After many visits to Bangkok, it was time to ride in a long-tailed boat. We often watched these slim boats speed across the Chao Phraya River. My name is Lucky! Our expert guide helped us clumsily clamber onto the bobbing boat. She told us that long-tailed boats...
When I was a kid, a summer birthday was a bummer. My brother’s birthday is the day before mine. On July 23rd (his B-day) or the 24th (mine) we often shared a cake that was frosted and candled in gender-neutral colors. The guest list was mostly neighbors and cousins...
The plaster in my backyard pool is peeling in great chunks. The deck is cracked. But until we refurbish the outdated pool, my husband keeps it clean and clear. My personal pool guy! Read Swimming With Strangers in Shanghai. Swimming is my favorite form of...
Floridians boast they live in paradise. You can’t beat the almost year-round summer weather. But bugs also love the heat. We share our spaces, indoors and out, with thousands of insects: book-loving silverfish, blood-thirsty mosquitoes, helicopter-sized...
Multitasking is the ability to perform more than one task, or activity, at the same time. Time, or lack of, is why we multitask. But are we saving time doing two or three things at once? Experts throw around phrases like context switching, Switch-Tasking, and...
Flying over Helsinki, Finland, the ground is blanketed in snow. My Florida boots are getting a workout this winter. Instead of making snow angels, sightseeing, or visiting relatives, this two-week trip will be spent in isolation, writing the last few chapters of...
Decades ago, I moved from my hometown of Superior, Wisconsin to Central Florida. I traded snow for sandy beaches and below zero temperatures for year-round sunshine. But the beauty and fun of wintery weather beckons. Lake Superior, February 2015 Rovaniemi, Finland,...
I’m not a fan of conventional breakfast foods—bacon and eggs, granola and yogurt, doughy stacks of pancakes. Cold pizza and fried chicken are more my style. In Asia, soup for breakfast is the norm. This morning in Thailand, I ordered the popular and traditional Thai...
On the road again! I scanned my overflowing bookshelf and blew dust from five unread titles before stowing them in my suitcase. The luggage scale said my bag was two pounds over the limit. I jettisoned extra jeans and shoes. My books stayed. Reading on the road is...
Standing at Bangkok’s baggage claim, I wonder how many hours, and in how many cities, I have spent praying for suitcases to appear. For me, lost luggage is rare, but the fear remains. In the 1980’s, a video game was made about this common traveler dilemma. To be...
