PROLOGUE TO PARADISE Returning from Iceland has rendered me in a place that is exceedingly rare for me…at a loss for words. This otherworldly island in the middle of the sea was so spectacular, I find myself searching my mental thesaurus for the words to describe it and find myself coming up short. It seems almost…

As soon as the plans to visit Panama were put in motion, Bocas Del Torro was the very first thing I added to the itinerary. The archipelago of nine Caribbean islands is situated on the far side of Panama, just near the Costa Rican border. Unlike the untouched tranquility of the San Blas islands, Bocas…

Our trip to Panama didn’t come about like many of our other adventures. Generally, we’ve traveled to sought-after destinations in Europe and the Caribbean which are relatively well known. We always try to make our travel experiences unique and cultural, but we rarely get the opportunity to blaze undiscovered trails. Panama is not somewhere that…

  If you’ve ever caught yourself daydreaming of an idyllic tropical paradise virtually untouched by humans, the scene you’re imagining probably looks a lot like the San Blas Islands. When we began planning our Panamanian adventure, the truth is, we almost skipped over San Blas. The tiny islands located between Panama and Colombia are so…

It’s not often that scenery literally takes my breath away. It’s even more infrequent that I find myself at a loss for words. My time exploring the peaks of the Swiss alps are among those few occasions where I concede that my verbose vocabulary cannot begin to articulate the wonder that we experienced. Even photos…

There are cities you expect to be amazing, and cities you just pass through. But my favorite cities are the ones who sneak up on you and catch you by surprise. Zürich has never really been on my travel radar, but we compromised on stopping there first before Italy. We were primarily going to reconnect…

Often, the picturesque places you see on postcards and computer backgrounds can seem a bit underwhelming when you experience them in real life. (After all, most things look better after a being edited a bit and with the saturation turned all the way up.) But rarely, you will find a place so extraordinary that even…

    Porto is a little city nestled on the Douro river in the Northwestern region of Portugal. It’s the second largest city in the country, although you wouldn’t guess that based upon an initial glance. Porto is the birthplace of Port wine, and home to many historic wineries. And just like a good glass…

Prior to our summer in the Amalfi Coast, I had already hailed this stretch of Italian coastline to be “my favorite place in the world.” While there is still much of the world left to see, I am relatively well-traveled for my age, and so to confidently proclaim the Amalfi Coast as my absolute favorite…

Generally, when I plan travel it occurs months in advance with late nights spent combing through maps and articles of local eateries and authentic Airbnbs to ensure the most genuine experience. Our most recent vacation was admittedly nothing like that. We booked the Dominican Republic, not for the destination, but because I had reached mental…