There’s a place in Florida where wildlife abounds, where you can snorkel, scuba dive, bird watch, canoe, kayak and hike in relative isolation in Mother Nature’s sanctuary. This same place is a haven for seafood: …
Travel Stories
Wild about FL's Franklin County
A night at the (Chinese) opera
“Tonight we will see living national treasures!” our guide, Bao Chui, announced dramatically while poking his chopsticks around our noodle lunch in Beijing. To the uninitiated, the Beijing Opera can be either a dazzling visual …
June 20, 2013
How to survive Yosemite in July
With limited free time and a bucket list growing by the day, a return trip to Yosemite National Park had been on the cards for a while, but sadly the only weekend we could spare …
June 18, 2013
Providencia, Colombia
Below us, the island came into view, encircled by a brittle ring of coral reefs made distinguishable by whitewater ripping at the edges. A turquoise iris skirted the white sandy edges of the Caribbean island …
June 18, 2013
Go Gallic in Trier
Germany’s most ancient city is Trier, its name derived from the Roman name Augusta Trevororum under Caesar Augustus. It was known as the “Second Rome” before Constantinople. While the Romans had been in neighboring Gaul …
June 17, 2013
Olympos, Turkey
Getting to Olympos, Turkey, our final destination, was turning out to be a real doozy. This sleeping spread-eagle business on the cold green floor of the Kharkiv, Ukraine, airport, catching a 3 a.m. flight with …
June 14, 2013
Forts of the Deep South
Empires rise and they fall, leaving behind the ruins of their fortresses. Until armored warships rendered masonry forts and their black powder cannons obsolete, warring European empires set on colonizing the rest of the world …
June 13, 2013
Andasibe, Madagascar
Tina, my male Malagasy guide, planned a trip to the Andasibe National Park and a small lemur reserve. On the walk there we discussed different cultural aspects of Madagascar and his history. Arriving in the …
June 13, 2013
Wagner's Lucerne
May 22 is the bicentennial of the birth of German composer Richard Wagner. Although born 1813 in Leipzig, the operatic genius has a strong connection to Switzerland. Wagner – then Royal Saxon Court Conductor – …
June 11, 2013
Sofia, Bulgaria: rakia with Boris
I hung out the other day with a 50-something-year-old Bulgarian bus driver named Boris. He'd taken one of my classes on a field trip, and I’d offered to buy him and the tour guide a …
June 10, 2013
(Speed)hiking Alaska's Matanuska Glacier
I had less than eight hours before my flight and I wanted to hike Matanuska Glacier, a two-and-a-half-hour drive each way from the Anchorage airport. It had been a fun weekend visiting friends, seeing the …