A visit to Sonoma Coast State Park, California
Sonoma Coast State Park in northern California is a beautiful stretch of craggy coastline with a range of small beaches and activities for visitors.
Sonoma Coast State Park in northern California is a beautiful stretch of craggy coastline with a range of small beaches and activities for visitors.
There are lots of Gold Rush ghost towns, but some are more “real” than others. Read here about my four favorite ghost towns in California.
Read this list of free or cheap things to do in Santa Cruz, California, to help you keep to a budget and have a great time!
I won’t vote in the upcoming Presidential election. It’s not that I don’t want to, but I gave up citizenship last November, so I can’t vote in the US elections anymore. (If you want a…
If you’ve read my blog at all, you know I tend to go for the more off-the-beaten-path, lesser-known destinations when I travel. Even when I go to a relatively popular place, like, for example, Romania,…
We often forget that California history goes further back than the “49-ers,” the gold prospectors who hurried to California once gold was discovered in 1848. Carmel Mission and Mission Delores in Northern California are two…
Four destinations that illustrate the fascinating history of southeastern Montana from prehistoric times to the 20th century.
Considering a stay at Euphoria Retreat wellness resort in Mystras, Greece? Read this detailed review before you decide!
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.
Alaska is a vacation wonderland of beautiful, dramatic scenery and the best outdoor adventure. Here are 15 great reasons to visit Alaska!
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!
In San Francisco, make sure to take this walk up and down Telegraph Hill to see Coit Tower, its Depression-era murals, and the best view in San Francisco!
When other people anticipate a trip to New York City, they might think about fine dining. What’s the latest new cuisine to taste? Which famous chef should we try? Where do we need to make…
“Once upon a time, sixty years ago, a little girl lived in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, in a little gray house made of logs.” This is the first line of the first book in…
This guide to North Beach, San Francisco, is a local’s account of North Beach’s strange history, its charm and amazing Italian food.
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….
I wanted to take a cruise. My husband steadfastly refused to consider a cruise, but he wanted to see Scandinavia. Our compromise: a Hurtigruten cruise up the coast of Norway. Disclosure: I received a media…
“My name is Arcelia and I’ll be your dam tour guide.” This was our introduction to visiting Hoover Dam. Arcelia milked the joke as much as she could – “this dam wall,” “these dam generators,”…
Space Invaders! Memories flooded back as I spotted the game. Pac-Man! Centipede! My visit to the Musée Mécanique and its collection of antique and vintage penny arcade machines struck a chord with me. Anyone who…
When I heard about a museum dedicated to Rosie the Riveter, I had to see it. Who was Rosie the Riveter? The name “Rosie the Riveter,” according to Wikipedia, was first used in a 1942…
When you think of Texas, you probably think of cattle ranching and oil companies, 10-gallon hats and cowboy boots. You would be right to some extent, but Texas history extends far beyond that. According to Wikipedia,…
For this collaborative post, I asked fellow travel bloggers about their idea of a trip of a lifetime: If a person who’s never traveled far from home asked you to name the one place they should…
One year ago today, I renounced my US citizenship. Here in the Netherlands, since last week’s US elections, friends and colleagues often ask me “Are you glad you gave up citizenship?” I always say “Yes!”…
Watching the American election season from abroad is like slowing down as you pass a car accident on the highway. You don’t really want to see the damage, but you can’t seem to stop yourself from…
A lawsuit against FATCA, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, was filed back in 2014 by Senator Rand Paul and the Republicans Overseas and, while I am certainly no fan of the senator, I support…
“If Trump gets elected, I’m leaving the country.” I don’t live in the US, but I have read comments like this on social media and in the news. Apparently, sometimes this isn’t just an idle…
Almost five months after my renunciation day, I received my Certificate of Loss of Nationality today. It seems ironic that it arrived on Tax Day. People keep asking me how that feels, but I have…
I received a message recently from an American airline pilot living and working out of Hong Kong for a major airline. He told me the story of how America’s citizenship-based taxation affects him and I…
On my return from a short vacation with my family, I was surprised to find a letter from the Department of Elections of the City of San Francisco waiting for me, offering me the opportunity to…
Last week new numbers were published about how many overseas Americans renounced citizenship in the fourth quarter of 2015, and they show, as expected, an increase in 2015: a record year for renunciations. Each quarter…
This week the Board of Elections of Illinois decided that Ted Cruz is indeed a natural-born citizen as required by the US Constitution to be eligible to be President. Ted Cruz was already identified as…
I am, legally speaking, a citizen of the Netherlands. If you asked the US Foreign Service, they’d probably say I have US citizenship too, at least until I get my Certificate of Loss of Nationality. If you…