Today we started north, starting with a subway ride to Senso-ji temple. From the station, the walk to the temple is lined with shops and restaurants, and can get very busy. The temple grounds were...
Blog posts from Travel
Japan: omakase dinner at Sushi Harumi
While planning for this trip, I was looking up affordable places to try an omakase dinner experience. Omakase is translated as "I leave it up to you" and features a chef preparing multiple courses...
Japan: Tokyo, Day 2 – Harajuku, Meiji Shrine, Robot Restaurant
Eric had scoped out a pancake place in Harajuku for breakfast, but unfortunately Rainbow Pancake was closed (first Wednesday of the month - seriously?) so we ended up at Deus ex Machina for pizza...
Japan: Tokyo, Day 1 – Shinjuku Gyoen, Golden Gai, Shibuya
After a good night's rest in a bed that wasn't on a plane, we woke up with the sun, procured travel cards and headed over to the Shinjuku Gyoen (Imperial Garden) to eat our purchased breakfast...
Japan: getting around – buses, subways, and trains, oh my!
During our trip planning I did a ton of research on the JR Pass as lots of travel sites recommend it. The 7-day pass would have been the best option for us but at 29,650¥ (~$273 USD) it's not cheap....
Japan: long layover in NYC
Our flight up to New York on Jet Blue was smooth and left on time. After landing, we were slightly delayed getting off the plane due to jet bridge issues but thankfully we were in no hurry. Uber and...
Japan: Overview
Way back in 2011 we had flights booked for a spring trip to Japan. Of course, that was the year they had the infamous earthquake & tsunami, so our flights were eventually canceled, and somehow...
Memory Monday: Japan and South Korea manhole covers
One of my favorite things about travel is discovering art in unexpected places. I photographed these artistic manhole covers in Tokyo, Hamamatsu, Osaka, Minoh, and Seoul. It's worth slowing down and...
Namibia: Qatar business class
As mentioned in the intro post, we booked our trip with miles into business class. We had flown Qatar once before on our way to Oman, so we were quite excited to fly them again, and this time try...
Namibia: Windhoek
After our last breakfast buffet of the trip we packed up the car and headed south to Windhoek, stopping briefly at a small waterhole just north of the Anderson Gate. ...450km later(!) we arrived in...
Namibia: Etosha National Park
Note: this post contains a small number of the photos from our three days in Etosha - to see more check our gallery page. Wednesday morning we hit the road by 8:45a and were at the Van Anderson gate...
Namibia: Otjiwarongo
The drive from Omaruru to the Hadassa Guest House in Otjiwarongo was straightforward and full of warthog sightings! He was not in a hurry or his tail would be straight up! Upon arrival, we were...
Namibia: Roidina Safari Lodge
As requested in their pre-arrival email, we called the lodge from the winery to give them a heads up on our arrival time, and they said they were expecting us. From the gate it's a about a 15 minute...
Namibia: Erongo Mountain Winery
On the way to our next lodging spot outside of Omaruru we stopped to taste a few wines at one of the few wineries in Namibia, Erongo Mountain Winery. The winery itself is located at the end of a...
Namibia: weekend in South Africa
In the middle of our Namibia trip we flew down to Cape Town, South Africa, for a long weekend with Leandra's aunt and uncle. Thursday Our flight from Walvis Bay was was quick and easy, arriving in...
Namibia: Swakopmund + Walvis Bay
After our long drive through the mostly boring desert, we got into town around 2:30pm, parked the car in the secure parking area at the hotel and relaxed for a couple hours in our room (#2) at the...
Namibia: gravel roads in the desert
Most of our first week was spent on dirt/gravel roads of varying quality. On our first full day we drove from Rehoboth to Sesriem. On the way the highlight was the Spreetshoogte Pass, which has...
Namibia: Moon Mountain Lodge
By the time we returned from the Water Kloof hike our bags had been delivered to our room, so after a refreshing welcome drink of sparkling lemonade we headed over. Our tent was quite large, bigger...
Our Itinerary
2025 Trips
Tampa Bay, FL (Jan)
Buenos Aires, Argentina (Feb)
Villa la Angostura, Argentina (Feb)
Bariloche, Argentina (Feb)
Iguazu Falls, Argentina + Brazil (Feb)
Miami, FL (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Mar)
Boston, MA (Apr)
Kathmandu, Nepal (May)
Bhutan (May)
Doha, Qatar (May)
Slovenia (Sep)
Treviso, Italy (Sep)
Bologna, Italy (Sep)
Turin, Italy (Oct)
2024 Trips
San Diego, CA (Jan)
Sarasota, FL (Feb)
Madrid, Spain (Mar)
Valencia, Spain (Mar+Apr)
Palma, Mallorca (Apr)
Croatia (May)
Long Island, NY (July)
Faroe Islands (Aug)
London, UK (Sept)
Puglia, Italy (Sept)
Matera, Italy (Oct)
Rome, Italy (Oct)
Mosel Valley, Germany (Oct)
Frankfurt, Germany (Oct)
London + Manchester, UK (Dec)
2023 Trips
San Diego (Jan)
Orlando (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Apr)
Northern Italy (Apr)
NC Mountains (May)
Long Island (Jul)
Wisconsin (Aug)
Chicago (Aug)
Oak Island, NC (Sept)
Brooklyn, NY (Sept)
Bordeaux + Rugby World Cup (Sep)
Castilla y León (Sep)
Seychelles (Nov)
Willamette Valley (Dec)