#11: Belize. The Honeymoon.
There are moments in life that define who you are. For me, one of them was on a frozen mountain lake in Rocky Mountain National Park in the early winter months of 2011: this is when I asked my wife Jenn to marry me. So began a new era…. and to kick it off, we […]
The Other 96%
“Traveling enables us to see the world through the eyes of someone else… to understand their aspirations and assumptions. It’s about empathy, which is not only important to the work of our diplomats but to all of us as we seek to understand different cultures as well as our own.” – John Kerry. Yes, that’s […]
Vida Colorado
A brief pause in our regularly scheduled programming: This blog is now six years old and has evolved much over this time. Luckily, unlike a six year old child (unless you are cruel), you can change a six year old blog’s name, right? So that’s what I’m doing. I’ll be brief here and not bore […]
#10.2: Czech Republic. The Old Fortress.
In the spring of 1939, the city of Prague had a Jewish population of over 90,000. Today less than 2,000 remain. Most of these 90,000 saw their way through Terezín at some point in the early and mid 1940’s and from there met their fates after being shipped to places like Auschwitz or Mauthausen. While […]
#10.1: Czech Republic. The Spared City.
Not many of us over the course of our lives are forced with a decision like Czechoslovak president Emil Hácha had in the spring of 1939. After much of his country had been dismantled piece by piece by his own allies in Britain and France during what has become known as Mnichovská zrada, or the “Munich […]
#9: Argentina. The “Class.”
I’m not sure why I never took the chance to study abroad in college. I’ve always been skeptical of the actual academic value of doing so (beyond the simple fact that living in a foreign country brings about inevitable “cultural” education), but nonetheless it’s an opportunity which in retrospect I’m surprised I passed up. But […]
#8: Peru. The Sacred Valley.
Quick housekeeping note: They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, if that’s true these posts just got several thousand words longer. Or if you are like me, have just given you an excuse to skip to the pictures and be done with it rather than doing any reading. Whichever you prefer, from […]
#7: The Holy See.
I didn’t get much time to sight-see in Rome, but on my first evening in the city I did find myself somewhat by chance walking west on the Via della Conciliazione at sundown. I didn’t intentionally time things this way, but nonetheless, the timing was perfect. It was about 6 PM when we made it to St. Peter’s […]
#6: Italy. The Mission.
In or around the year 50 AD, the missionary Paul sailed to Italy to visit the nascent churches which had sprang up in Rome. These tiny churches scandalously called Lord a rebel from the far eastern provinces. Rome was no stranger to tolerating the beliefs and customs of its conquered subjects, and this was no […]
#5: Holland. The Layover.
I will keep my Holland post about as short as my time spent here. Here it goes: The passport gets stamped and I walk on through, Pondering what in just a single day, one can really do. Amsterdam! The Venice of the north some say. With my map and a Lonely Planet, we get on […]
