The drive from Gangtey to Punakha was similar, scenery-wise, to the previous day and as it was only about 2 hours, we took a more leisurely pace, stopping for more waterfalls and macaque photos. We...
Blog posts from Travel
Himalayas 2025: Bhutan – Bumthang to Gangtey
Day four featured a multiple hour drive with several stops along the way. From our overnight in Jakar, we started west, heading up in elevation until we eventually hit 3400m in the Yuto La Pass. The...
Richmond, June 2025
We spent another overnight in Richmond this month with family, and between painting and eating enormous amounts of charcuterie, we still had time to visit a few spots. As with our March trip, we...
Himalayas 2025: Bhutan – Tang Valley and Ura Yakchoe Festival
We were hungry after arriving on our delayed flight, so after meeting our new driver, we headed directly to Sherab Dema Homestay for lunch, driving up increasingly narrow rural roads. On arrival we...
Himalayas 2025: Bhutan – Paro (first and last day)
We started and ended our trip in Paro, home to the international airport and the famous Tiger's Nest monastery. May 7 + arrival The Paro airport is beautiful, first due to its valley location with...
Himalayas 2025: where we stayed in Bhutan
As we wrote in the intro post, the Bhutan portion of our trip was organized and booked by Raven Tours Bhutan. The accommodations were generally good — we had checked reviews beforehand and our...
Himalayas 2025: Kathmandu sights
We arrived in Kathmandu early on a Monday morning and since our hotel room wasn't ready we left our luggage and set out to explore. The streets were bustling and chaotic, with few sidewalks and all...
Himalayas 2025: Kathmandu cooking class
I choose the 2 Sisters Cooking School because they were a five minute walk from the hotel and they had tons of five star reviews. I did not regret my decision! I was collected on foot at the back...
Himalayas 2025: Kathmandu food & drink
On our first night we wanted to try momo dumplings, so we chose Thamel Momo Hut. We started with an order of ten chicken momos. This was our first time trying the Nepali red sauce, and it was spicy!...
Himalayas 2025: Kathmandu, where we stayed
While the majority of our time was spent in Bhutan, we bracketed our trip with two nights in Kathmandu before Bhutan, and one night after. For the first two nights we wanted to stay in Thamel, a...
Himalayas 2025: flights
On this adventure we took 8 flights during the first two weeks in May, visiting two new countries (Bhutan and Nepal) and re-visiting Doha. We also had time with Chicago family, plus our favorite...
Himalayas 2025: intro & insights
About 10 years ago I saw a trip report about Bhutan and I've been fascinated ever since. With remote monasteries, mountain vistas, and lots of wildlife, it ticked a lot of photogenic boxes. Visiting...
Boston, April 2025: sights
Friday The weather was quite nice on Friday evening, so we walked to the Charlestown neighborhood. Along the way we walked through several parks and enjoyed the spring flowers. After dinner we...
Boston, April 2025: food & drink
Friday We wanted to check out Charlestown, and Blackmoor Bar and Kitchen looked like a good starting point on the edge of the neighborhood. They were busy with several large groups, but we found two...
Boston, April 2025: overview & where we stayed
In October we saw that a band we really like (Snow Patrol) was going to tour North America in 2025. They weren't playing anywhere in NC, so we looked through the available options. Boston looked...
Richmond, March 2025
We had two free night certificates expiring at the end of March that prompted a quick trip to Richmond, Virginia. Instead of using both nights we invited our friends to go with us. Altogether we...
Street art and sculpture in Miami
On our return to the US after two weeks in Argentina we had a day in Miami to explore some art and visit with friends. We were supposed to land at 5am(!) but our flight was delayed almost two hours,...
Iguazu Falls: Port Iguazú
Given our flight schedules we didn't have that much time in Port Iguazú, but there isn't that much to see or do besides the falls. On our arrival evening we trekked over to Supermercado Capicua for...
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)