Portraits of Cuba

We were scheduled to fly to Havana on January 20, 2017, the day the new American president would be inaugurated. It was a day that many worried would mark the start of an era filled with uncertainty and the loss of civil liberties. "But what if Trump does something that endangers us?" my friend worried. "It's a legitimate concern," I conceded, "but I just don't think that screwing Cuba is that high on Trump's to do list for his first 10 days in office. Also, it's probably gonna get harder to visit from here on out." And so we went.

We spent our first six days visiting Las Terrazas, Soroa, and Viñales, and our four final days in Havana. We stayed with locals, learned about Cuba's complicated past and ever hopeful future, smoked a requisite cigar, and drank not enough mojitos. We were also awestruck by Cuba's strong community fabric, enchanted by its rich blend of cultures, and indelibly touched by the openness of Cubans in sharing stories about their lives and their views on life. 

Tirana, Albania

I had plans to start my five week Euro trip with a 100 mile hike around Mont Blanc, but in June, when I was scheduled to leave for Europe, lingering winter weather conditions made the trek far too risky. At the last moment, I switched up my plans to instead tack on Mont Blanc to the tail end of my travels with the hope that a month of warm summer weather would resolve my snow issues. Consequently, I jumpstarted my Euro travels with a jaunt in Tirana, Albania where a few of my friends were starting an English Montessori preschool. In Tirana, I was immediately greeted by a visual feast of jarringly vibrant contrasts between Albania's eroding communist roots and an emerging colorful, cacophonous and globalized society.    

Road to Croatia

A good road trip tastes like freedom. There's something enchanting about the open road and the tale of adventure that is spontaneously written as you roll through unknown lands via car with a pal. On this particular road trip, my friend, Carol, a science teacher extraordinaire, and I, left Tirana, Albania in a rental car and crossed the countries, Montenegro and Bosnia before we finally made our way to the coast of Croatia. We encountered suspicious customs guards, had our minds blown by stunning scenic views, and lazily ambled through an ancient seaside town overrun by cats, usually while holding a gelato in one hand and a beach towel in the other.

  100 Miles around Mont Blanc

It started with a New York Times article about hiking Mont Blanc, titled, "100 Miles, 10 Days, Three Countries and a Lot of Cheese." By the time I finished drooling over the article's gorgeous photo spread, I was sold. Full disclosure: it's possible that the only parts of the article that I actually read were the title, photo captions and readers' comments. Despite the shallowness of my research, I was smitten and fixated on meeting Mont Blanc in person. Some call that love at first sight.

Six months later, on a warm July morning, I left my friend's home in Switzerland and rode the trains to Chamonix, France where I would begin my six-day hike around Mont Blanc, which would take me through France, Italy and Switzerland. I had my REI pack filled with trekking essentials on my back, my game changing HOKA trail running shoes on my feet, a couple maps and a guidebook on hand, and a haircut strikingly similar to Dora the Explorer. All things had fallen into place, including my hair. I was ready to roll. 

Desert Wander

"Count me in," is what I said when my friends invited me to take a road trip. We didn’t quite know where we should go or what we would do, but soon enough, we settled on a direction: southwest. Sounded good to me. Eventually, we crafted an itinerary that would take us to national parks in Arizona and Utah and we made sure to have enough space in our schedule for the desert wind to take us wherever it would blow.