After living in Prague for about two years and struggling with the obtuse Czech language, a broken relationship and missing the feeling of being around people who understood me or vice versa, I was ready …
June 16, 2011
Beaches: Travel Reviews
Doing Europe: Rimini, Italy
Padres Island National Seashore, Texas
The flag was at half-mast the Sunday morning last April when we pulled into Padres Island Visitors Center to purchase our backcountry camping permit to the largest undeveloped barrier island in the world. The National …
Doing Europe: Heading South, Monopoli, Italy
I spent most of my days in Rome just walking around the beautiful, timeless city in awe. However, believe it or not, I was getting “bored” with my surroundings. I needed to get out of …
February 6, 2011
Doing Europe: Ios, Greece
Leaving Sorrento, Italy was bittersweet. Sorrento was the perfect place for us to get our minds wrapped around the idea of the sea. We’d been landlocked in Prague for months, so we wanted more oceans. …
January 13, 2011
Santorini: Oia and Akrotiri
Santorini is one of the undisputed jewels of the Greek Islands. Two of its most enchanting attractions are the village of Oia and the archeological dig Akrotiri, once a prominent ancient town. Oia and Akrotiri …
January 11, 2011
Life on the Rocks: Salvador, Brazil
“Thirty percent of Brazilians live in favelas,” says Michael David Lynch, proprietor of Albergue Pedras da Sereia in Salvador, speaking of neighborhoods like the one he moved to 25 years ago. Basically, favelas are built …
November 20, 2010
Downtime in Montezuma, Costa Rica
I relax in the hammock, the sound of gently crashing waves reverberating in the near distance. I muster up the energy to raise my head and see a girl in her twenties relaxing on a …
October 14, 2010
Turtle Watching in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
On our first night at Pelican Eyes Hotel, my mom penciled us in for a midnight adventure tour to see turtles nesting on a beach one hour north of San Juan del Sur (near Playa …
Tranquil Pacifica, California
Another quick jaunt north is the scenic town of Pacifica, California. As a student at San Francisco State University, I once lived here eons ago, but it is still as quaintly scenic and tranquil a …
July 29, 2010
Tranquility in Ensenada, Mexico
I’m dreaming of a place where I can get fish tacos with homemade corn tortillas and a refreshing margarita on the rocks for lunch, then dine on wood-fired pizza and a yummy glass of locally …
July 6, 2010
Santa Teresa, Costa Rica
I rolled into Santa Teresa early in the afternoon. The sun beamed down its scathing agenda, burning my tender gringo flesh. Cars and motorbikes threw a lingering cloud of dust from the bumpy dirt road …