Toilets in China: On cleanliness and filth
Note added in December 2019: I wrote the following article years ago in Hancheng, China, and I see now how terribly judgemental I was about toilets in China. I’ve added some tips and comments to…
Note added in December 2019: I wrote the following article years ago in Hancheng, China, and I see now how terribly judgemental I was about toilets in China. I’ve added some tips and comments to…
This extensive list of Buddhist temples in Bangkok, Thailand includes advice to help you choose and plan your visit.
Solo dining can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be! Read these tips for how to eat out by yourself and enjoy it!
Considering booking Audley Travel to arrange your itinerary? Read this review of my experience with Audley on a tailor-made trip in Greece.
Sometimes it’s hard to choose a travel destination. Say you have only two weeks’ vacation, and you want to get the most out of it. Here’s some advice.
Sukhothai Historical Park was the capital of Siam centuries ago. Read all about what to see in this UNESCO site in central Thailand.
There are plenty of free or cheap things to do in New York City. Here are some tips for seeing New York City on a budget.
Chinese Temples in Bangkok, Thailand, are different from traditional Thai temples. With plenty of photos to help you choose which to visit.
A classic and very popular thing to do in New York City is to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. Did you know, though, that you can also walk across the Manhattan Bridge?
A weekend in Portland, Oregon: here’s a 3-day itinerary that covers what to see, where to stay, where to eat, things to do … everything!
A list of unique places in Chicago, all of them quirky: a speakeasy, an underground street, an oddball shop and more!
Freiburg, Germany, is a lovely little city with narrow cobbled streets, charming architecture, and a gorgeous cathedral. Read here about all the things to see and do in Freiburg in 1 day.
I’ve written about two contrasting castles in the Netherlands before: Muiderslot and Castle de Haar. Muiderslot is the archetypal medieval castle: square with towers in each corner and crenellated walls between them. Castle de Haar,…
Some UNESCO sites aren’t famous works of architecture like Himeji Castle in Japan or the 16th century canal ring of Amsterdam, for example, or ancient historical monuments like Petra in Jordan or Baalbek in Lebanon….
North Beach in a sentence: strange history, charm and some of the best Italian food in San Francisco. The following article is a guest post by Kara Harms of Whimsy Soul. Disclosure: This North Beach…
With so much focus on #BlackLivesMatter, it can be illuminating to look at other ethnic groups in the US. I visited MOCA New York City last year, and it’s high time I published my review….
If you’re not from around here, you’ve probably never heard of Drenthe, a province in the east of the Netherlands. When I decided to make a list of things to do in Drenthe, I was…
Many tourists visiting Amsterdam come to see the beautiful buildings in the old center. The UNESCO site – officially called “the Seventeenth-Century Canal Ring Area of Amsterdam inside the Singelgracht” – is lined with elegant…
The following guest post was written by Emily Pham. I’ve added comments in italics here and there. If you are a movie lover – even if you have not seen it – you must have…
Rows of pretty small houses and shopping streets lined with a mixture of hip and quirky stores, along with a smattering of “coffee shops” leaking the reek of marijuana out onto the sidewalk: this used…
Groningen has three nearby manor houses or “stately homes” that are open to the public and furnished to allow visitors to learn about local history. I’ve written about one of them before: Fraeylemaborg, which I…
I am a digital immigrant. What I mean by that is that I didn’t grow up with computers like digital natives; the only computers I knew of as a child in Connecticut were the ones…
When I went to see Below the Surface in Amsterdam, to be honest, I hadn’t done my research. Just a quick internet search, and I added it to my list of what I might see…
Berlin is a wonderfully diverse and dynamic city, and especially intriguing to visit as a tourist with an interest in history. In particular, Berlin is the place to go if you like learning about 20th…
If you’ve ever seen a film involving Queen Victoria, you’ve heard of Balmoral Castle. This is the place the queen used as her escape: her place in the country. She loved Scotland, and this location…
Exploring the Nordic Museum in Stockholm reminded me of some of the small-town museums I’ve visited before. Often a seemingly random collection of objects donated by residents or local companies, they offer insight into the…
The town of Rethymnon on the north coast of Crete is a popular destination for visitors who want to venture away from their all-inclusive resorts for a bit of local color. The narrow streets of…
The following post is sponsored content. It was originally published on IHG’s blog on May 9, 2016. Planning a visit to London? After booking your flight and picking the perfect London hotel, the next item on…
While it may seem appealing to ditch the daily grind and live an adventurous life abroad, being an expat comes with its own trials and tribulations, and not all expat locations are created equal. This…
On my recent trip to South Korea, my left arm began to hurt. I dismissed it as a muscle ache, probably from carrying my luggage up and down metro stairs. Little by little, though, it…
My less-than-a-week in Hong Kong was a stimulating, perhaps over-stimulating, series of strong impressions. Here are some of the strongest ones: Housing in Hong Kong I booked an Airbnb room for my trip to Hong…
Hong Kong isn’t just one island; it’s a collection of islands and a piece of the mainland. I already posted about two destinations on Lantau Island: the Big Buddha and Tai O. The other island…