Think of the perfect mountain town. It’s small, warm enough in summer to hang out outside at night, but cool enough for sleeping. There are amenities enough to keep you fed, and it’s easy enough to get to, but not so much that it’s overwhelmed with people. The scenery is stunning, and the trails for… Continue reading A Perfect Mountain Town

We flew 11 hours from SFO to Frankfurt (more on that later), and then, after a six-hour layover, two more hours to Olbia, Sardinia. Our flight left San Francisco at 2 pm and landed in Frankfurt at midnight Pacific Time. Not ideal conditions for sleeping in United Economy. Fiona slept maybe an hour. Me less.… Continue reading How to cure jet lag, Sardinian style

Hm. Kinda dusty around here. Let’s change that. What’s that mess above? Oh, just the usual way I start packing. I throw everything on the bed, sort into piles, then decide what’s in and what’s out. Those of you who have followed for a while may recognize some of my packing list from last year,… Continue reading On the Road Again!

Best Sunsets Ham Rankings (Note: We didn’t have any ham during our quick stop in Italy; otherwise they’d be on here.) Beer Rankings (Everywhere else basically just has light pilsner, which is fine, but rarely something to write home about.) Wine Rankings, by Value (Decent wine in Europe is so cheap it’s silly. Australian wine… Continue reading Around the World – A List of Lists

No, I didn’t run around the world. But I did go for runs in lots of places as we circumnavigated, and I wanted to write about that a little bit. Bringing my running stuff was a relatively late decision, made a couple of weeks before we left. I’d never brought my gear with me on… Continue reading A Run ‘Round The World

New England in the late summer is a cornucopia of deliciousness! Here’s what we loved: New England, we (and our tummies) love you.

It’s no secret that I love hiking – it’s my favorite vacation activity, beats (for me) meditation, and is usually when Julie and I have our best conversations. We’d done a good number of hikes on this trip – up huge mountains, along bluffs, through rolling hills and country lanes… In Vermont we did one… Continue reading Long-Ago Memories on the Long Trail

Here’s a game. Complete this phrase: “The Pilgrims landed at [insert place here].” Plymouth Rock. Right? And when you think of Plymouth Rock (no Googling, people!), your mental image is probably something like a windswept, craggy shore featuring a historic-looking rock big enough to moor a boat full of Pilgrims to, right? That’s what we… Continue reading The Rock Is…

While our last stops in Europe were emotionally bittersweet (so many feelings about going back to the States!), they were also gustatorily triumphant. We alluded before to Portugal’s sometimes perplexing nature, but on this second trip through we kinda nailed it. And… we nailed the food, too. Most of what we consumed was real, real… Continue reading Lisbon and the Azores – The Best Stuff We Ate

Back in May, we were trying to figure out the most intelligent and efficient way to come home. We knew we were going to be coming from the south of France, we knew we were going to land on the East coast, and we knew knew we still wanted to check out Lisbon. Looking at… Continue reading Awed by the Azores