When one brother dares the other to touch the electric fence, and the fun parent wants to prove he can do it, and the responsible parent offers to document the whole experiment – then it is time for Confessions of a Bad Parent. This may shock you, but I am not always the perfect parent I pretend to be on Facebook. Like that time in Tonga when we blatantly left our children at the airport to selfishly take the last…
At 111° Dubai is the hottest place I’ve ever been. It’s so hot, the forecast calls for sand. Even the tap water runs hot. In my first visit to the bathroom, I was surprised by the steaming water in the toilet bowl. It was not a sensation I was expecting, so I looked around thinking I might have accidently pressed a button with benefits, like on a fancy Japanese toilet. We waited until the relative cool of the evening for a…
“Karibu Sana – a very warm welcome to your new home,” is how we were consistently greeted throughout Tanzania. The people of Tanzania are warm, friendly and have a genuine spirit of hospitality. They actually say, “hakuna matata”. It’s the friendliest and most easygoing place we’ve been so far. There is a natural camaraderie in the way our safari guide Raphael traded greetings with the other guides and tribesman. In the national game parks, employees and guides stay in dormitories,…
Tanzania is teaming with wildlife. The giraffes, elephants, zebras, gazelles – they’re all hanging out together – peacefully intermingling as they graze on the savannah. I guess I expected the different species to be separated into their own habitats, like the carefully curated shadow boxes at the zoo. Besides the gazelles who are naturally skittish, the rest of the animals were completely nonchalant at our approach. They would continue eating or lounging by the track, the easier to be…
I found this ancient city surprisingly modern in it’s architecture, transportation systems, and dual signage in English. Here we are at the Bird’s Nest, but all over Beijing we spotted futuristic shapes. As you can see from the photos, the smog is terrible. It dulls the sky, scratches your throat and eyes, and smells vaguely of smoke. In the Olympic Village, it seems especially cruel and sad – a sharp contrast to the arenas built for the best athletes in…
The Great Wall is absolutely stunning. It stretches far into the horizon, zigzagging from peak to peak. The structure is simple and elegant. It was designed to be impressive, making the inhabitants feel protected and potential intruders intimidated. While the view of the surrounding mountains is picturesque, it also struck me as a little lonely at the top. Perhaps this is because we had just come from the crowds of Beijing and this section of wall was shockingly, and thankfully,…
The Forbidden City encompasses nearly 1,000 beautiful red buildings with intricately painted ceilings and wing tipped gold roofs. Dragons and lions stand guard. The vast complex of symmetrical edifices, courtyards and pathways, reminds me of a college campus. While the Imperial Palace emphasizes long, low horizontal lines, the Summer Palace celebrates with towering temples, designed organically around the lake and a steep rocky hillside. I’d prefer to live in the trees at the Summer Palace. Summer in Beijing is hot, muggy…
During pre-trip negotiations with Jens, I only agreed to go camping in the Australian winter on the condition that we also come to Sydney to visit The Opera House. Btw, I’m so glad we did both! Ever since I was a girl, I’ve wanted to visit the Sydney Opera House. It captured my imagination and expanded my view of what art and architecture could be. More than any other iconic skyline, this building inspired my desire to travel. It did…
Traveling in an RV is pretty sweet. You get to unpack all your bags once and travel around the country. If you get hungry, you can make a snack; if you get tired, you can take a nap. Motorhomes make ingenious use of space in every nook and cranny. The boys love crawling all up, over and through it. Jens, who had become enamored with the title of Captain while skippering the boat in Tonga, suggested we continue the salutation,…
All over Frasier Island are warning sings to protect your children from the dingoes by keeping them within arms length at all times. Before we even arrived on the continent, my children had informed me that the most deadly animals on the planet reside in Australia. As 10-year-old boys, they are naturally drawn to bizarre and dangerous animals. Luckily, the peskiest creatures we’ve run into have been mozzies and sting’as (that’s Australian for mosquitos & jelly fish). Jens ate several…