“I Backpacked Through Europe Before the Internet” Club

Before TripAdvisor and Yelp, before cell phones and before 9/11, I had Let’s Go Europe, an oversized bright yellow softcover book which served as our travel bible. In the summer of 1998, my boyfriend at the time and I backpacked through Europe. Completely contradictory to my naturally controlling and over-planning ways, we made a rough plan on which countries we planned on visiting, but no hotel … Continue reading “I Backpacked Through Europe Before the Internet” Club

“Mosquitos Love Me” Club

Do you want a secret mosquito repellant? It’s Me! Keep me within two-three feet of you and the mosquitos will instinctively swarm to me, my skin emitting invisible pulses like morse code, summoning them to feast. I’m part of the 20% scientists refer to as “highly attractor types,” an unlucky group who is a mecca for the insidious insects. It’s a combination of factors, or … Continue reading “Mosquitos Love Me” Club

“My Husband and I Like to Travel Differently” Club

My husband has always been happy to stay at a Motel 8. He wasn’t particular about which hotel I picked as long as it was affordable and didn’t have bed bugs. I, on the other hand, while not exactly a Prima Donna, confess to being a touch of the Princess and the Pea. (Or more like the Russian Girl and a Breadcrumb.) I like to … Continue reading “My Husband and I Like to Travel Differently” Club

“Taking Road Trips with the Kids” Club

Growing up the only road trip my immediate family of four ever went on was to Orlando Florida, from Queens New York. My grandparents had given my parents money to take a vacation to Disney World for my 10th birthday and their 11 year wedding anniversary. My parents loaded up our silver Cutlass Supreme and created a pseudo-bed in the backseat by filling the area … Continue reading “Taking Road Trips with the Kids” Club

“I Don’t Buy Souvenirs on Vacations” Club

There is nothing tackier than touristy t-shirts with locale names, glittery plastic key chains too big for use, and mini license plates, with typical names only, usually made in some less desirable third world destination. Yet, as travelers, somewhere in history, a seed was planted that we must bring a souvenir of where we visited, no matter how brief, as a memory. Perhaps a plastic … Continue reading “I Don’t Buy Souvenirs on Vacations” Club

“Witnessing the Birth of a Friendship” Club

One of the hidden and unexpected joys of mothering my all-American daughter has been witnessing her form friendships. When it happens, I can almost see the magical spark it takes to initially ignite a friendship. Watching my daughter interact with a new friend has been akin to observing a flower blossom on time lapse. Friendship comes so easily for her and I often ponder whether … Continue reading “Witnessing the Birth of a Friendship” Club

“I Don’t Like Snorkeling” Club

I’ve snorkeled about a dozen times in my life, in some of the world’s most majestic and sought after underwater locales. It’s cool – ish. I mean it’s awesome to stare at mother nature’s aquarium (invasively as aquatic creatures conduct their mundane daily business of eating, shitting and fish fucking) through a plastic mask suctioned onto my face (leaving substantial unsightly post-mask indentations) while I … Continue reading “I Don’t Like Snorkeling” Club

“My Best Day Ever is Today” Club

I’ve been trying to #RetrainMyBrain to focus on now. Focus on this moment. I try to make every moment of my life count (whatever that means) and am perpetually checking in, validating whether I did enough in each moment. Did I successfully seize the day? I’m programmed with the “problem solver / make it better” / find the best of everything” gene, but sometimes life … Continue reading “My Best Day Ever is Today” Club

“I Love Hawaii” Club

Hawaii is Mother Nature’s candy shop. Its vistas are unparalleled. Orchids grow like dandelions and trees line the roads like a box of crayons. If the flowers don’t lure you in closer, the mysterious fruit and nut clusters will: wild berries, mangoes, bananas, coconuts, grouped in bundles, camouflaged in multicolored leaves. The blue of the ocean is the kind they call azure. The surprising warmth … Continue reading “I Love Hawaii” Club

“Revisiting the Same Vacation Spots” Club

I’ve been to Hawaii three times, St. Martin, three times, Tulum, two times, and there’s more. I’ve been to Disney World five times, I’ve been to the South of France three times and Paris three times. I’ve been to London twice and California dozens of times. I’m not alone in my revisit-itis. When I was 15 and 16, on consecutive years, my mother took my … Continue reading “Revisiting the Same Vacation Spots” Club

“I Pee Anywhere” Club

It’s arguably easier for a man to urinate whenever the need arises than a woman. While I’ve always been a gold-card toting member of the “When I gotta go, I’ll go anywhere Club,” my husband has peed all over the streets of New York City, on the Great Lawn and Sheep’s Meadow in Central Park, on hikes in Hawaii, in the ocean (like the rest … Continue reading “I Pee Anywhere” Club

“Chaos Before Vacation” Club

Somehow whenever I plan a vacation, life makes me work extra hard the week before I go to really earn it. (As if writing every day for 182 days doesn’t earn me some mental detachment on the sand of a beach on an island in the middle of the Pacific). We’ve planned this trip for 10 months or 9 years, however, you want to look … Continue reading “Chaos Before Vacation” Club

“I Plan Vacations & Want to Cancel Them” Club

I’ve loved to travel for as long as I can remember. The summer after 10th grade I spent in the South of France and Paris; after college, I backpacked through 20 countries in Western Europe and this past decade I’ve followed my photographer husband around 40 of the 50 United States. I have never taken the easy way towards travel either. I’ve seen those “package … Continue reading “I Plan Vacations & Want to Cancel Them” Club

