We travel to experience newness, and we vacation to relax. Unfortunately, escaping to different environs for many people also means eating everything that exists and moving at a pace reminiscent of a sloth. Possibly, just possibly, this is a tiny part of the reason why so many people gain weight while on vacation. Possibly. I [...]

On a weekend respite from school in Dresden, Germany, a train chugs me toward Prague. The year is 1997 and the season is summer, a time when almost unceasing rain in parts of Eastern Europe is beginning to cause well-placed concern. Shortly, Poland will suffer a massive flood which will kill 55 people and destroy [...]

Travel equals exploring the unknown and the exciting. Visting regions that differ from our own means witnessing new ways of life, navigating unknown languages, acclimating to different diets and coping without the comforts of home. Flying off and landing on foreign ground – this is travel. Most of the time, anyway. What about traveling to [...]

The East Coast was pummeled with a perfect spring Saturday this weekend, prompting me to head in to New York for a while. A walking tour focusing on Central Park’s 19th Century history was the lone item on my agenda. So, of course, I took a train that pulled in to the city with barely [...]

Escaping from daily life’s reality and routine into a cornucopia of newness and wonder is one of the many universal appeals of travel. Almost everyone on earth likes the excitement of new experiences. All of our hearts temporarily halt when we gaze with our own eyes at cathedrals, oceans and castles we’ve previously only seen [...]

You’re traveling merrily along toward a new and exciting destination, smiling brightly and humming tunes while waving at strangers, pausing to kiss cute babies and literally stopping to smell the roses. Then, suddenly, darkness descends. Crashes of thunder rip through your ears. In the next moment you find yourself bleeding and whimpering in the bottom [...]

When I was a little girl, I would arise very early each Easter Sunday for the purpose of crouching and crawling my way through the house in search of multi-colored hardboiled eggs smashed between sofa cushions, thrust into the fireplace, and rolled under beds. It was not just a privilege but a duty to collect [...]

I traveled last week to Colorado, so I find it fitting to recount one of my previous trips to this Southwestern state, when I spent the night at a landmark in the Rocky Mountains called The Stanley Hotel. The Shining plays non-stop on Channel 42 in this hotel as guests set up video cameras to [...]