Five Years Lost, Five Years Found

Five years ago last week, I left America for a life abroad. As I was 25 when I left, this Continue reading →

A Soviet Family Reunited on Thanksgiving

You know how this goes. Relatives you haven’t seen in years – some you can’t remember ever having seen – Continue reading →

Hold Your Applause

Part 1 in Weird Correlations With Democracy: Why Clapping on an Airplane Makes You More Susceptible to Authoritarianism.

Trieste – City of Fog

Trieste is a city with an identity crisis. Part of it longs to be back with its previous Hapsburg rulers, Continue reading →

What We’ll Always Have

Last Tuesday a friend I haven’t seen in eight years left a comment on my Facebook wall. We had met Continue reading →

How to say “I have a cavity” in Ukrainian*

Of all the chairs it’s possible to find one’s self in, the dentist’s is possibly the worst. Ok, on second Continue reading →

Chernobyl Smiles: Investigations in Punctuation Fallout

If there’s one trivial piece of knowledge that the traveler can attest to, it may just be this: city to Continue reading →

Passports: The Key To Winning Foreign Hearts

While Americans back home celebrated the Fourth of July in the typical way – fireworks, barbecues, pool parties – I Continue reading →

The 11 Rules of Traveling

1. Never eat at McDonalds  You won’t get a bear burger (above) at McDonalds. You’re not Christmas shopping at the Continue reading →

For a Fun Time, Take the Bus to Sheki

To get started, head to Baku’s international bus station. Once your taxi deposits you onto the curb, right into a Continue reading →

Ukraine Runs to Europe, Europe Runs from Ukraine

I was one of the few walking down Lenina Avenue this past Saturday, the rest of the city was running. Continue reading →

A Guide to Overthrowing Your Dictators

I recently introduced the topic of “pet peeves” to my class of 10 students in Baku, Azerbaijan. “A pet peeve,” Continue reading →

Four Types of English Schools to Avoid

Navigating the English School scene in Rome is akin to trying to make your way across a minefield. It takes Continue reading →

The Estonian Equivalent of a Bus Driver

As I was spending a few days in Tallinn my general preference was to walk whenever possible, all the better Continue reading →

The Joys of Ukrainian Train Travel

*I just want to preface this, and to ward off angry comments, by saying that I love Ukraine and I Continue reading →

Sour Cream and Pedicures (Fragmented Memories from Ukraine)

A couple of weeks ago I was sipping limoncello on a balcony overlooking the lower Amalfi Coast, but it feels Continue reading →

How to get Back into a Country (an instruction manual)

It’s hard to remember the last time I approached the passport desk without an underlying sense of dread. Adding to Continue reading →

American Cities in Italy

If you live in Rome and want to go to Siena, it’s necessary to change trains in a little town Continue reading →

When in Rome: An Expat Excuse for Thuggery

I love idioms as much as anyone, and use every opportunity during conversation to slip one in. Sometimes even without Continue reading →

Undeliverable: Tragedies of the Italian Post Office

Greek monuments litter Italy at nearly the same rate as beggars and churches, but nothing serves as an icon to Continue reading →

The Patron Saint of Vernazza

When you’re traveling on a tight budget, one of the first things to go are the train tickets… paying for Continue reading →

Pisa: An Unsatisfying Erection (all that Viagra can’t do)

If you’ve done much traveling in Southern Europe you’re probably aware that the train station is generally the worst thing Continue reading →

An Officer, not a Gentleman

After spending eight months in Polignano a Mare, a pearl of a city buried deep in Italy’s heel, a combination Continue reading →

Hell’s Children

One thing I remember quite well from my preteen years, other than the ever-present knowledge that God would throw me Continue reading →

TraInterrupted

“Excuse me.” I looked up over the pages of my book at a frail looking man with an English accent Continue reading →