Swear Like A Local: Ireland
Irish town

AirBnB is very popular, widespread, and fairly reasonably priced in Ireland. As a result, you’ll find that most towns currently offer a wide variety of rental options to tourists. The first part of this post lets you know what to expect in a typical Irish AirBnB and gives you some advice on what to bring […]

Review of The Good Girl's Guide to Getting Lost

My latest book recommendation for solo travelers is The Good Girl’s Guide to Getting Lost. It’s the true story of author Rachel Friedman’s personal evolution through travel. In the beginning, she’s your stereotypical “good girl.” She tries to please everyone and focuses so much on that, she can’t see anything beyond her immediate surrounds. And […]

Maybe this is what travel gives you—or gives you back, in most cases—that childlike sense of wonder, and with it a kid-style openness where you want to finger-paint with anyone and everyone who shows up. Maybe it’s because people are in such an open state, on the road ready to absorb all the experiences and […]

Photo by Victor Garcia

Overview If you’re looking for cool places to visit in Madrid, you’re in luck. The city is teeming with world-class museums, beautiful architecture, great restaurants, and vibrant public places. This short guide is intended to highlight some of the better known, lesser known, and over-rated attractions in town. Off the Tourist Track Plaza de Oriente […]

Irish stew

Although most people planning to go out to dinner wouldn’t select an Irish pub as a destination, there are some mouthwatering Irish dishes that you mightn’t be aware of. And there are also some that you should probably avoid, even though they’re surprisingly popular. The following are 9 delicious dishes and 3 gross ones that […]

Photo by Francisco Cornellana Castells

What is Into the Wild about? Into the Wild is one of those books that speaks to people on a lot of levels, depending on who they are and where they are in life. But one way to view it is as one man’s attempt to figure out how to live the richest, fullest life […]

Sacre Coeur, Paris

Sacre Coeur Basilica (Basilica of the Sacred Heart) in the northern suburbs of Paris. Completed in 1914, it’s the second most visited monument in town, with 10 million visitors a year. Only Notre Dame Cathedral had more last year (12 million). With Notre Dame closed for repair following the disastrous April 2019 fire that gutted […]

Miniature Statue of Liberty

Replica of the Statue of Liberty in Nice, France on the promenade behind the Nice Opera House. Erected in 2014, this miniature work commemorates the renovation of the Quai des Etats Unis. The quay, itself, is named after the United States (Etats Unis in French). The quay honors the role America played in helping France […]

Beaux-arts clock, Musee d'Orsay, Paris

Massive beaux-arts clock hanging inside the Musee d’Orsay in Paris, France. The clock dates to around 1898 and originally overlooked the passenger platforms when the building was used as a train station. When the space was converted into one of Paris’ best art museums in the mid-1980s, the clock was incorporated into the new layout. […]

Greatest television remote ever

Greatest hotel television remote ever. Seven buttons. No fuss. It doesn’t balance your checkbook, turn on your washing machine, or tell you where to go to get sushi at 3 a.m. It simply turns on and off your television and let’s you choose the channel and volume you want.

Desolote beauty in Iceland

Stunning views along a desolate highway in northwestern Iceland. Although the country stretches as far as195 miles north to south and 300 miles east to west, it has a population of only 360,000 people. As a result, there are vast stretches of uninhabited, treeless, barren land between towns. Great for taking panoramic pictures, not so […]