Last year, I packed up my laptop and tasting glass, and boarded a plane for Japan, where I spent a week shadowing brewers from Coronado Brewing Company. The highlight of the trip was being a …
May 31, 2014
Go Abroad!
World Beer Cup winners’ catch-up collab
Journal from China: Shanghai, Beijing and Nanjing
My first trip to China was unforgettable. It was a tumultuous time in my life, with the ending of a long-term relationship and studies that had kept me occupied for four years. I had no …
Papeete, Tahiti
Papeete is the capital city of Tahiti, in French Polynesia. Relatively easy to reach from the West Coast, it's an eight-hour nonstop flight from LAX. Upon arrival at Tahiti's Faaa Airport, we were greeted by …
May 20, 2014
Playing basketball on Mars
No visit to Paris is considered complete without a glimpse of the iconic Eiffel Tower. And if you want to truly capture the full romantic grandeur of the occasion, it's best to approach from the …
May 3, 2014
Tanzania: the Stone Age lives
The diversity of cultural groups in Africa is unrivaled by any other continent. In East Africa, Kenya and Tanzania alone can boast close to 200 different tribal groups. The East African sites of Olduvai Gorge …
April 27, 2014
Granada, Nicaragua: Central America on the cheap
Nicaragua may be one of the continent's last untarnished jewels that hasn't been flooded with foreign tourism. Lying just to the north of Costa Rica, it can be managed on an extremely low budget. Getting …
April 22, 2014
Must-see Stockholm
Though Stockholm has much in common with other Scandinavian cities, it has a look and cultural legacy all of its own. This harbor city gets both American tourists and lots of fresh seafood. Stockholm seems …
April 15, 2014
Siem Reap: my gift in the jungle
I've always found travel to be its own reward, but on rare occasions it also gifts some of us with a life-altering experience. While visiting friends in Siem Reap, Cambodia, I hired a tuk-tuk driver …
March 31, 2014
Bamberg, Germany: the "beer city"
The nearly four-hour train journey north from Munich whipped us past a landscape of farmland, old Bavarian villages and rolling hills. Our destination: the historic city of Bamberg. We booked a small room at the …
March 25, 2014
Spring in Afghanistan
When I think of what spring means in San Diego, baseball games and announcements of new animals from the zoo come to mind. Traffic and tourists who don't understand common-knowledge speed limit. It means more …
March 17, 2014
A taste of Southern Italy: Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast
Sorrento is well positioned as the gateway to several locations of interest in southern Italy, including Pompeii, Capri, and the spectacular, meandering Amalfi Coast. But the town of 17,000 is also worth exploring in its …
March 13, 2014
Macau: more than just the Asian Vegas
Macau has gained a reputation in recent years as a gambling mecca – “the Asian Las Vegas.” However, beneath the glitz and neon is a vibrant Portuguese-Chinese fusion culture and a former trading post with …
Helsinki, Finland
Helsinki, Finland, is considered by many to be the “gateway to the East,” dividing Scandinavia from Eastern Europe. Indeed, it spent time as both as part of the Kingdom of Sweden and as part of …
March 2, 2014
Walking the Camino, an intermission
Near the end of Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago — Lydia Smith’s finely observed documentary about travelers along Spain’s 500-mile pilgrim trail, the Camino de Santiago — one of the pilgrims makes a …
February 26, 2014
Faith at Lima's witches market
Sometimes the power of belief is the most important part of a medical treatment. At the witches' market in Lima, Peru, the curanderos gather in early morning, setting up their stalls and hanging their banners. …
February 24, 2014