Ireland: A House-Sit in Cork, Ireland’s Hippy City
August 9 – 17, 2016 I’m curled up on a couch in the sitting room, laptop nestled on my knees. Zan is curled up at the other end of the sofa And Ussi is out enjoying the back garden. I’ve been working: catching up on emails, professional and personal, and writing a blog post about my trip to Ballykissangel. Just …
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Ireland: Puissance and Pony Club Games at the Dublin Horse Show
July 23, 2016 I am relaxed and carefree as I leave my townhouse in north Dublin and catch the DART down to the Royal Dublin Society grounds. The morning is halfway gone, and it feels marvelous to not be up at the crack of dawn. In fact, everything about today feels different than my usual days out. Since I arrived …
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Galapagos Islands: Penguins & Flamingos at Isla Isabela
June 10, 2016 This is it! It’s an hour past dawn, and my friend and I are boarding a taxi to our ferry to Isla Isabela. From all that we’ve heard, Isla Isabela is what most people think of when they think of the Galapagos: very small town, unspoiled beaches, lots of wildlife. Our taxi drops two people off at …
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Galapagos Islands: A Short Misadventure
June 9, 2016 It’s just before 5 pm on a Thursday afternoon, and my friend and I are striding along the path towards Las Grietas. Behind us is the ferry dock; ahead of us is a sandy path that will eventually turn rocky. For the first time in a year, I am wearing my swim suit. The last time I …
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Galapagos Islands: Exploring Laguna de las Ninfas
June 8, 2016 It’s been a long 2 days of struggling with very slow internet at our house. The upgraded connection our host promised isn’t what we expected, and it’s taking both of us much longer to work on projects than it normally would. I’ve had to reschedule both client calls this week, and while Maureen’s been able to get …
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Galapagos Islands: In Which I Meet the Famous Galapagos Giant Land Tortoise!
June 6, 2016 It’s a hot 11:00 am here in Puerto Ayora. My friend and I have just finished moving into the second of our two Galapagos houses. This one is on the very west side of town, two blocks from the main street. We’ve definitely moved out of tourist-ville and into the heart of “real” Puerto Ayora. Two workers …
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Galapagos Islands: Sharks, Sea Lions, and Las Grietas
June 5, 2016 I wake this morning to an overcast sky and a sense of excitement. After several days of exploring Puerto Ayora, we’re heading out on a bay tour. We’ll finally get out on the water, and we’ll see sea lions and sharks, maybe even a sea turtle or two, and finish at Las Grietas, a stunningly pretty ocean …
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Galapagos Islands: In Which We Hike to Tortuga Bay (& Visit a Fish Market)
June 3, 2016 I wake up this morning with a great sense of excitement. It’s my first full day of vacation in the Galapagos, and today is all about figuring out which day tours we want to take, finding the fish market, and hiking to Tortuga Bay. Our first stop involves asking Cristina and Monica (our Airbnb hosts) a ton …
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Galapagos Islands: An Afternoon at the Charles Darwin Research Station Beach
June 2, 2016 It’s 3:00 pm in Puerto Ayora. After several hours answering work emails and various other work projects, Maureen and I are now officially on vacation for the next four days. In no time at all, we are on our way to the Charles Darwin Research Station and its beach. Not long after we turn left onto the …
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