After a two hour flight from London we landed in Keflavik airport. Volcanic rock, virtually no trees, and a very windy, cloudy 45 degrees met us on arrival - it felt like a totally different world....
Blog posts from hotels
Eric’s 40th: where we stayed in London
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel London - Tower of London - located a block from the Tower Hill metro stop, this hotel is well positioned for exploring Tower Bridge, Bermondsey, Shoreditch, and other...
Middle East 2016: Introduction
We've long wanted to visit the UAE and Oman, and we've really wanted to try out the Etihad First Class apartments. When seats became available this winter we booked a relatively quick trip for the...
Vietnam 2016: Hanoi hotels
For the second half of our Vietnam trip we were in Hanoi twice, first for a single night, then for two nights. We carefully chose places based on quietness and breakfast options; unfortunately for...
Vietnam 2016: overwater villa at the Vedana Lagoon Resort
Between Hoi An and Hue we spent two nights at the Vedana Lagoon Resort. Quiet and peaceful, it was a nice change from the hustle and bustle of the towns. Upon arrival our bags were whisked away and...
Istanbul 2015: overview
Over the past few years we have accumulated a stash of Lufthansa miles but using them on an award ticket can be expensive due to fuel surcharges ($600-$800 per ticket!). Booking with their...
Netherlands 2015: Introduction
After a summer at home we were itching to travel again, and visiting The Netherlands was an easy way to transition back to suitcases, airplanes, and lots of photos. We'd been to Amsterdam in August...
UK 2015: overview
In late April we traveled to the UK with a group of friends. Altogether we spent eight days traveling around Scotland, where Leandra drove over 900 miles (!) in six days; then onto London for two...
NZ 2015: Return to the USA
Our return to the US from New Zealand was rather leisurely, with a two-night stopover in Sydney and one night in Hong Kong. It was an interesting change to go from the sparsely populated South...
Taiwan the long way: where we stayed
Hotel 73 - Taipei, Taiwan After getting turned around coming out of the Dongmen MRT metro (note: Taiwanese maps don't always have north at the top, and maps in different parts of the metro station...
Taiwan, the long way
For our final 2014 trip we booked a near-round-the-world ticket to Taipei, Taiwan, with stops in Europe in both directions. As with most of our longer trips we used miles, in this case US Air miles,...
France Nov 2014: overview and hotels
I needed to go to France for business, so Leandra tagged along to explore the cities of Toulouse and Bordeaux. Getting to Bordeaux and back was quite easy via direct TGV train, which we booked...
New Mexico 2014: overview
We've wanted to visit New Mexico for some time, but good airfare deals between NC and NM have been rather rare, so we used some Southwest points to fly out for a long weekend. Our hope was that...
Spain 2014: overview
Our trip to Spain started out rather star-crossed with a series of small but irritating airline issues: We found some well-priced tickets to southern Spain through http://www.cheapoair.com/ and...
London 2014: overview and where we stayed
Overview Between my time in France and an office visit in the UK I had a free weekend, so I knew I was going to stay in London. Leandra wasn't going to let me go to London by myself again so this...
San Diego 2014: where we stayed
In mid-January I attended a conference in San Diego, and after a busy weekend Leandra flew out for the remainder of the week. Though we've been to SD many times now, we still love returning and it...
Thanksgiving in Europe 2013: Hotels
K+K Hotel Maria Theresia, Vienna We've stayed at K+K's in London and Budapest, so we knew they had a good breakfast and quiet rooms. The Maria Theresia fit the model of our earlier experiences, and...
Portland: overview
Several months back we wanted to close a credit card that still had points available for free travel. After a few searches Leandra managed to find tickets to Portland in mid-September, so we used up...
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)