We were determined to prove two Belgian travelers wrong about their country: it is NOT possible to see Belgium in one day. In fact we spent 4 days in Belgium and only left Brussels once. So there.
More than any place on this entire trip, Brussels reminded us of home. No, it wasn’t the french accent, the chocolate, the strange little boy statue or the little-Africa neighborhood downtown. While these could all be said of DC, it was the vibe of “power” in the city. The political center of the European Union, we attended a birthday party where the attendees were from no less than a dozen nations.  (In fact, ‘Happy Birthday’ was sung in three different languages.)  It was the first …

The Garden Route is a seemingly mythical stretch of coastline in South Africa stretching about 400 miles from Cape Town east along the Indian Ocean. This stretch is known as a surfer’s paradise offering bay after bay of relatively warm waters abutting sleepy seaside towns where ones biggest worry is when to sleep. But since we don’t surf and I happen to be from South Florida, which makes me a spoiled little brat when it comes to all these world class beaches we keep coming across, we skipped most of the Garden Route.
The one big Garden Route activity we were sure not to miss was the Tsitsikamma National Park. As we hadn’t arranged to hike the five …

It hasn’t been such a rough transition coming home for “intermission.”  We’ve been gone long enough to appreciate rather than be annoyed by the little things that make home, home.  Yes, people yelling into their cell phones are annoying, but that appears to be a worldwide phenomenon and one that’s probably not going to change.
We appreciate so many things we took for granted before we left.  Little things.  Sitting in Bryant Park last week I used the most incredible public bathroom I’d ever seen.  Well decorated, clean with fancy hand soap, soft ply toilet paper and fresh cut flowers; I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the thought of some of the restrooms I’ve used over the last nine …

6 months into our trip!
On Friday, March 13, our friend Alan dropped us off at the US boarder just south of San Diego…and we walked into Tijuana. We were scared, nervous, bewildered, and any number of other adjectives that one can use to describe confusion and fear of the unknown. But we were excited too. The world awaited and our time had come to go out and discover it.
Six months is significant for one reason and one reason only. It was our minimum. Six months was the amount of time we decided we´d force ourselves to meet. Once we´d been gone six months it will have been worth it to quit our jobs and make ourselves homeless. If we came …