I am in cooking school for 5 weeks. I am living and learning at Ballymaloe Cookery School which is an organic farm in southeast Ireland teaching farm-to-table and sustainable cooking from French, Italian, Spanish, Asian, South…
I know no one in Ireland. This section of my trip was authentically solo. So I rented a car from Dublin airport and set out on a 10 day journey down the West Coast of Ireland…
I had a 48 hour stopover in London en route to Edinburgh which I had planned to use as a little rest break, catch up on some reading, and spend a little time resting from daily…
Visiting Zurich is like coming to another hometown for me. Ian lived here for four years, so it has a special pull for me, and no trip to the continent would feel right without a bit…
So I went to Cannes to hang out with one of my best friends, Yan, from my UC Berkeley days who I met in a summer school Spanish course — the very beginning of my journey…
I cannot really ‘wrap up’ my time in Spain since I have at least two more quick visits planned between now and September, but my extended stay with this mob has come to an end and…
As I was heading back to Madrid from Seville, one of my former students (from 2014). . . . . . reached out and said his grandmother's flat in Paris was available and he and his…
This is Spain. I have been wanting to come to this region for a very, very long time, so my birthday gift to myself was a 7am train from Madrid to Cordoba with my friend Jonathan…
There is no greater cultural whiplash than traveling from Munich to Barcelona. Within minutes of arriving I was met by my former flatmate, Francesc, and a blazing Catalonian sun. Roomies Reunited! We had several long walks…
My little brother was born in Munich. My twin sister and I went to primary school, and my older brother to Junior High there. In childhood, there is a period known as the years of innocence,…
The Berlin Adventure started on the train-ride in. I had an assigned seat, and I made it onto the correct carriage but was looking for my seat when I asked this woman (below) to help me…
The best antidote to the whirling lights and sounds of Amsterdam is a few days decompressing in Denmark. Copenhagen came out on top when I had to choose between it, Stockholm, and Oslo. And it was…
They said Amsterdam would be cold and rainy, but all I got was sunshine and flowers. Of all the streets and neighbourhoods we could’ve stayed, we landed one of the last hotel rooms available, due the…
I have come to realise there are very, very few places I have enjoyed as much as Mexico. When I consider how much I like a place, it always comes down to the breadth of experiences…
I won’t be saying much about Playa Zipolite because it is not a place that holds up to description. You’ve just gotta get here and feel Zipolite. It is probably the only place I cannot imagine…
I swore I was not going to snap dozens of food photos and pretend anyone wants to hear about my meals for the next 6 months, but along came Oaxaca. Oaxaca, Mexico is a state along…
Ciudad de México is a big, old, grand, hotbed of food, fiestas, and fun. I am trying to keep my food photos to a minimum, but I cannot go past the vegan ceviche or the breakfast…
Spring walk in South Carolina I’m learning to walk again. It’s been a long time since I have wandered down streets unrestrained by time, but visiting my mom in South Carolina has given me time and…
The Rock, River & Tree A Rock, A River, A Tree . . . Hosts to species long since departed. I’m quoting from memory, but I believe the words go in that order. These are Maya…
Imagine creating a dream itinerary for traveling around the world. Converting lifelong dreams, goals and whims into one continuous direction of travel with a maximum number of stops is not easy. Now imagine calling your mother…
People ask me why Colombia. The short answer is that Colombia, with its accent and its warm people, provides one of the best places to understand and practice the Spanish language. The long answer is Papi.…
. . . and that’s a wrap. Boom. Done. Wheels up in a matter of hours and I report back to work in 13 months and 16 days. In the meantime, this photo is exactly how…
My wardrobe for the year. I hate luggage, which is ironic because I love the idea of a bag. Own quite a few of them, but to be clear, nothing strikes me as more cumbersome and…