I learned two things on the first day of grad school. The first was that “worker satisfaction is not correlated with increased productivity” and therefore just keep workers happy enough that they don’t quit. My first inkling that Industrial-Organizational Psychology would not be for me. Professor Dobson then told us that we were basically wasting…

Nature adores a vacuum. The carefully groomed paths of Curi-Cancha reserve are an irresistible playground for nature. They are the cloudforest equivalent of Leonard Cohen’s crack – a flattened swath that could be seen as a scar, instead is a bold opening letting the light in and giving nature a chance to stretch and play…

For my 58th birthday, I’m lying motionless in a cold MRI coffin in Albania. Bright lights and loud whirring mechanisms shout at me that I’m old, maybe sick, definitely dying (someday). Hopefully not soon, but for 45 minutes there’s nothing to do but contemplate mortality and assess life. If this is the beginning of the…

The only thing I knew about Philadelphia growing up in the 70’s was that the Broad Street Bullies were the toughest hockey team ever. A Canuck fan once held up a sign saying “Dave Schultz is a baby” and I was so scared that Schultz would jump into the stands and pulverize him. An unplanned…

Last weekend’s No Kings march was mostly business as usual. Clever signs and costumes. The flood of relief of being in a big group of people who still believe in humanity and democracy. Even an occasional glimmer of hope. But three things still surprised me. 1. Size Matters We know there’d be a crowd, but…

Nothing ever gets ticked off a Travel Bucket List. For every place we visit, we learn about four more adventures we want to explore (the Excel spreadsheet has swollen to 104 rows). And behind us, the number of places we’ve fallen in love with and would like to return to grows. We are forever deciding…

Sacre-Couer and I go way back. On my first solo Europe trip in 1988 I sat out on the grass with two beautiful Israeli girls. They were unsuccessfully trying to explain the word Chutzpah when a very stern policeman started yelling at us. Efrat started speaking Hebrew and pretending not to understand, but the officer…

Exactly two years ago, we accidentally sold our house. We were going to ease into this travelling thing by renting it out for the winter, but the neighbours surprised us with, “What if we were to just buy it instead of renting?” And just like that, we were selling our 4th house in 24 years…

Aren’t you tired of always travelling? Two years into this lifestyle, that’s by far the most common question (followed by favourite country and best food). After a summer packed full of obligation, adventure and change, we can finally say “Yes, we’re tired of it!” Tired of constant change, that is. Two months has emerged as…

If I had to spend the rest of my life on a desert island, you are the 10 men I would want to spend it with. Thus began Jonathan’s invitation to go on a “Long Walk” two years ago. Honoured to be among the chosen disciples, and trusting that anyone whom Jonathan could love that…