I’ve had my credit cards stolen while traveling in the past – I was pickpocketed in Buenos Aires in 2008 — and since then, I’ve guarded my belongings almost militantly.  I lock up most of my belongings in the hostel safe.  I use a purse that zips up and hangs across my body.  I take what [...]

Sevilla was my first stop in Spain, and I couldn’t think of a better introduction to this wonderful country.  The region of Andalusia is the romantic Spain of yore — Moorish architecture and bullfighting and flamenco — and Sevilla is its astoundingly beautiful capital. I’ve seen a lot of Spain in the past few weeks. [...]

After landing in Paradise in Portugal, I knew my time at this lovely, low-key resort would include far more than just relaxing — I would be making my first-ever attempt of bird-watching. Birdwatching — or birding — is the main attraction of the Quinta do Barranco da Estrada.  Frank, the owner, is a birdwatching expert, [...]

As the Vernal Equinox passes, it’s been anything but typical for me — I left the gray winter of Northern England to find perfect spring temperatures in Lisbon in mid-February, followed by positively summer-like temperatures in southern Portugal and Andalusia.  And now it’s genuinely feeling like spring in the UK, as opposed to the darkness [...]

Having arrived at the Quinta do Barranco da Estrada — better known as “Paradise in Portugal” — I stood and gaped at the image in front of me. A perfect blue lake — actually a reservoir — surrounded by green-gold trees, a perfect blue sky filled with chubby clouds overhead.  The most amazingly fresh air. [...]

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, this week’s #FriFotos theme is GREEN.  Digging through years of travel photos looking for a certain color was a challenge, but I think I found some good ones! Here are my favorite green photos from around the world: It’s hard not to feel on edge with all the primates [...]

I was at the train station in Santa Clara e Velha, Portugal, waiting for the thrice-daily train to take me to the city of Faro, where I would catch a bus to Spain.  I had just spent three glorious days at the Quinta do Barranco da Estrada – better known as “Paradise in Portugal.” How was [...]

It’s 4:00 AM in Évora and I haven’t slept a wink, despite the heaviness of my eyelids. I am too scared to fall asleep.  I’m not afraid of anything specific; I just feel a deep, looming sense of dread.  Something is not right, and I can’t allow myself to become defenseless. Is it irrational?  Some [...]

If you’ve been following travel trends for the past few years, you’ve probably seen the explosion of vacation rental websites.  People can easily rent out their homes or rooms in their home to paying travelers.  And one of these sites is Roomorama. Roomorama approached me a few months ago and asked if I’d be interested in [...]

This week’s #FriFotos theme is CHOCOLATE!  I had a blast looking through my old pictures and finding my favorite photos of chocolate around the world, from Austria to Italy to Massachusetts. You may notice a significant absence — Southeast Asia.  Chocolate isn’t much of an attraction there, and most of my chocolate intake there was [...]

“Here, our bones lie, awaiting yours.”  This is the macabre welcome to Évora’s most famous attraction — the capela dos ossos, or bone chapel. The bone chapel was my primary reason for visiting Évora, and it’s well worth a visit. The chapel was built by a Franciscan monk in the 16th century during the Counter-Reformation.  Its purpose [...]

When I added Évora to my Iberian itinerary, I didn’t have many expectations.  I heard it was a lovely town, but my main goal was to see the Capela dos Ossos, the bone chapel.  Anything else would be a fringe benefit. Sometimes, going into a place without expectations is best — because I was absolutely bowled [...]

“Oh, you simply MUST go to Sintra!” If you’re planning on visiting Lisbon, chances are you’ll hear the above statement at least once.  Of all the day trips you can take from Lisbon, Sintra is the most famous.  Since I had a full week to spend in Lisbon, I decided to take the 40-minute train [...]

This past summer, I visited Liechtenstein and declared it one of the weirdest places I’ve ever been.  But after visiting Shetland, I chucked that theory out the window. Liechtenstein is delightfully quirky — the Zooey Deschanel of principalities.  Shetland, by comparison, is Bjork laying an egg on the red carpet. I had the time of [...]

HostelBookers has started a new meme in the travel blogging community — 7 Super Shots, encouraging people to share their favorite travel photos in seven categories. I was nominated by my friend Michael of Go, See, Write and I decided to do the meme — with a twist: Cambodia. Cambodia affects me emotionally more than [...]

For my second Portuguese destination, I headed straight to Porto, the largest city of northern Portugal.  I didn’t know too much about it — it was a smaller city, apparently very nice, and the ancestral home of port. What shocked me was that Porto was not only beautiful, but astonishingly so. The Ribeira neighborhood of [...]

This week, the theme for #FriFotos is “local.”  I could do aBoston photo essay, but I’ve done a much better one before.  Instead, I’ll show photos from living like a local around the world. Wherever I travel, I try to live like a local, at least a little bit.  I take public transportation.  I buy [...]

When I jump-started my full-time traveling, the timing could not have been more fortuitous. Not surprisingly, it was in the middle of an endless New England winter when I decided that I would leave home and head for the heat and humidity of Southeast Asia. Little did I know that the upcoming winter, the one [...]

When I arrived in Lisbon, two things struck me immediately: how beautiful the city was, and how insanely hilly the city was.  Like as hilly as San Francisco, only with cobblestones. The more I got to know Lisbon, the more comparisons I drew between Lisbon and San Francisco.  It was hilly, of course, but it [...]

If you subscribe to my newsletter, you already heard the news.  I’m in Portugal and Spain for five weeks! I just got to Lisbon yesterday and I am already bowled over by this city.  It’s incredibly beautiful, remarkably intuitive, and surprisingly affordable.  I have no doubt that Lisbon will be one of my new favorite [...]