I can’t remember where I put my phone, how to do long division, or the password to LATAM airlines, or the name of this hummingbird, yet alone how to pronounce Ollantayambo. It’s an ancient city outside of Machu Picchu, Peru. But in the middle of the ancient ruins in the Ollantay-something, I AM able to remember a face I hadn’t […]
Ollantay-something
Why I didn’t get my grading done on Sunday.
Excuses, excuses. My dog didn’t eat my red pen (not that I have a dog), the internet didn’t break, nor any other phoney boloney. I headed to San Mateo (about three hours outside of Lima) to reset my hard drive. This time of year is particularly spectacular on the lush outskirts of Lima. Pictures and words can’t do it justice. […]
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Cognitive Test for the Rest of Us
If you’re old enough that you still remember what a phone book and Facebook are, see if you can answer these questions: Where are your house keys? What’s the password to your Frequent Flyer account? What’s the 6 digit code the airline just sent to your email so you can access your account, but can only retrieve if you close […]
How not to get robbed in Chile
I sent a photo to the affordable tour guide in Valporaiso so he’d recognize me at the meeting place. His response? How about I meet you at the bus station? You look too Hollywood. You’ll get robbed by or scammed. That’s all it took for me to put personal safety over penny-pinching and sign up for a cram- in-a-can sardine […]
Lost Pérdida
The list was worthy of a world record. Umbrellas. Fountain pens. Three cell phones (actually two, as one was stolen), two favorite pair of sunglasses, one being retro Bausch Lomb scored for two dollars at an estate sale in Detroit, then left at a bus station in Vietnam, and another in a coffee shop in China, and a pair of […]
Colorful Chiloe Island
I’m at that part of my vacation where I’m totally tired of living out of my backpack, wearing the same old socks that are embedded with Patagonian sand (sink-washing with a squeeze of the complimentary hotel soap isn’t doing the trick). Not to mention my mauve yoga pants, which are in a state if shavasana…dead for the rest of the […]
Laguna de Do It!
This is not a good place to drop your cell phone.
Vacation Outtakes
One thing I’ve learned over the years while scanning the luggage carousel for my bag, s that your vacation never ends up like the travel brochure. Your trips (well, at least, mine) are usually like the part of the photograph that was cropped out, the trailer park behind the pricy water park destination, the burnt bits on the overpriced fries. […]
Patagonia by bus.
I reread the email again thinking it was a mistake. WE REGRET TO INFORM YOU THAT THE DEPARTUTRE DATE HAS BEEN DELAYED BY FOUR DAYS The trip being a four-day freight ferry excursion from Peurto Montt to Peurto Natales, Patagonia, where I’d be unplugged for ninety-six hours and float past the fjords of southern Chile. The trip being the linchpin […]