Kia Ora from New Zealand! Have you ever truly experienced the sound of silence? It’s just one of the experiences that made our Doubtful Sound overnight cruise so magical and memorable. The vast, pristine wilderness is another. Read on for a complete review of our epic adventure with Real Journeys… Cruise Doubtful Sound We met […]
Destinations
Riomaggiore or Bust!
A bit of backstory… Steve and I first met back in 1985 when he was my teaching assistant for a biology class I was taking at UC Santa Barbara. I was a lowly undergrad and he was working on his PhD in molecular biology. (What a catch, huh?) We connected over travel. I’d just returned […]
Hawaii on the Cheap: Big Island Adventure
“I spent $22,000 on a weeklong trip to Hawaii for my family of four,” a hairstylist recently told me. “My husband says no more trips for us because this one broke the bank.” I was surprised, especially since she’d mentioned that the flights for her family of four were FREE(!), due to her jealousy-inducing side […]
One Magical Day in the Val d’Orcia
So we woke up to this on our first morning just outside of Pienza in the Val d’Orcia region of southern Tuscany. Buongiorno indeed! We were staying at Tenuta San Pietro, an adorable thirteenth century 12-bedroom inn, working farm, and vineyard nestled among the graceful rolling hills of Tuscany, just outside Pienza, in the province […]
A D-Day Tour of Normandy Beaches: My American Experience
It’s hard to believe that 73 years have passed since the Allies invaded Normandy beaches in France on D-Day, June 6, 1944 (the largest naval invasion ever). Operation Overlord, as it was called, turned the tide in the war to eventually liberate Europe from the fierce grip of the Nazis in September 1945. And that’s […]
