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Costa Rica (La Fortuna, Arenal & Manuel Antonio)
A few years ago I bought the Lonely Planet travel guide on Costa Rica, more-so out of curiosity than initiating a trip at that time. Olivia must’ve been around 16 months then, perhaps a few months too soon to take on the natural wonders of the Central American country. In late 2018, the talk of a mid-winter trip was brewing with our friends Jason and Jessica (and son Jasper). We had previously traveled together to St. Martin and Mexico, Jasper and Olivia being tried and true travel buddies, were excited about venturing to a new destination (and so were we, the parents)! This time however, we would be going as…
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Austria (Vienna) & Czech Republic (Prague)
When friends move away, the typical reaction is to be excited for them despite internalizing the sadness of their departure. Within the past year two sets of dear friends leaped across the Atlantic in pursuit of new endeavors. Our friends Philippe and Charlotte + kids headed off to Vienna while our dear friend Rich checked into Prague. It wasn’t so long after they had left that Brigitte started talking about visiting them. Lucky for us and them, Vienna and Prague are only separated by a 3.5 hour train ride. And so we set off for 1-2-punch European trip which also afforded us the opportunity to re-experience these beautiful capitals, this time…
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Day 72 – 74: Vienna, Melk, Dürnstein & Krems (Austria)
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Mexico (Playa del Carmen, Tulum & Chichen Itza)
Por que no? Por que si! As a New Yorker I’ve always wanted to visit Mexico. Growing up in The Big Apple had appropriated me to Mexican culture, the cuisine, and Mexican people to a certain extent. I just never suspected it would take nearly 30 years to finally make the trip. Similar to last February, we planned another winter escape with our friends Jess, Jason and their son Jasper. This year’s destination would be Mexico’s Playa del Carmen (as it beat out Curaçao by majority vote).
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St. Martin / Sint Maarten (Caribbean)
Ah, St Martin.. the last time we visited the dual-nation island was 4 years ago (Caribbean post, March 2, 2012). Things were quite different back then, we had just returned from our 8-month journey around the globe, still deeply subdued by the travel hangover. With winter in full swing (then and now), a trip to the Caribbean island was simply a must! St. Martin always held a special place in our hearts and we were very excited to share the experience with Olivia this time around.
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Portugal
Lisbon The trip to the Iberian peninsula was much more than just a visit to Portugal. It bore special significance for two reasons: first, it was centered upon the Matti Family Reunion and second, it also reunited me with my girls who had been in Europe for the previous 2+ weeks. The Matti Family is a link through Brigitte and it had been many years since she had last seen many members of the family. I too was very excited about meeting everyone especially grandpa and grandma whom I had heard so much about over the years. And it was also a great opportunity to introduce Olivia. Everyone had travelled…
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Colombia (Cartagena)
It’s been roughly 2 years since our last post, no, we haven’t stopped traveling, we’ve just been busy with life which included expanding our clan. As first time parents we made a conscious decision to expose our little one to travel early on and adapt to the situation as it comes along. This was the case with our trip to Cartagena. It wasn’t Olivia’s first, second, or third time traveling abroad, but it was the first time she was of “age” and we had decided on a new destination for all 3 of us.
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Argentina Part 2 – Patagonia
Our trip took a 180-degree turn when we arrived in Patagonia, going from urban and hot to highly remote, scenic and frigid. Argentine Patagonia is one of the country’s vast regions that includes the third largest ice field in the world (home to 300+ glaciers in the Andes Mountains). Apparently tourism to this area has increased exponentially over the years but there still is plenty of untouched countryside to make you feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere. The landscape around El Calafate and El Chalten (where we stayed), is comprised of a massive steppe, a yellow carpet of arid, inhospitable land largely devoid of trees.
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Argentina Part 1 – Buenos Aires
I hadn’t decided to write an entry for our Argentina trip until about half way in (while in Patagonia). Something had just clicked after our day on the ice, exploring and admiring the mighty Perito Moreno glacier (but we’ll get to that later). Besides, it would be selfish not to share our experience in what is an amazing country (that would consequently receive a lot of promotion on our behalf).
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Basque Country (France & Spain) & Bordeaux Wine Country (France)
Going to France for 3 days is not the easiest way to vacation. I did miss Europe a lot but this wasn’t a relapse episode after last year’s extended journey (at least I keep telling myself so). This time around it was for the wedding of our dear friends Philippe and Charlotte. The setting was the southwest of France which meant several things. First, I would be reuniting with my wife who was already there. Second, the wedding was set to take place in Bayonne (in the Basque country, a region neither Brigitte nor I had visited before).
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Sweden (Gothenburg) – July 2012
After a few days of exploring Copenhagen, we moved on to Gothenburg for our friends’ highly anticipated wedding. We arrived by train which tore straight up Sweden’s picturesque southwestern coast. Gothenburg is Sweden’s third largest city (located on the water), and is one of Scandinavia’s most important ports. This meant not only more boats but more salmon and herring as well.
