This is a laterblog, recapping some of the highlights of our recent trip to Peru. This was a scouting exercise for a work project, so much of our time was spent doing work. Because this was a work trip, and because I am good steward of grant resources, I eschewed our usual “Delta unless it’s…
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We’ve recently returned from a week in Taipei, Taiwan. This trip didn’t get its own day-by-day blog, as it was mostly a work trip. But, we wanted to capture a few of the memories from the trip before they fade into misremembered half-truths. Our travel got off to a slightly rough start. De-icing and impending…
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This post is part of a series called Mexico City 2019 Today started in a somewhat unique and spontaneous way. Our Airbnb has a large swordfish mounted on the wall, with his proboscis protruding into the room. I started the day by smashing my head into his pointy lower lip, slicing open my scalp. Kat…
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This post is part of a series called Mexico City 2019 Although there is an endless supply of museums and sights to see in Mexico City proper, we decided that it’d be worth taking a day to head to Teotihuacan, about an hour outside the city. And for such a long, arduous journey, proper sustenance…
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This post is part of a series called Mexico City 2019 The intersection of a new nonstop flight from Minneapolis, our five year anniversary, and a desire to stuff ourselves full of tacos has brought us to Mexico City. It’s a quick trip, but we’re packing it full. And more importantly, packing ourselves full. After…
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This post is part of a series called Japan 2019 (The hanging out in Tokyo bit, not the unfortunate pants) Tokyo is so completely overwhelming, it almost doesn’t make sense to try to tick off agenda items. It feels utterly insurmountable. Throw a three-year-old into the mix and things are fully off the rails. Rather…
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This post is part of a series called Japan 2019 After failing at dinner last night, there was a bit of traveler pride at stake for breakfast this morning. Luckily, some internet research came through, and we ended up at Lorimer, a Kyoto branch of a Brooklyn restaurant, doing breakfast and lunch. We had a mind-bogglingly…
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This post is part of a series called Japan 2019 Roughly a year ago, our friend Rebecca said “I’m planning a surprise trip to Japan for Mike’s 40th birthday: you want in?” Well, yeah. Of course we want in. So, we’re in Japan. This post is going up on a delay, because the surprise has…
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You should visit Almaty because it’s a friendly, charming gateway to an entire part of the planet you probably haven’t considered. Chances are pretty good you can’t point to Kazakhstan on a map. And if you know anything about its history, you’re probably thinking “bleak, former Soviet petro-state” or “just one of the ‘stans”. And…
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This post is part of a series called Kazakhstan 2019 Our time in Almaty is coming to a close. We used our final week to knock out a few destinations we hadn’t yet visited, and did some “greatest hits” eating and adventuring. We made one last trip to Kok Tobe for sunset, ate at Luckee…
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This post is part of a series called Kazakhstan 2019 Our six weeks in Almaty are flying by. We knew we wanted to get out of the city to learn more about life in the rest of Kazakhstan, and when one of the KazNU students, Zhan, invited us to visit his family in the historic…
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This post is part of a series called Kazakhstan 2019 Prior to our trip to Turkestan (the next post), we had a perfectly domestic week in Almaty. We made plenty of trips to the bakery, vegetable store and coffee shop, and explored the city. Kat enjoyed another morning at the Botanic Gardens, this time with…
View MoreThis post is part of a series called Kazakhstan 2019 Much of the information online about getting from Almaty to Turkestan is vague or unhelpful. The cheapest and easiest ways to make the trek are by bus or train, but in either case you’re looking at somewhere between 13 and 20 hours of travel. If…
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This post is part of a series called Kazakhstan 2019 After a couple days of fun but intense Fun-Directed activities, we were happy to have the weekend to ourselves. We knew we wanted to get back to explore the Nauryz street festival at our own pace, so after a visit to the gym we ventured…
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This post is part of a series called Kazakhstan 2019 Having New Years during the darkest, gloomiest part of the year doesn’t make a lot of sense does it? “Happy New Year! Now, go back to sulking and reading Scandinavian murder fiction.” Having New Years on the Spring equinox, when the daylight is returning and…
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This post is part of a series called Kazakhstan 2019 We’ve been in Almaty for two weeks now. Just about everyone who’s asked us what we’ve been up to has expressed shock and dismay that we hadn’t yet been to the mountains. Yesterday we righted that wrong. Before we get to that though, there are…
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This post is part of a series called Kazakhstan 2019 We’re continuing to really enjoy our time in Almaty. Because we’ve got a bit of time on our side, we’re savoring the ability to have some routine and normalcy, and not just cram in as much as possible. We’ve explored museums, criss-crossed the city, and…
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