Every once in a while, Mr. M & I used to feel Manhattan’s concrete jungle closing in on us. When we needed to break free, my favorite escape was the Catskill region in upstate New York. A ninety minute drive from this skyline… … is this one! Day #11,132: Despite getting mildly lost on the […]
I did not expect to find myself on top of a glacier. Glaciers are, universally speaking, fairly Epic. You really don’t need to be on top of one to appreciate it. Besides, doesn’t that sort of stunt require dangling precariously above frozen crevasses with ice picks for hands? Fox Glacier sits frozen on the west […]
It’s impossible to complain about the weather in California. Well… it’s certainly possible to complain about the weather, but you’ll sound like an ass and will get serious side-eye from anyone living someplace where Storm Watch 3000 means something more substantial than “maybe it’ll rain.” In fact, just one year ago, Mr. M & I found […]
With all the hype surrounding Machu Picchu, it could easily be one of those overrated places that’s frustratingly uber-disappointing in real life. Even the journey to get to Machu Picchu is slightly epic. Whether by train (as Mr. M & I did) or by 4-day hardcore trek, you have a whole lotta time to imagine and re-imagine “Machu […]
Okay. My Machu Picchu Fantasy circa 2008 played out something like this: I trudge the famous 4-day Inka Trail armed only with grizzled walking stick and roll of TP, and summit the Intipunku Sun Gate just in time to watch the sun rise as a majestic crown atop Machu Picchu. [Please note: in this fantasy […]
Grouchy While Traveling is an inexcusable sin. There’s no crying in adventuring. But if this blog is actually chronicling my days and not just sugar-coating life, I gots to be honest. Day#11,401: I woke up grouchy. Maybe it was Iceland’s midnight sun shooting laser beams of light past our flimsy hotel room curtains (and leading […]
Days #11,399-11,400: By some turn of witchcraft, it takes less time to get to Iceland from NYC than it takes to make my usual pilgrimages home to LA. Four and a half hours after leaving JFK, Mr. M & I touched down near the barren, moonscaped town of Keflavik. Mood: Stellar. While Icelandair has the […]
The Northeast has a certain high-falutin’ way of naming its suburban wilds that somehow elevates them to the level of Inaccessible. For months I imagined that The Poconos (did I dare breathe its hallowed name?) was an enchanted playground for the rich & famous… not the birthplace of the in-room champagne hot tub. Similarly, I […]
Lucky Day #10,000 (confetti & balloons!): In the town of Puerto Ayora on the island of Santa Cruz in the Galapagos archipelago lives the Charles Darwin Research Station. The Station is dedicated to conserving the unique marine and terrestrial ecosystems of the Galapagos, and it’s open for the public to learn more about their work. […]
If there’s one thing that scares me more than losing a toe to a piranha, it’s the threat of regret. After a day spent eating grubs and swinging on jungle vines and visiting with pink river dolphins, I couldn’t shake the nagging feeling of wanting to swim in the Rio Negro. So as the sun set over the tea-colored Amazon, in I went.