(Location: Sydney, Australia) In January of 2014, my mom came to visit for a few weeks. We live in Melbourne, and aside from the Australian Open, there is a lot to see in Victoria in January. Still, you can’t come ALL the way to Australia and NOT see Sydney. So we planned a whirlwind day […]
(Location: Sydney, Auatralia) When we decided to move to Australia, we had our choice between Melbourne and Sydney. We’d never been to either, and due to timing we wouldn’t be able to visit. We did some research, and in the end decided on Melbourne because it was a little cheaper and seemed to be easier […]
(Location: Hong Kong, China) We arranged for a two night layover in Hong Kong on our way back from Beijing. It’s kind of on the way, and we hadn’t been there. We used points and stayed at The Conrad, one of the nicest large chain hotels that I’ve ever visited. Our room had a gorgeous […]
(Location: Beijing, China) One week after moving to Australia, I had to present at a conference in Beijing. Even though Australia is often classified as part of the Asia Pacific region, let me dispel the myth right now. Australia is nowhere near China. It’s a 14 hour flight from Melbourne to Beijing – so basically […]
(Location: Rio, Brazil) “You probably want to go away for a few days.” That is what our realtor recommended. We were selling our house, and the market was hot, so she expected back to back showings for a few days straight. Logical people would go to Galveston. We decided to go to Brazil. Our destination […]
Antananarivo – The Hub of Madagascar We usually don’t use travel agents, but it was kind of a must for this trip. In addition to insisting that we have a guide travel with us, they insisted that we have day layovers in Antananarivo (Tana) due to flight…irregularities. We’ve traveled quite a bit, so thought this […]
Traveling Light Getting to Madagascar from the US takes a bit of time, especially if you are on frequent flyer tickets. We’d booked forever in advance so we got business class tickets and were flying Houston – DC – Johannesburg – Antananarivo. There was a hurricane in the Atlantic, so we were watching the weather […]
(Location: Munich, Germany) Andy had a work trip to Munich, which happened to coincide with Oktoberfest, so I tagged along for a long weekend. Oktoberfest is something you have to do once. It’s kind of like the Houston Rodeo, but stickier, and with more singing (slurring) and dancing (swaying). The entire city seems to get […]
(Location: San Jose, Costa Rica) The last time we were in Costa Rica was in 2004. On that trip, our flight was canceled making for a day of stress and difficult connections to our remote lodge. This time we would do it differently. We planned a “safety day” at the beginning of the trip. No […]
In May 2007 we visited the Cinque Terre region of Italy. We flew into Genoa and took a local train about 2 hours down the coast. Cinque terre, which means “five lands”, is a bit off the usual tourist circuit. All trains don’t stop in all of the villages so you need to do a […]