains: Vietnam and Thailand Part 1
Have you heard of Caga Tio? He is an adorable Catalonian Christmas character, a log with a smiling face who often dons a red hat and tartan blanket. His name means “poop log,” and the poor fellow gets hit with a stick by Catalonian children who sing to him asking him to poop nougat! As soon as we read about Caga Tio, we knew we … Continue reading Aventuros con Caga Tio
Don’t get me wrong, there are many perks to life in the UAE- the sense of safety, the amazing diversity of residents, the abundance of amenities, the winter sunshine, and more. But the back-to-school season here is rough. In addition to the normal stresses of returning to work after a summer of leisure with friends and family, autumn in the UAE is filled with sweltering … Continue reading Autumn in Armenia
After a fabulous week in Cape Town with friends, we headed to Kruger, where we met our guide Shoes for a five-day adventure full of sun, wind-swept hair, and animals galore. Shoes was a fantastic guide, and we loved spending our days cruising with him in his open-air safari truck on the lookout for animals. He was interesting to talk with and shared his extensive … Continue reading Animal Upon Animal: Safari in Kruger
In the last week of March, we reunited with the Clovers, our ISK colleagues, friends, and COVID bubble mates. We hadn’t seen them since we left Kazan in June of 2021, so we were thrilled to spend a week with them. They are currently working in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, so we decided to meet up in Cape Town. After a taxi … Continue reading Cape Town Capers
Hannukah began during our Peloponnese roadtrip. We “enjoyed” some contentious dreidel matches in Delphi, but waited until we arrived in Heraklion, Crete to have our latke feast once Michael and Emily had joined us. Hanukkah overlapped with Christmas so we had a blended celebration. Our rental came decorated for Christmas with lights, a big and small tree, and even some Santa and snowmen statues. Nana … Continue reading Merry Cretemas and Happy Chaniakah
If you have followed our blog from the start, you may recall our mascot “Mr. Smart.” In his old age, Mr. Smart has become a bit of a homebody, so in Turkey, we picked up a companion Zeki Oteki (Clever Other). In Greece, we picked up another intelligent companion, my mom! Thanks to her Vassar history degree and in particular her learnings in Art History … Continue reading Travels with Nana and Zeki Oteki
I had planned to post all our Turkey travels in one blog, but we had too many adventures and too many photos to fit into one post, so here is the second installment about our Turkish road trip from Antalya to Izmir. After a dinner and walk around old town Antalya, we drove to Pamukkale. Pamukkale is a small Anatolian town that is home to the … Continue reading Ancient Paths & Ancient Baths
Travels with Mr. Smart 