Fara and I arrived in Paris a few days ago. Just as an arctic front came in from Siberia that dropped the temperatures to negative numbers (in Celsius) and has covered Europe with a blanket of snow. The friends we spent Christmas with in Dublin ended up with several feet of the white stuff. Thankfully Paris avoided the worst of the weather and after a couple of days keeping warm in our apartment we have been able to get out and enjoy the city. Makes it hard to believe we’re a few days into March already. After about a week in Paris, we will be taking the train to Zagreb, Croatia to start the Eastern Europe leg of our journey. Continue reading “(One of) France’s best kept secrets”
Open letter to an Airbnb rental
Dear Airbnb Rental
We’ve known you for what seems like years. Continue reading “Open letter to an Airbnb rental”
Catching up
Our last travelogue was published back in October, chronicling our time in Portugal. I’m going to do my best to hit the highlights of the last three months and catch you all back up to (almost) the present day. Continue reading “Catching up”
Why we travel slow
I’m trying something new in my latest post. I’m calling it CanDoLatitude101, where I will take some time to go into the how’s and why’s of the way Fara and I are traveling. In earlier posts, I occasionally used the phrase “slow travel” to describe how we’ve been traveling since we left home last August. However, I’ve failed to take the time to define what I mean by it. This omission is something I will do my best to rectify, hopefully without getting too boring or preachy. Continue reading “Why we travel slow”
Happy New Year 2018
I’m writing this as I look out at the back garden of our friend’s house in London. Last night was New Year’s Eve, which would have been much more interesting if we weren’t both battling colds (again)! Continue reading “Happy New Year 2018”
Sintra castles
What does an intrepid slow traveling couple do when they’ve settled down for a month long stay in a rural Portuguese village and they start getting itchy feet? They take a vacation from the trip, a meta-vacation if you will. Continue reading “Sintra castles”
Bagless in Portugal
The last few years, when I fly, I get this nagging feeling while standing at the baggage carousel. I start to wonder what if this is the time one of our bags doesn’t show up. I never say it out loud. Not that I’m the superstitious type, but who wants to be accused of tempting fate. Now that we are traveling full time, statistics dictate that it is no longer a question of “if”, but “when” will something go wrong while we’re traveling. So I wasn’t shocked when I found myself standing bagless in the now empty baggage claim area of the Porto, Portugal airport. None of the three bags we checked in Copenhagen earlier that day made the transfer with us during our layover in Paris. If there is a silver lining to be had, I no longer need to wonder when will I lose my first bag. I feel I can joke about this now since the whole ordeal has come to a positive conclusion, but our first week in Portugal was a little bit frustrating. Continue reading “Bagless in Portugal”
First week on the road
Fara and I have just completed the first week of our big trip. We had a blast in Stockholm; going to museums, meeting new friends and exploring the city. Fara has promised she will write a trip report for Stockholm. So in the mean time, I thought I’d take some time to jot down some things we’ve learned so far. Continue reading “First week on the road”
Ready to launch
The last couple of months in Portland were a crazy, stressful time. We went through what remained of our worldly possessions, sold or gave away what we could, and put what we couldn’t (or wouldn’t) part with in storage. The house was cleaned, painted, recarpeted and repaired such that our renters will have little to worry about when it comes to maintenance. Our final act as Portlanders was to throw a going away party to say “until we meet again” to the many wonderful friends that we will miss dearly while we are away.