Rent vs. Own For Travelers
A popular debate in the U.S. right now is whether to rent or to own your home. There is much advice and speculation on the Internet as to what is the right thing to do. Every situation is different and what works for one person/family might not work for another. Here we will attempt to share our opinion on what works if you like to travel a lot. In 2005, Sara and I sold our home to buy a new home...
Read MoreIf You Only Have One Day in Beijing…
Beijing has a lot to offer, but if you only have one day there, here is a solid itinerary: Start the day as early as possible with a quick, simple breakfast of traditional pastries, bread, or cake and milk tea at 85°C. Take a taxi or bus ride to the Great Wall (Mutianyu Section). If you get there early, there won’t be many tourists and you can see it and go. Take the cable car to Tower 14...
Read More7 Essential OTC Medications to Carry When Traveling
I am a big fan of natural medicine and have more than once found that a natural form of medicine has healed me permanently where the traditional Western doctors could only dull my pain. That being said, everything has its place and when you are traveling, you want to get out and see things, not stay stuck in a hotel room or hostel, miserable. In these situations, an over-the-counter (OTC) pill...
Read MoreOur First Twitter Contest “Inspire Others to Travel” – Win $50 in Amazon Gift Cards
After some thoughts on how to get the word out about our very awesome blog, we decided that we will hold a Twitter Contest. We want to enlist your help in spreading the word, and in return, we will pick two winners. Each lucky winner will receive a $25 gift card to Amazon.com. We hope you will spend it all on cool travel related stuff or Lonely Planet guidebooks for your next trip! So here...
Read MoreCongratulations, Gary!
In the mid-90′s, I was fortunate to be able to work and travel at the same time. I spent four and a half months traveling around South America with a group of guys and we had our share of adventures. I lost touch with all of them over the years, but recently ran into my closest friend from that trip, Gary Ryals (I have mentioned him in a previous post). We have since spent some time...
Read MoreHow You Can Help Japan
Sara’s first travel experience was to Japan. That trip changed her life and gave her the passion that she has for travel today. I proposed to Sara in Japan and our younger daughter’s first trip other than to Taiwan was to Tokyo. I found the country to be at the top of my favorite places to have visited. The recent tragedy there is heart-wrenching for our whole family. If you are not...
Read MoreDreams, Passion, Loss
For the last two nights I have had dreams about an I.T. client of mine whom I have known for over 10 years (according to my dream, Hurley from Lost was his personal chef). I found out two weeks ago that he passed away in December after a battle with stomach cancer. I have been fortunate over the years to have a lot of clients, but I can safely say that Dr. Dana Launer was pretty unique. He was a...
Read MoreHow to Eat Your Way Through Chinese New Year in San Francisco
Last year I got to experience diverse culinary delights from many different Asian cultures during the traditional Chinese New Year celebration in San Francisco. We went there to celebrate with Sara’s extended family. Unfortunately, her immediate family could not make it from Taiwan and China, but we did get to see almost everyone else on her mother’s side…dozens. As...
Read MoreBack After A Brief Delay
Recently, Sara and I have been busy with work and haven’t had any time to tend to our travel blog. That is about to change, however, because we have also been busy planning our next epic journey and plan to share all of the details. We have always loved to travel, but something happened to us on our Egypt trip. We came to the conclusion that travel is really something that is more important...
Read MoreHow To Use a Squat Toilet
If you travel overseas enough, you will eventually run into a squat toilet. “What is a squat toilet?” you ask. They come in many varieties, but essentially, it is any toilet which requires you to squat instead of sit in order to conduct your business. From my experience, they are very popular in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and South America. Don’t be afraid,...
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