Baking Down Boundaries
As an American guy in my village, I was sometimes the target of some interesting propositions from local women (see http://www.travelgogirl.com/?p=2272). It was not uncommon for male teachers, living far from their families, to have affairs with local women or even with students. As a result I was very cautious with my interactions with my [...]
Adventures in Aomori
Playing outside is one of my necessities in life. I enjoy it for all the physical aspects – the knowledge that yes, my body is capable and strong; for the appreciation of nature – cicada songs and wildflowers; for the distance it can put between me and the rest of civilization; and occasionally for the [...]
Visiting (not) Thoreau’s Walden.
Visiting Walden Pond, where the famous American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau wrote his treatise Walden, or Life in the Woods—especially on a hot, sunny Saturday morning in early summer—is about as far from Thoreau’s experience living there as the horses and carts on the streets of colonial New Amsterdam are from the taxi-filled gridlock of [...]
Coffee, tea, and me
One of my favourite things about returning to Ireland, I realize as we take our seats at a little cafe, is the tea. It’s probably the best remnant of the British occupation- a readily-available respite from the rigours of the day- and a way to perk yourself up as the afternoon drags on and you [...]
Living Like A Tourist
Sometimes, though we love to travel, it’s just not possible. Lack of vacation time, lack of funds, too many weddings to attend, or too much work to do can all interfere with planning your next trip. What to do when your travel genes are calling but you just can’t get away? Chances are, there are a [...]
Run Like a Girl
Last weekend, I ran a 5k with 600 others in Chicago’s Lincoln Park. It really seems like it ought to be a standard summer pastime, but many non-runners I spoke with were surprised by my desire to pay to run a race I knew I would not win. Furthermore, as a runner I am not [...]
A Holiday From a Holiday…
So often when you are speaking with friends who are away travelling or when you yourself are in faraway lands you are more than likely to at once hear/think personally, “I’m having the best time ever, but I wish I could just go home for a week to catch up with my friends and family [...]
Cake
By Beth I was talking to my buddy Alessandro again today. He’s feeling antsy and wants to get on the move again. He is always such a world traveler, more than myself. He talks about how I am living the “Pure American Comedy,” a life that he finds so hilarious, somehow directly related to the fact that [...]
Triumphant Return, Tearful Goodbye
There are some things that never change, and where I am in the globe certainly isn’t one of them! Somehow, after a long plane ride over the Atlantic, I ended up in the U.S. How did that happen? I’m back to the land of wide-open spaces, huge malls, and, of course, the birthplace of fast [...]
Italy’s Disneyland
Right around that point in our visit to Italy when we figured out that ‘parcheggio’ meant parking and not some bizarre underground board game circuit, my travel bud and I arrived in Venice. Milan had been a quiet city, too quiet for us girls from Barcelona, so we were looking forward to all this gorgeous [...]
