Technology advances faster and faster. Devices, gadgets and lifestyles keep getting shorter and shorter lifespans as progress speeds up. Phones make way for smart phones, CDs are pushed aside for mp3s, pagers which reached there peak usage in 1990 are a total anachronism. But, some times the right tool for the job is not the [...]
These are tough times. Everyone is being asked to make more from less and stretch dollars further. Under these circumstances travel plans often get pruned, delayed or just flat out canceled. One of the oldest ways to save money when traveling is to opt out of train fair and make it a road trip. Looking [...]
Eyes and ears need training. A photographer can see a beautiful pattern in a heap of scraps; a musician can pick out a subtle difference in pitch that would be impossible for the audience to pick up on. Travelers are untrained in the sights and sounds of the place they are visiting, especially if they [...]
The Spanish say, “After three days, fish and houseguests get old.” In my experience, sometimes the guests get old faster than the fish. To quote a more modern phrase, “Don’t be that guy.” It’s not difficult to be a good houseguest, but it makes all the difference. The main thing you need to have is [...]
It’s amazing what can be communicated just through facial expressions and gestures. Often a simple transaction, like a purchase, doesn’t need any words at all. It is more difficult to communicate through gestures if you’re trying to explain to a doctor that you have an allergy to penicillin or need direction on the metro. Learning [...]
Food from afar can seem strange. Meats and spices from different countries sometimes appear to come from different worlds. Some flavors and dishes, however, reach beyond the boundaries of the country or culture that spawned them. These treats are too popular to remain provincial delicacies. Among these are licorice-tasting, anise-flavored liquors. Whether because of cultural [...]
What can you eat anywhere? When you’re traveling there are many questions that continually plague a person in a new country. Where to stay, what the currency conversion is, whether to bow, kiss, or shake hands when introduced. But there is nothing as universal as food. Business or pleasure, short trip or long, seeing family or [...]
In a recent article in the New York Times Frugal Traveler blogger Seth Kugel offered the advice that “Galleries are frugal travelers’ museums: not only are they nearly always free and nearly never musty, but they also provide insight into the local arts scene that would otherwise require a lot of trendy-cafe eavesdropping.” When I [...]
It’s easy to find something to do in downtown Chicago. In the summer cultural events, compete with world class museums and historic sites to attract the attention of out of town visitors. But as my grandmother often said, “all the world can’t be London and Paris.” Travelers often find themselves a little farther of the [...]
On the high dry Jalisco lands two hours outside of Guadalajara, there is a little town called Tequila. Not the drink, but the drink’s hometown. This tiny village is about a third the population of Evanston, on rolling hills. It’s a half mile above sea level and only a short distance from the Pacific. It [...]
