This is a guide on how to hike the Santa Ana volcano in El Salvador: step one: while facing the volcano, put one foot in front of the other until you reach the top. Step two: congratulate yourself on a job well done! For people looking for practical information on how to hike the Santa…
So, you want to know how to get the best photo of Neuschwanstein Castle, do you? You’re in the right place. Maybe. At least I can tell you what I did. I was lying on my stomach in the snow at the edge of a ridge in a forest, eye squinting through a camera lens….
New York right now is as cold and hostile as our landlord when we told them they need to turn up the heating. So let me tell you about our warm and wonderful MSC Fantasia experience around the Caribbean. Just bear with me a moment while I make myself a nice cup of tea, put…
Storm King Art Center is perfect for a day trip out of New York on a mild summer’s day. Presumably it’s also good on a warm spring or fall day or a heatwave in the middle of winter. So, if I were to rewrite this opening, I might have said Storm King Art Center is…
We recently spent a winter weekend in Portland, which I have to clarify by adding “Maine”, because we did not, I repeat we did not, go to Oregon. The gift shops in Portland know all too well that if you tell someone you went to “Portland” they automatically assume the one in Oregon. Every fridge…
When we were in Tokyo, we took five hours’ worth of trains and buses and hikes to see snow monkeys in Nagano. To be more specific, we were at Jigokudani Monkey Park, where we spent about three hours looking at animals, before taking five hours’ worth of hikes and buses and trains back to Tokyo….
Christmas markets in Budapest are, in principle, some of the most magical places you can be. In practicality, they’re busy and you slosh wine all over your coat. The snowfall was patchy and half-hearted, like a 50-year-old woman’s attempt at giving up her 40-a-day habit. It came down in a flurry for a few minutes…
Vietnam has a lot of riches to see and explore. Here’s what to expect on an overnight tour of Ha Long Bay in the north of the country. Ha Long Bay in northern Vietnam is one of the new 7 Natural Wonders of the World. I did a one-night, two-day tour, spending the night on…
Here’s what happened when I spent sunrise at Angkor Wat in Cambodia. When it comes to time of day, I don’t have too many preferences. I mean, obviously 7pm is pretty sweet, 1am needs some kind of award for excellence, and 12 noon deserves a special place in everyone’s hearts, but beyond that I’m not…
We were looking for a bluegrass station on the car’s radio. Driving along this lush Blue Ridge Parkway highway in the Blue Ridge Mountains, North Carolina, bluegrass felt appropriate. We didn’t find anything so we ultimately settled for a Johnny Cash greatest hits CD my friend had in the glove compartment. As the outsider here…