When your trip to Beijing begins with a hotel room on the 13th floor, it's safe to assume this is just the first in a long line of things you could never experience at home.  When you reach said hotel room and you're greeted with a chocolate rendition of the Bird Nest Stadium from the … Continue reading Beijing, China (part 1) →

There is nothing quite like visiting a place you've read about, and seen pictures of your entire life and then finding yourself standing on top of that structure.   An architectural wonder, so dramatic in scope, scale and beauty, it has surely earned its place on the list of the Seven Wonders of the World....The … Continue reading The Great Wall of China →

Our weekend in Phuket was a true vacation.  Brent wanted to stay near the students he was chaperoning and found the most incredible resort just a short walk down the beach from them.  We were situated overlooking the ocean in a rainforest full of the most beautiful flora and fauna imaginable.It was raining the day … Continue reading Phuket  →

When we arrived in Bangkok we discovered that our hotel was fancier than we budget travelers are used to.  After a rushed visit to Chiang Mai to visit the elephants (following a long sleepless flight from Switzerland) the girls and I were initially content to catch up on sleep and spend the hottest part of … Continue reading Bangkok (part two) →

I didn't know it before our arrival, but Bangkok is the city most visited by tourists in the world, recently surpassing London and New York.  It's developing rapidly which has led to state-of-the-art modern architecture along side haphazard structures and with no centralized downtown area, there are lone skyscrapers jutting out of neighborhoods all over the … Continue reading Bangkok (Part 1) →

It is incredible to spend time up close with an elephant.  They are human like in their interactions and each one has a distinct personality.  We visited the Elephant Nature Park sanctuary in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  It was an experience we will never forget. The day began with a visit from an elephant eager to … Continue reading Elephant Nature Park →

The day we arrived in Chiang Mai, the city was coping with flash flooding from an unexpectedly huge rainstorm.  The streets were flooded with knee-deep water, but that didn't stop our driver from getting us to our hotel.  It was quite an exhilarating introduction to Thailand.  I'd give anything to have footage of us arriving … Continue reading Chiang Mai Flood →

The morning after our hike, Marianne, the owner of the farm invited Eliza and Georgia to ride a horse.  For all their horse craziness they haven't had many chances to ride, so this was a big deal for them. In the afternoon, our friends from Bern came out for a visit.They brushed the small horses and … Continue reading Swiss Farm Stay (part 2) →

So the truth is, we had a really hard time convincing our kids that they should leave the farm to go on a mountain hike.  They thought they'd landed in paradise, after all.  But we'd been told about an incredible hike from Lauterbrunnen to Mürren and wanted to check it out.Eliza and Georgia reluctantly said goodbye … Continue reading Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland  →

After our wonderful visit with friends in Bern, we headed to the countryside for a three-day farm stay.  The "housebarn" we rented was built in traditional Swiss style with the owners occupying the top two floors and our apartment on the ground floor.  Swiss housebarns were  designed for intergenerational living.  Farms were, and in many cases … Continue reading Swiss Farm Stay (part 1) →