Originally we planned to stay at the Goda Boutique Hotel, halfway between town and the beach. However, as we were packing for our trip we noticed the weather looked like it was going to be cloudy...
Blog posts from International Travel
Vietnam 2016: overview
After a snowy February 2015 we decided that we needed to get away somewhere warmer for a chunk of February 2016. We eventually settled on a trip back to southeast Asia, this time to Vietnam. Our...
Beijing 2015: Hiking on the Great Wall of China
One of our top goals of the Beijing trip was to experience the Great Wall given that sections of it are only an hour away from the city. After quite a bit of research we decided to try a hike along...
Beijing 2015: food & drink
Friday Great Leap Brewing #6 - located in a hutong, this brewery was a bit tricky to find - thank goodness for working GPS! We grabbed a table in the nearly empty tasting room and ordered a sampler...
Beijing 2015: 798 Art District
After a filling dim sum lunch, we tried to take an Uber out to the 798 art district, only to be thwarted by the language barrier. Thankfully we were at a hotel so we asked one of the staff to hail...
Beijing 2015: The Palace Museum (Forbidden City)
Saturday morning we awoke to an even smoggier day, but decided to continue with our plans to see Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Unfortunately, we found the smog obscuring Tiananmen Square,...
Beijing 2015: Lama Temple
After my morning at the Temple of Heaven and Leandra's morning in her cooking class we met back at the hotel to warm up and plan the rest of our day. Lama temple had been recommended to us, and...
Beijing 2015: Temple of Heaven
Temple of Heaven contains quite a few centuries-old religious buildings where the emperor would make sacrifices for the harvest, fortune, etc, and is now a large urban park. Just a few miles from...
Beijing 2015: Dumplings Cooking Class & Market Tour
I found a few options for cooking classes ahead of our trip to Beijing but I really wanted to learn how to make dumplings, so Beijing Cooking School seemed to be the best choice for me. I opted to...
Beijing 2015: Introduction
Earlier in the year Leandra went to Hong Kong because of a good airfare deal and to keep her Platinum status for 2016. After that, she needed another long trip and Beijing was pricing well for...
Istanbul 2015: Food!
Perhaps the most memorable part of Istanbul was the food, with lots of nuts, honey, olives, etc, and much of it grown or produced domestically. Breakfast Eric found two great breakfast options near...
Istanbul 2015: exploring & shopping in Istanbul
Besides the big mosques and museums we also visited several other spots around Istanbul in the course of our explorations. Galata Bridge is a key connector between Galata and the famous tourist...
Istanbul 2015: Bosphorus
Istanbul is famously split into a European and an Asian side by the Bosphorus strait. Somehow I convinced Leandra to take a 2 hour tour up the Bosphorus, and the views were great! After pulling away...
Istanbul 2015: Asian side
After spending several hours at the Topkapi palace we decided to take the ferry across the Bosphorous and explore Kadıköy, a neighborhood on the Asian side of Istanbul. As soon as we exited the...
Istanbul 2015: The Topkapi Palace Museum
The Topkapi Palace grounds are immense, so we prepared to spend several hours exploring. Photos are not allowed inside many of the buildings, though rule enforcement varied from not at all to loud...
Istanbul 2015: Cooking class
Several weeks before we left, I emailed the Istanbul Cooking School to see if there were any openings during our trip. Although Oguz couldn't confirm anything until about a month before, everything...
Istanbul 2015: Friday at the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque
Our pre-trip research indicated that a museum pass would be our best bet, so despite the touts out front trying to guide us in around the line, we waited for the box office at the Hagia Sophia. The...
Istanbul 2015: 20 hours in Chicago
Chicago's blue line makes it relatively straightforward to get from the airport to downtown, and after one transfer and a few blocks walk we were at the Park Hyatt an hour or so after we had landed....
Our Itinerary
2025 Trips
Tampa Bay, FL (Jan)
Buenos Aires, Argentina (Feb)
Villa la Angostura, Argentina (Feb)
Bariloche, Argentina (Feb)
Iguazu Falls, Argentina + Brazil (Feb)
Miami, FL (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Mar)
Boston, MA (Apr)
Kathmandu, Nepal (May)
Bhutan (May)
Slovenia (Sep)
Treviso, Italy (Sep)
Bologna, Italy (Sep)
Turin, Italy (Oct)
2024 Trips
San Diego, CA (Jan)
Sarasota, FL (Feb)
Madrid, Spain (Mar)
Valencia, Spain (Mar+Apr)
Palma, Mallorca (Apr)
Croatia (May)
Long Island, NY (July)
Faroe Islands (Aug)
London, UK (Sept)
Puglia, Italy (Sept)
Matera, Italy (Oct)
Rome, Italy (Oct)
Mosel Valley, Germany (Oct)
Frankfurt, Germany (Oct)
London + Manchester, UK (Dec)
2023 Trips
San Diego (Jan)
Orlando (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Apr)
Northern Italy (Apr)
NC Mountains (May)
Long Island (Jul)
Wisconsin (Aug)
Chicago (Aug)
Oak Island, NC (Sept)
Brooklyn, NY (Sept)
Bordeaux + Rugby World Cup (Sep)
Castilla y León (Sep)
Seychelles (Nov)
Willamette Valley (Dec)