The Johnslingtons

When we were doing our incredible hike in the Picos de Europa we ran into a couple from Colorado who were exactly like you’d expect retired Coloradans to be: fit and happy with several twentysomething kids who all did one adventure sport or another. We exchanged “holy crap this is AMAZING” greetings, and we told… Continue reading Stupendous Northern Spain Part 3: Cares Gorge

Until two months ago I didn’t know the Picos de Europa existed. An aside: planning a trip like this becomes a blur, especially while on the road. I’m a big fan of guidebooks as a way to figure out where you want to go – a city, an area, a landmark. E-guidebooks? So much harder… Continue reading Stupendous Northern Spain Part 2: Picos de Europa

I hadn’t seen my cousin Jen in… we think about sixteen years. We know it was more than fifteen, because Jen had never met Julie, which is weird because Jen is one of my favorite people. She’s my dad’s brother’s daughter, and we’re the same age/grade. So when we were growing up and our families… Continue reading Mi Familia

Dan and I made a conscious decision to avoid the news during this sabbatical. As it turns out, not sitting in front of a computer all day makes it much easier to avoid the inevitable daily link-clicking and doomscrolling. And after the dread and anxiety that pervaded the last two years—obsessively following the latest about… Continue reading There’s No Place Like Home

After a stretch of cities, we were ready for some downtime in the country. For many reasons already covered here, our burnout was high, our energy level was low, and we were pretty excited to relax. We weren’t prepared to be absolutely blown away, heads exploded, jaws agape with the stunning natural beauty that is… Continue reading Stupendous Northern Spain Part 1: Gaztelugatxe

Donostia-San Sebastian is a favorite among visitors to Spain—at least three friends told us it was a can’t-miss stop if we were going to be anywhere in the vicinity. It’s largely beloved for its beautiful beaches and vibrant culinary scene (the town has 11 Michelin-Star Restaurants—the most per square meter in Europe). Being there over a… Continue reading A Smidgen of San Sebastian

We thought Barcelona was crowded. Landing there, after the quiet of Bali and the fully-inside life of Singapore… Barcelona freaked us out a little bit. We landed, jet-lagged and frazzled, on a Thursday morning, dropped our stuff at our hotel, walked over to Las Ramblas, and found our way to the Boqueria. So. Many. People.… Continue reading A Tourist in an Over-Touristed City

The Background I have to admit to feeling a bit apprehensive about the post-Bali piece of our itinerary. Due to some flight-scheduling factors beyond our control, the plan we made in our heads for what we’d do after the four-hour drive from west Bali back to Sanur (four more leisurely days at Tandjung Sari, three… Continue reading The Big City x 2: Adventures in Singapore and Barcelona

Our hotel proprietor in Pekutatan told me they had recently hosted a couple who had fled Ukraine, leaving behind a thriving chain of 30-some shawarma restaurants. The pair was regrouping in Bali, deciding where to live and eventually rebuild their restaurant empire. They considered Bali, but the proprietor dismissed the idea, telling them, “you know,… Continue reading Bali – The Best Stuff We Ate

We honeymooned in Bali ten years ago. It was a couple of years after Eat, Pray, Love had hit the bestseller lists, and the island was exploding with activity. Ubud in particular – a village mentioned in the book about an hour from the coast – was such a zoo that we bailed out after… Continue reading (Almost) The Only Tourists In Bali