“I’m Team Paper” Club

I was calculating how many books I can read on a several-stop trip to Hawaii we’re planning later this year and the thought struck me about how heavy this would make my bags. For a minute, I considered plunging into the of benefits digital reading, but just as soon, my considerations were debunked. We can’t consume all our information from screens of varying sizes; our … Continue reading “I’m Team Paper” Club

“I’m Afraid of Heights” Club

I love roller coasters and zip lining but put me on a balcony on the 17th floor, and I get the feeling in my butt. And in my lower thighs. Mostly, in my palms. They will sweat profusely, forming puddles in the cracks. I used to say “I don’t like heights” but the truth is, I’m afraid of heights. Terrified. In a roller coaster, I’m … Continue reading “I’m Afraid of Heights” Club

“I Want to Vacate On My Vacations” Club

I enjoy a vacation where I can dive into the utter meaning of the word, down to its root, “to vacate.” I strive to abandon my daily annoyances and embark on the temporary movie-of-my-life mode. I crave the beach; it is therapeutic and sacred. At the beach, my body is warm enough to be almost naked, one with the earth. Here I can collapse into … Continue reading “I Want to Vacate On My Vacations” Club

Remembering 29-36

  This past summer, my new 4-person-family went on a road-trip through New Hampshire and Maine. We spent 5 days in Bar Harbor, home to Acadia National Park. It was beautiful (although not as amazing as Yellowstone National Park, a road trip we did two summers ago and I still haven’t posted pictures.) Nonetheless, the cottage we rented was adorable and it didn’t have a … Continue reading Remembering 29-36

Finding Bliss in Driving

Driving is fun – when you live in the city and don’t get ample opportunity to hit the open road. Driving is not fun when you have to drive your 8-year-old son to school and back – through Manhattan traffic – three times a week. If it was just in one direction – it would be tolerable. But on Mondays and Tuesdays, I have to … Continue reading Finding Bliss in Driving

Summer Vacation: Week 2 – MAINE

From Hearts Everywhere Week 2 was easier since we were based in one place (Bar Harbor cottage). I highly recommend staying in a rental rather than a hotel when traveling with children. A separate bedroom for parents and children and a kitchen go a long way towards maintaining sanity and recreating any semblance of the much-needed routine they crave. Reading back on my notes in … Continue reading Summer Vacation: Week 2 – MAINE

Summer Vacation – Week 1: NEW HAMPSHIRE

So it took me two weeks of detox to finally go through pictures and find the strength to post notes from our vacation. [Note – that if 2 weeks seems long, I still have not posted notes or photos from last year’s 10-state in 10-day road trip. That trip was sans children and had 5 times the amount of photos. I still haven’t given up … Continue reading Summer Vacation – Week 1: NEW HAMPSHIRE

Getting Ready for the 2-Week Road Trip

So it’s my birthday and we spent the day packing for our two-week road trip through New Hampshire and Maine. It will be mommy, daddy, 8-year-old boy and 2-month-old baby girl. On the road. Together. 2 weeks. I feel brave, excited, nervous and slightly crazy all in one. Here’s the plan – and what will happen is yet to be determined: Rent car in Jersey … Continue reading Getting Ready for the 2-Week Road Trip

Memorial Day in our Nation’s Capital

Washington DC is iconic. It is hard and rigid; everything seems a shade of off-white, creamish, gray. Erected in the same type of marble and limestone, many of the buildings use similar designs and look like they were made from the same block of imitation Greek Legos. Aside from the population of academia (which comprise a large chunk of the residents), the city seems filled … Continue reading Memorial Day in our Nation’s Capital

I Heart Tulum

We wanted a serene, deserted, untouristy, unpopulated, local paradise. We wanted silky golden sand, azure waters and peace. Buck-fifty beers were preferred, but not required. We wanted a thousands part nature to one part people. We found the whole enchilada in Tulum, Mexico. Two hours south of Cancun exists this perfect beach town – it’s like a photo shoot at every angle; nature provides the … Continue reading I Heart Tulum

ABOUT ME

I put off writing the ABOUT ME section of my blog for a long time. Partly because the Me changes so often. Partly because I don’t know how to stop once I start writing (especially about Moi). I tried to write a bio-type blurb and 5 pages of narcissistic crap came out. So I started a memoir. In the meantime I feel like I owe … Continue reading ABOUT ME

When I Travel

When I travel, I am often fulfilling both a lifetime wanderlust and an attempt to understand human interactions. I wander around a new locale, often without a specific destination in mind – driven by merely an inclination, a small or a scenic vista. When you walk/explore the streets of a city or the back roads of a small town, you can truly experience life there. … Continue reading When I Travel

Maine – August 2008

Maine unveiled her beauty to me in my one week visit. Once again, Mother Nature proved to be a photographer’s best subject and stylist. Acadia National Park was blooming with flora and fauna that electrified under the sunlight. Blades of grass magically lit by sunshine among the humming rocks at the base of a stream. There were magical secrets appearing to me from every corner. … Continue reading Maine – August 2008

About Me … Once Upon a Time

I put off writing the ABOUT ME section of my blog for a long time. Partly because the Me changes so often. Partly because I don’t know how to stop once I start writing (especially about Moi). I tried to write a bio-type blurb and 5 pages of narcissistic crap came out. So I started a memoir. In the meantime I feel like I owe … Continue reading About Me … Once Upon a Time