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...
Blog posts from Travel
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...
Namibia: Waterkloof Trail
Before leaving Sesriem we filled up at the petrol station, then pointed Google maps to Namib-Naukluft National Park for the Olive Trail hike... unfortunately, Google gave us bad directions and we...
Namibia: Sossusvlei
Sossusvlei was one of the anchor points of the trip, a destination we had built our itinerary around and had been looking forward to for months. The evening prior we talked with the gate guard and...
Namibia: Desert Camp
After gassing up and a quick lunch in Solitaire we completed the rest of the (very bumpy) drive to our accommodations for the next two nights — Desert Camp. We were assigned the last unit on the...
Namibia: arrival drama + Lake Oanob Resort
Getting off the plane in Namibia was easy - we exited by stairs and walked across the tarmac into the immigration line. That process went fairly quickly as we were shuttled to a shorter ‘residents’...
Namibia: Hertz rental car
During the planning phases of the trip we went through lots of rental options - 4x4 vs smaller car, local vs international companies, etc. Ultimately we wanted a vehicle with some ground clearance,...
Namibia: an evening in Doha
With a 10 hour layover in Doha we wanted to get out and stretch our legs, all the more so since the lounge was alcohol-free for Ramadan. Thankfully it was quite easy to get into Doha. There are...
Namibia 2019: overview + intro
A trip to Namibia had been in our heads for a few years, as the scenery looked amazing - massive dunes, wild coastline, lots of animals. Timing was important, as we wanted to go during their winter...
Portugal 2019: Belem sights
For our last day in Portugal we decided to explore Belem, which meant that an all day metro/bus/trolley pass would be a good option. Luckily it was really easy to buy from the self-service machines...
Portugal 2019: Douro daytrip
Our Douro Valley daytrip with EFun Tours had a late start due to three Brazilian ladies who couldn't find parking. Thankfully we got along fine with the other couple on the tour, two retired...
Portugal 2019: Porto food & drink
Friday I was feeling pretty hungry when we arrived in Porto so we went looking for a place nearby to grab a light snack. Many restaurants didn't open until 7pm (it was close to 5:30) so after...
Portugal 2019: Porto sights
Our first real sight of Porto was the train station, and wow! We weren't the only ones that stopped to admire the tiles. Besides the train station, most of the the sights we experienced were seen on...
Portugal 2019: Lisbon food & drink
Food was a central theme of our Portugal trip, so this post will be a long one! Wednesday After dropping off our luggage at the hotel check-in desk, we headed to nearby Bythewine for a late lunch....
Portugal 2019: Lisbon sights
Wednesday We stayed near the Baixa-Chiado subway stop (pink hotel markings above) so that made most of the city walkable. Our first day in town was a beautiful sunny day, so after grabbing a quick...
Portugal 2019: Introduction
We've wanted to visit Portugal for a while, so when we saw a good airfare that coincided with our availability in March, we booked flights in and out of Lisbon. Portugal has lots of options -...
Weekend in Dallas: breweries
HIDE - Technically not a brewery, but they did make lovely cocktails. I loved my Darkwing Duck, and Leandra had the Limon Andaluzia (both good but mine was better). We found a table easily around...
Our Itinerary
2026 Trips
Parrish, FL (Jan)
Medellin, Colombia (Feb)
Wilmington, NC (Apr)
Madrid, Spain (May)
Asturias, Spain (May)
Galicia, Spain (June)
London/Cotswolds, UK (July)
Long Island, NY (July)
Ireland (Aug)
Vietnam (Nov)
Laos (Nov)
Cambodia (Dec)
Singapore (Dec)
2025 Trips
Tampa Bay, FL (Jan)
Buenos Aires, Argentina (Feb)
Villa la Angostura, Argentina (Feb)
Bariloche, Argentina (Feb)
Iguazu Falls (Feb)
Miami, FL (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Mar)
Boston, MA (Apr)
Kathmandu, Nepal (May)
Bhutan (May)
Doha, Qatar (May)
Bristol + London, UK (Jul)
Long Island, NY (Jul)
Slovenia (Sep)
Treviso, Italy (Sep)
Bologna, Italy (Sep)
day trips from Bologna (Oct)
Turin, Italy (Oct)
Greensboro, NC (Nov)