Category Travel tips
Coronavirus work-around plan: send travel advice (I already have the face masks)
So what do you do when you’re about to visit South Korea and the CDC puts out a AVOID NON ESSENTIAL TRAVEL red alert? Well obviously you put on your good citizen pants and cancel your trip. Back in 2009, HOB and I came down with the swine flu at the peak of the pandemic. […]
Funniest travel moments of 2019
Oh 2019, you were a silly end to a hilarious decade. As usual, I saw a lot of funny signs this year. Best love hotel name, ever. Also, extra points for the subtlety of the logo. On second thought, this taco joint wins the award for subtlety of both name and logo. I made too […]
How I research travel online
For years my best travel advice came from a retired doctor named Howard who I “met” on the now-defunct website VirtualTourist. Howard—in his mid 80’s at the time–was exceptionally cranky, no doubt because he was no longer able to travel (for the record, this would make me cranky too.) Howard put his pent-up traveling energy […]
Are we Trunk-Slammers? The dubious ethics of cultural tourism
Growing up in the rural Midwest, I lived for several years in a resort for well-off city dwellers. (My mom had remarried and some of my stepfather’s family owned and operated the place, and for a while he worked there too.) The resort had artificially created lakes, golf courses, a concrete castle, and hilly roads […]
Funniest travel moments of 2018
Oh 2018, you were a lot to handle. The Manchurian Cantaloupe spent the year calling the free press the enemy of the people, changing cabinet members more than I change my sheets, putting babies in cages and licking the posteriors of authoritarian leaders. I did my best to maintain a sense of humor (dicey at […]
Your budget traveler’s favorite souvenirs are…(hint, real estate agents)
I don’t buy myself souvenirs when I travel, mostly because I’m cheap. I love clothes and lipstick, but otherwise I’m not a “thing” person. I am a food person, but most of what I want to bring home is liquid; local honey or you know, about twenty bottles of olive oil, which certainly would exceed […]
Money belt monoboob and other travel complaints
You’re lucky if you have the chance to travel, so going around complaining is pretty lame. That said, nothing brings people together like shared whining. So, in the spirit of solidarity, I give you my travel complaints: Glass coffee tables. Being able to rent an apartment for a few nights is an affordable luxury. The […]
Do you cook while traveling?
The top three things I miss while traveling are; My cat Taking a shower without wearing flip flops Cooking Happens every time: HOB and I are in the midst of a fast-paced trip when we visit a local market and I’m overwhelmed with longing to cook all that beautiful produce. Now that Airbnb is a […]
How to suck at travel photography
Well I don’t know about you but if I read another Pinterest article titled Twelve Tips for Taking Insanely Great Travel Photos: Number 5 Will Blow Your Mind!!! I’m going to barf all over my cheap-ass digital camera. I have a more unique skill, one that doesn’t even require three exclamation points: I take terrible travel photos. […]
Funniest travel moments of 2017
2017 was a year for great trips (HOB and I traveled to five countries outside the US) and appalling politics (looking at you, Cheetolini McRacistpants). 2017 could also be confusing at times. Fortunately, we found this sign which cleared a lot of things up for us. In 2017 we finally made it to Lithuania, which […]
Picnic at the Cathedral 