It was my lucky day when I saw I was the only person in line at the visa application counter at the Mozambican border crossing. Other border crossings and immigration procedures that I’ve endured have lasted up to four hours, but this one looked easy. I smiled, said “bom dia” (good morning), and handed my […]
No matter how many times I hear “3-2-1-liftoff” it is always exciting (and suspenseful) to witness a missile launch. Just a few days ago tourists and locals had gathered at 4th Street South in Cocoa Beach to watch the newest SpaceX Falcon 9 launch and my family and I were among them. Liftoff was scheduled […]
My first memory of the word Kathmandu came from a Bob Segar song playing on the radio in 1977. “I think I’m goin’ to Kat-man-du” he shouted, I mean sang….I couldn’t have known then that one day I actually would visit Kathmandu many times during a month-long visit to Nepal. Thamel is a touristy area […]
When I first walked into Durbar Square in Bhaktapur, it was as if I was stepping back in time and into a wholly different world. Paved in worn reddish-brown brick, the large public square was bounded by Hindu temples, historic statues, and brick buildings with dozens of potted plants lining the roofs. What was most striking was […]
Years ago I dubbed myself Luckiest Aunt in the World, and Charlie (10) and David (6) are two of the reasons why. I’ve just wrapped up a tiring and rewarding nine-day trip where I was charged with taking care of these two bright and active children. My cousin and her husband were planning an extended […]
Fifty shades of green. Go ahead, wrap your head around that and you’ll be surprised how many shades you will recognize. Kelly green, spinach green, hospital green, milky green, pistachio green and fern green, for example. They say the human eye can see 10 million colors, and while fifty shades don’t seem to make a […]
Passengers banging suitcases into walls as they race to their gates, a child crying because a TSA agent confiscated her liquid filled snow globe souvenir, and metal chair legs scraping across food court floors are some typical sounds anyone hears when passing through any airport. On a recent flight to South Carolina, I changed planes […]
When I was little, I wanted to be many things when I grew up, but being a truck driver was not one of them. Yet, now I can call myself a truck driver. Kind of. January 1 seemed an auspicious day to pick up and load my rental truck – my little big rig – […]
Like many other millions of Americans, I spent part of my Thanksgiving holiday at one of our nation’s busiest airports. My journey to gate A24 in Denver International Airport was easy breezy, due in part to traveling with just a small carry-on and also to only having 12 people in front of me in the […]
Every 20 feet heavily accented invitations are called out to me as I walk past each shop on the cobblestone pedestrian streets of Kusadasi, a small town on the western coast of Turkey. “Lady in blue jacket, come in here. We have the nicest ceramics,” calls one man. Several others offer “free Wi-Fi for you”. […]