Help! Where should we go after Iceland?

As I’ve written before, choosing where to rest our heads when the whole world is our oyster can be difficult.  So, we’re asking for your help – where should we go in November? Until then, we have a great itinerary.  I’m writing this from the airport on our way to Iceland for 3 days of 25th anniversary celebration. …

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3 Ways to Kill Time in Minnesota

Things to do in Minnesota

Minnesota is a pretty swell place to spend a summer.  After selling the house and hitting the road last October, we found ourselves back in the Twin Cities for the summer with the precious opportunity to be with Zekiah for his first professional internship (transportation planning with HR Green, which he rocked!)  But at a…

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Master Cleanse: Ten Days on the “Lemonade Diet”

Master Cleanse

After 4 days of Winnipeg Folk Fest, 200 miles of cycling home and a 10-day media cleanse, I was feeling free, clear, strong of body and spirit.  It bubbled up in me that it’s time to do another Master Cleanse – the 10-day “lemonade diet” I “enjoyed” 18 years ago.  Time to take back control…

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Mexico City – the Most Magical of All

Diego Rivera mural

I have always been afraid of Mexico City and never wanted to visit.  Just as my preconceived notions of Africa paralyzed me my first time there, I somehow envisioned “CDMX” to be a monstrously wide basin so smoggy that it’s dangerous to breathe, so teeming with druglords and pickpockets that leaving the hotel would be…

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Mexican Magical City #2: Merida

Merida

After the food scarcity of Cuba, Mexican cuisine was an explosion of senses.  From the phallic frivolity of street food like the photo above (filled with cream cheese and nutella), to the sophisticated fusion of traditional and modern cuisine of the Yucatan, our final two stops in Mexico were a constant culinary cacophony from market…

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Mexico’s Magical Cities: Tekax

Tekax

After the “boring” beaches of Bacalar, it was time for Ricky to get his small town fix.  A deliciously long, slow local bus crawled us to the Mayan town of Tekax, supposedly one of Mexico’s “magical towns” that has been developed to showcase its unique beauty and culture for tourists.  Beautiful and cultured it was…

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Media Cleanse

Someone told me Trump was shot last week.  It bubbled briefly through my bliss then floated away again, unperturbed, unexamined, unrelated to my reality.   I’m on day 10 of an unplanned media cleanse.  Just imagine: no emails, no New York Times daily digest and Heather Cox Richardson’s “Letters from an American”, no facebook, no netflix.…

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Mexican Food Market

The photos I shared from the flower market for Mother’s Day only told half the story – the other side had a bounty of fresh, local, mostly-healthy foods, many of which I actually recognized.  I haven’t yet found my writing mojo since landing back in Minnesota, but please enjoy another visual walk through this Mexican…

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Beach Bummed in Bacalar

I’m bored.  Lying under a palm tree beside the famous 7-coloured lagoon in Bacalar, Mexico, a few hours inland from Cancun.  Sucking on the fresh slice of pineapple garnishing my virgin mojito, waiters in crisp white shirts conjuring fresh shrimp ceviche and fish tempura.   Clear water just cool enough to be refreshing on this 90…

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Mothers Day in a Mexican Flower Market

Mothers Day used to mean a walk down to Fleugers Nursery to buy a few pretty potted plants.  But nothing in that annual ritual compares to a visit to Mercado Jamaica – the flower market in Mexico City that never sleeps (or at least, never closes). Now that I’ve finished my 3-part Cuba series (see…

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