My daughter invited me to visit her for a week in Helena, MT, in mid-February. The purpose was to help her and her husband to convert his rental house into a second Airbnb. It sounded like fun, as it was a particularly boring time in Minneapolis, and I also love designing interior spaces that are … More Unbroken
In the second week of October this year I was on the beach at Ogunquit, Maine. It was a rough repeat of last year’s COVID-19 Desperation Road Trip. I was watching the tide come in and reading my grandfather’s Upton Sinclair book–Dragon Harvest– while my husband arranged the names of his two grandchildren, using little … More Like Adventure Travel? You’ve gotta rock the squat
I love serendipity. A few days ago, at the one-year anniversary of the latest world pandemic, I stopped by the Little Free Library that I got installed when we first moved into our townhouse nine years ago. It is easy to reach now, because most of the snow has melted. I picked out a book … More I Love Serendipity!
Preface: This is Part two of places we can’t visit right now, due to the coronavirus pandemic, but maybe later. In summer of 2006 and 2007, my husband and I went on holiday to southwestern France, to a little town at the foot of the Pyrenees called Plaisance. A colleague had put up her former … More Travel Reminiscences,Part 2: Catalan Modernisme
My husband Phil and I had signed up to spend two weeks on a guided trip to Iran last November, via a round trip flight from Minneapolis to Vienna, followed by a short round trip from Vienna to Tehran. I thought it would be fun to extend our Vienna layover four days for less than … More Pro Tip: Add-on trip to Rome during Low Season
Note: This second post about my two week trip to Iran is about my impressions of special rules for women under Islamic law in Iran. I make no claims to be expert in these matters, but since I am female and subject to most of these rules as a tourist, I paid special attention. At … More Gender in Iran
Note: This is the first of several blog posts covering a trip to Iran for two weeks in November of 2019. When my husband ran into old friends at a park restaurant in mid-summer, he learned that the man, Jeremy Iggers, was planning to lead a trip to Iran in the fall. He had led … More Eating Birthday Cake in Iran
Many years ago we took our daughter out of public middle school and sent her to a local evangelical Lutheran private school. It was the least expensive of the several private schools in the area and was well-regarded. Seventh grade had been scary year, as middle school years often are. The last straw was when … More Voluntourism Done Right (and Wrong)
Ed note: This itinerary is taken from a 10 day, four city trip in the Netherlands led by myself, half Dutch, and a friend, 100% Dutch, in mid-October, 2015. Just a warning about the timing: By mid-October you are in shoulder season, when the prices are lower. It can be rainy then, and we experienced … More Three non-traditional days around Amsterdam, on your way to somewhere else
Guest blogger and husband Phil Deering shares his tips on how to plan for multiday, long (and successful) hikes. If you read my last post April 5th, you know I will not be among the group of friends that takes these trips!! More power to them. For each of the last five years, I’ve taken long, … More 10 Tips for Planning and Enjoying Long Hiking Trips with Friends
Other states, other lives, other souls 