All Blog Posts
Temples and Shrines in Kyoto
By Noemi Gamel There is no shortage of temples and shrines in Japan thanks to the long and diverse history of Zen, Buddhism, and Shintoism. If you like history, comparative religion, or architecture, you can spend days contemplating these amazing buildings. If you are traveling with children, however, it is easy for them to…
Kaiten Sushi in Japan
By Noemi Gamel One of our favorite dining experiences in Japan has been kaiten sushi. You may have seen it before in movies or your hometown, where the sushi is placed on a conveyor belt that travels around the counter, and you pick whatever looks tasty. In Japan, this is considered a form of “fast…
Why You Should Travel to Italy
If you haven’t decided where to go on your next family vacation, we can help with that. There are many reasons why you should travel to Italy. There’s a history lesson at every turn, offering new ways to explore centuries-old Etruscan villages; Roman ruins; medieval walled towns; and Renaissance cities that boast some of the…
Cherry Blossoms in Japan
By Noemi Gamel No one takes cherry blossom viewing as seriously as the Japanese people. They even have a verb to describe it: hanami, the art of viewing flowers. I was worried that we were not going to arrive in Tokyo in time for hanami, but fortunately that was not the case. We spent two…
Beijing in 72 Hours
By Noemi Gamel China’s visa requirements for those of us traveling with an American passport are rather strict. We were not able to get a visa to go to mainland China during our Round The World Trip, so we took advantage of the 72-hour visa-free transit policy. You can visit one of several choice cities…