Category: trip report
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West Virginia Trips: Hatfield & McCoy Trails
Even though my non-husband XFE and I are fully vaccinated, we have still held off on traveling. Which, if you’ve read this blog before, you know it’s a big, big change for us. And, as the COVID breakthrough cases went up over the summer, and news of ICUs being full and hospitals overwhelmed, we wanted…
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Vacationing During the Pandemic
July is traditionally when we take our annual “fly-and-flop” vacation. We usually go somewhere south of the equator (usually an all-inclusive) and lounge around a pool or beach with lots of books and sweet, frozen drinks in hand. We eat lots of salty, buttery seafood with our fingers and wash it down with crisp, cold…
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The Battle for Mexico’s Beaches
It hits you in the face the minute you open a door or window. A virtual presence that is so primal, your brain goes into full denial, telling you it can’t possibly be what you think it is. Perhaps that disconnect is made all the more dissonant by the fact that you are quite literally…
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How to Answer the Question, ‘Did You Go Anywhere This Summer’ Without Being Awkward
I’ve discovered a new, annoying habit. Actually, I’ve caught both myself and my travel-partner-for-life, XFE doing it a lot over the past few weeks. We’ll be talking to friends or neighbors or coworkers or the pet sitter or (in my case) the eye doctor. We’ll be chatting, catching up on our lives and the latest…
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Hotel Crashing: Mara Bushtops, Kenya
When we went to Bushtops Serengeti a couple of years back, we knew that if we ever got the chance to go to Tanzania again, we’d definitely stay there again and for a much longer amount of time. And, we did. For this trip, we stayed at Bushtops Serengeti for seven nights (Oct. 31-Nov. 8),…
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Twiga Everywhere: How We Met All of the Giraffes in Kenya and Tanzania
*Twiga is Swahili for giraffe. The lovely and long-lashed Sir Harry was not the only giraffe we saw during our 18-day trip to Tanzania and Kenya. Not by a long shot. We saw. So. Many. Giraffes. Usually on safari, we see a couple of giraffes a day, if we’re lucky. They’re not as ubiquitous as…
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Wild About Harry, Mara Bushtops’ Giraffe
I have a new boyfriend. His name is Harry and he is a giraffe. It’s ok. My current, longtime, long-suffering boyfriend, XFE knows about him. He’s even met him. And I gotta say….he seems a bit in love with Harry as well. I realize that this is all a bit nonlinear and out of context…
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Hotel Crashing: The Underwater Room, Manta Resort, Pemba Island
There is a place where you can belt out The Little Mermaid’s “Under the Sea” without a lick of irony, a smidgen of skill, or any regard for your neighbors’ eardrums. A place where you can “sleep with the fishes.” Where you literally sleep with fishes darting all around you. Except, if you’re like me,…
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5 Facts About the Maldives (or, Why Can’t I Just Relax and Enjoy Nice Things?)
Oh, hello there. I realize I left you all on a bit of a cliffhanger. Not about the Mad Pooper. I mean, we’re all waiting for bated breath on that one, but alas, I’m not sure we’ll ever really find out who she is or why she does what she did. And the Colorado police…
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That Time We Got Booted From Bali and Ended Up in the Maldives
As mentioned previously, my main man for life, XFE and I went to Sri Lanka for my birthday trip earlier this year, which was culturally enriching yet also challenging (for all the reasons I’ve gone over in previous posts). Which, since this wasn’t exactly our first Southeast Asian rodeo, we kind of figured it…