I met up with my family, plus my brother’s friend who goes by the name “Krafty”, in the San Francisco airport. We were all quite hungry after our long direct flights out to SF (they flew in from Philly). Things sure aren’t what they used to be as far as food on domestic flights. Then […]
I’m heading to Japan for 10 days. If that’s surprising news to you, I am almost equally surprised about it! My brother, Matt, is playing in an international piano competition, which happens to be in Osaka. My stepmother had the idea to make a family vacation out of it, so I said “sure!” (well, I […]
We took a kayak tour of the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve with this bird enthusiast named Rene who has a seemingly one-man business called Green Bird Tours. Rene told us that the biosphere has three main functions which work in symbiosis: conservation, research, and ecotourism. On the map, he pointed out that there specific regions […]
We were on the fence about whether to do the quintessential tourist trap of Tulum – the Tulum Ruins. It’s really not our style, and I have been making a deliberate point on vacations to get to know the essence of a place the best I can. When I visited Guatemala with my buddy, Chris, […]
We had the pleasure of sampling guacamole at a few restaurants in Tulum. I have to admit I felt a bit like Tom Haverford who spent more time documenting the food than eating it. El Pez’s Restaurant First up, the guac made right outside our door. Chunky and warm. Nice balance. Just the right amount […]
One of the notable attractions of Tulum is its system of cenotes, interconnected underwater caverns of naturally eroded limestone. These are popular with scuba divers and snorkelers. Our hotel concierge explained that some of the cenotes are more shallow and open to daylight, while others are deeper with only small entrance holes that let in […]
We awoke to the call of loud-mouthed black birds that we would later learn are called grackles. They liked to perch on the roofs of the rooms in front of us. Sometimes they would venture onto the handrail of our balcony. We had a slightly set-back view of the beach from our window, which proved […]
We arrived in Cancun airport along with a plane full of people who were ready for spring break. Unlike my recent trip to India in which the flights were split among Indians, Europeans, and Americans, this flight was 100% Americans going on vacation. After going through a lax customs checkpoint, we were almost funneled through […]
Now that I’m back in Providence, I was finally treated to the serious snow I’d been missing. Nobody in the immediate area lost power, although our lights were flickering a bit last night. It was charming to see the sights this morning – neighbors being neighborly and kids throwing snowballs. I did some sledding down […]
When our hosts asked me why I was vegetarian, my simple reply was “because I like animals”. For those of them who are vegetarian, it’s a part of their religion, and some (maybe all) of them have been vegetarian their whole lives. Anyhow, here are some non-human friends I made on the trip. These animals […]