It is an old tradition that travelers send postcards to loved ones back home. With the Coronavirus putting a halt to travel and creating a near-universal sense of isolation and fear, I propose the reverse. From my home in America, I am sending digital postcards to some of the people I have met on my travels. Each in their way has taught me we have much in common, no matter what country we call home. To: Doreen Sekento Kumum in Maasi Mara, Kenya Habari Doreen, Thanks once again for teaching me the very basics of stringing beads during my visit to the Karen Blixen Camp…. Read More…
Shopping goes with traveling like Swiss goes with cheese. Who doesn’t want to poke their nose into a little shop on a quiet street or steer one’s way through an elaborate entrance into a historic department store? Buying isn’t the point, exploring is. But as my sister, Andrea found during her recent three month visit to Chile, sometimes local can be disappointing. In this guest post she explains why the most satisfying retail therapy she experienced during her time in Santiago came courtesy of Sweden. Guest post by Andrea Lee Negroni Since arriving in Chile shortly before Christmas, I was in and out of stores… Read More…
Guest post by Andrea Lee Negroni – Santiago de Chile For many Santiaguinos, Saturday isn’t the start of a relaxing weekend, its the beginning of another day of hard work. Enterprising folks – the ones without desk jobs – are busy hustling a living in a variety of creative ways. During my five weeks living in Santiago, I’ve come to appreciate the resourcefulness those working outside Chile’s economic mainstream. On any given Saturday, you’ll see manicurists tidying up hands and painting fingernails in pop-up street salons constructed from card tables and cardboard boxes. Some old men have put bathroom scales on the sidewalk so passersby… Read More…
That Colombia as a tourist destination has an image problem is fact. Mention the country whose two large cities, Cali and Medellin are too often followed by the term “-drug cartel” and most people decide to visit Peru. Or Brazil. Or Chile. This is a mistake and the folks in the Colombian department of tourism are making their case with a series of beautifully filmed videos in which residents explain how they came to Colombia to visit and decide to stay. I was captivated by the videos which show Colombia as a country with a wealth of natural beauty and opportunities for outdoor activity. But… Read More…
Somewhere along the line, and I don’t exactly know when, wine went from beverage to something more. I like wine, but truth be told, always felt a little intimidated by the complexity of the stuff and all those rules! Red with meat, white with fish, when champagne can be called “Champagne” and when it is just sparkling wine. Glass size, glass shape, glass thickness. Well, ’round about now, I’m reaching for a simple tumbler and pouring myself something straightforward, like Wild Turkey. Unlike bourbon drinking, an interest in wine is classy enough to have an official name which is, in case you don’t know, oenology…. Read More…
Spend too much time at the big airports as I do, and its easy to slip into believing that behemoth centers of people-moving is what flying is all about. It’s not. On a beautiful, sunny summer day here in the southern hemisphere, I was reminded how wonderful it is to power down by visiting two small airfields in Chile where flying remains true to the poetic narratives of Antoine Saint Exupery, Richard Bach, Ernest K. Gann and others. Today, I spent the afternoon at the Club de Planeadores de Vitacura in Santiago, Chile – an 82 year old club for sailplane flying. While a steady… Read More…
