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. …

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…

What are you? Words have meanings. What we say about ourselves, and what we hear others say about us, has an effect on the way we see ourselves. Think about the things we say about children in their presence: “She’s so pretty.” “He’s a handful.” “She’s wicked smart.” “He’s a leader.” Children hear…

Since the onset of the pandemic in 2020, many companies have shut down their offices. They have begun allowing employees to work remotely. If people can work from home, home can be anywhere, can’t it? This has led to an exodus in mass numbers, with people fleeing to towns and…