I knew when I was 13 years old that I wanted to become a teacher. At that time (the 1960s) I never met anyone who dissuaded me from what I wanted to do, and I am grateful for that. My path was straightforward, as I headed towards my bachelor of…

It’s the 53rd anniversary of the day I moved to San Francisco — When I was a kid, I always dreaded the Sunday closest to my birthday, watching aunts, uncles, and cousins showing up, with somebody carrying the telltale pink bakery box that I dreaded to see. Eventually, everyone was going to be singing that stupid song to me, while I stood there…

after a three-week visit in May 2022 — My partner and I have just returned from three weeks in Italy: seven nights in Milan, six nights in Venice, six nights in Bologna, and one final night at a Milan airport hotel. We prefer longer stays as a means of not always packing up and moving around. The locations…

A fun way to teach good table etiquette to children — When my kids were growing up, we had a family tradition that we called Bad Manners Night. Held during dinner every Wednesday, this was a night when everyone had good laughs about each others’ antics such as picking up food with our fingers, resting our elbows on the table, and…

They can save you time, effort, and money — The globetrotter who enjoys spending time in cities would do well to investigate options for using local transit cards to provide access to public transportation. In fact, in some locales, paying by cash is being phased out altogether; the only way to get around is by use of a plastic…

When I talk with people about travel, the topic of where we stay is always at the forefront of conversations: hotels, resorts, cruise ships, hostels, Airbnbs, and the homes of friends or family members are not only unavoidable, but a crucial component of the globetrotting experience. An option that I…

Delayed for one week, with my passport confiscated by police — During my 2012 trip to Ukraine, my original plan was to visit the cities of Kyiv, Odessa, and Lviv. Upon planning my route from Odessa to Lviv, I learned that it was a long and overnight trip, which led me to search for ways to do it in shorter increments. …

You benefit by accepting them and then moving on — There is no way around it: you are going to make errors when you try to communicate in a new language, whether you are conversing in the short term as a traveler or in the long term as an expat. Whether you embrace this concept or not, it’s going to…

A metaphor for our relationship: navigating through our differences with mutual respect — Though both my partner and I enjoy the same Bob’s Red Mill Steel Cut Oats for breakfast, we have markedly different preferences for our add-ons. Savory oatmeal is flavored with turmeric, pepper, salt, hot sauce, and nutritional yeast. Sweet oatmeal is flavored with raisins, blueberries, and almond milk. Who likes…