Iceland, it’s a landscape like no other. A cold paradise greener and richer than imagined from a remote island in the North Atlantic. Everything about it is beautifully strange. The language. The food. The brutal, volcanic landscape. And yet it’s capital city Reykjavik has all the comforts and contemporary charm you’d expect from a, Read More
Spoiler Alert: I didn’t take this picture. It was done on a special camera used by our tour guide. Another spoiler alert: this picture is misleading. In person, the Northern Lights did not look even remotely as spectacular as advertised. Instead, they were quite mild, far less colorful, and to the untrained eye could, Read More
Suitcase. Backpack. Laptop bag. That’s it. Three bags, in them goes everything I’ll need for a year, covering all seasons. As a minimalist, I find comfort in having my things broken down to simple necessity. Here’s a breakdown. Clothes: Two pairs of shoes (running/all-purpose &Vans). Flip flops. Jacket. Hoodie. Gloves. Winter hat. Scarf. Six, Read More
My first theater experience was, in a word, incredible. Come from Away is one of those entertaining shows that pulls no punch and hits on all emotional levels, mixing sadness and joy so effortlessly that you can’t tell if your tears are from laughing or crying. For those of you not familiar, Come from, Read More
Summer, as it always does, flies. This has been a busy one, equally divided between three countries (the past, present, and future all tangled into one). Goodbyes in Qatar, followed by hellos in Canada, and, of course, a return trip home to Michigan. New experiences mixed with old. Toronto. Lindsay. Ottawa. Haliburton. Algonquin Provincial, Read More
You know that feeling you get when you’re about twenty pages into a book and you’re finally all in, committed to the story, the characters, and where it’s going. Life is like that too, especially when you move to a new place. At first, it’s strange. Unknown. Exciting. A little scary, which only fuels, Read More
What I love most about England, and Europe as a whole, is how effortlessly it blends the new with the old. Nothing depresses me more than the modern-day, mall-sized sprawl, where they paved paradise to put up a parking lot, and nothing lifts me more than to walk down a cobbled street or quiet, Read More
Sometimes you travel alone, sometimes you travel with company. My mom has read and heard about my travels for many years now. This time she got to experience it herself. In London and the Lake District, we got to retrace some of the steps of my last visit (with my 96-year-old grandfather who hadn’t, Read More
Everyone should go to Nepal at least once in their lifetime. The natural beauty will inspire you. The rampant poverty will humble you. The friendly, welcoming people will soften your hard edges. And the crowded, polluted streets of Kathmandu will give you pause. You can’t go there and feel nothing. Most venture to Nepal, Read More
You don’t have to be religious to be awed by places of worship. The closest thing I have to religion is art. All it requires is an appreciation for anything beautiful. Like, St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, a marvel of architecture and design. Creativity is after all, humanity’s ambitious attempt to reach the, Read More