I have never missed watching the Olympics. When I was a kid, I was glued to the TV during the opening ceremonies, trying to count every single country that walked into the stadium. I cheered on Mary Lou Retton and Kerri Strug; Kristi Yamaguchi and Michelle Kwan; Carl Lewis, Greg Louganis, Apolo Ohno and Shani […]
What I Learned Watching the Olympics in Turkmenistan Read More »
Yes, this is a picture of yak poo. This yard happens to be in Gokyo, one of the highest points we reached on our trek in the Himalayas, but it could have been in almost any of the villages we passed through along the way. It is typical for the villagers to collect yak poo,
Saturday Scenes: Yak Poo in the Mountains Read More »
Located on the Red Sea in the Sinai Peninsula, Dahab is known as a great place for snorkeling and diving. Anyone who knows me well knosw that I am not the biggest fan of water activities. Especially those that involved actually going underneath the water in large bodies of water that are not pools. So
Exploring the Coloured and White Canyons Read More »
I should be in Sochi right now. At least, I could be in Sochi right now. Not as a spectator and certainly not as an athlete, but as a volunteer. Two years ago around this time I was in Ukraine and, not having any clue what exactly I would be doing in February 2014, I
Why I’m Not in Sochi for the Winter Olympics Read More »
Among the high-rises that tower over Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, there are a few regal greystone buildings that date back to the early twentieth century, if not earlier. If you weren’t looking for it, you would probably never realize that, among those greystones sits one of the only museums in the country dedicated to
A Morning at the International Museum of Surgical Science Read More »
You have probably seen them floating around Facebook and Twitter. Date a Girl Who Travels. Don’t Date a Girl Who Travels. Date a Boy Who Travels. There are probably a dozen different versions and rebuttals out there too. As a much-maligned or much-praised “girl who travels,” I found each of the posts resonating with me
Why I Love the Posts About Dating a Girl or Boy Who Travels Read More »
I visited the SkyDeck at Chicago’s Willis Tower last summer, an experience that included checking out the infamous SkyDeck Ledge for the first time. While I took my time getting up the nerve to step out on the clear glass that revealed a view straight down, this kid jumped right out there. Not content to
Saturday Scenes: The SkyDeck Ledge at the Willis Tower Read More »
Being from Minnesota, I like to think I am pretty tough when it comes to cold, wintery weather. I can only recall school being cancelled for snow three times from kindergarten through high school and once for cold weather. I also remember days when I walked to school in the dead of winter wearing flats
My Four Most Miserable Cold Weather Experiences Read More »
Possibly my favorite site in all of Kathmandu was the Swayambhunath stupa – better known to many as the Monkey Temple. We climbed up the steep stairs to the stupa while it was still dark, in hopes of photographing the sunrise. The weather didn’t exactly cooperate, giving us cloudy skies and no sign of the
Saturday Scenes: Swayambhunath (The Monkey Temple) Read More »
After our climb up Mount Sinai, we moved on to Dahab to relax for a couple days. Dahab is a small town on the Red Sea that is just getting to be more popular with tourists. It still feels like a backpacker town, though, and even our hotel (the Dyarna Hotel) wasn’t completed finished. Nonetheless,
