Take A Hike Series: Going the Distance and Dropping Our Shorts in Spain’s Cabo De Gata

October 15 – 19, 2013 Cabo De Gata, Spain Far from the freeways that shuttle vacationers between Spain’s (in)famous holiday-home suburbs, the little knob of coastline that clings to the country’s extreme southeastern corner belongs to the Cabo de Gata–Níjar Natural Park.  According to the dinosaurs that roamed the earth prior to the tourism boom… Continue reading Take A Hike Series: Going the Distance and Dropping Our Shorts in Spain’s Cabo De Gata

Roads Less Traveled In the Algarve: Portugal’s Forgotten Costa Vicentina (PHOTO ESSAY)

July 13 – 22, 2013 Southwestern Algarve, Portugal The Algarve is Portugal’s infamous bastion of summer tourism.  Young Germans and Brits come in droves to places like Albufeira and Portimao to prop up the country’s stagnating economy with countless euros spent on over-priced one-star hotels, beachfront caipirinha shacks and rental sun loungers.  As we hurried… Continue reading Roads Less Traveled In the Algarve: Portugal’s Forgotten Costa Vicentina (PHOTO ESSAY)

Take A Hike Series: The Clifftop Walks of San Sebastián

May 22 – 28 San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain After going several knockout rounds against the sublime pintxos bars (pronounced: “peen-chos,” Basque for tapas) in San Sebastián, our latest favorite city and first stop in Spain, we decided to go out for some much-needed exercise.  Fortunately for us, the Gipuzkoa province, one of seven that forms… Continue reading Take A Hike Series: The Clifftop Walks of San Sebastián

The Sands of Harris

March 9 – 16 Isle of Harris, Outer Hebrides Scotland “You’ll get off the boat in Lewis and you’ll say to yourself…wow, now that’s really something”.  Clustered around their dinner table, our friend Davy’s eyes grew wide and round as he illustrated his point.  Nodding her agreement, his wife Cheryl chimed in. “Then you’ll get… Continue reading The Sands of Harris

Over the Sea to Skye

March 2 – 9 Isle of Skye, Scotland We approached the Isle of Skye cautiously on a morning when it was shrouded in a winter’s mist, carefully crossing the Kyle of Lochalsh via the long, cantilevered bridge that linked Scotland’s largest island to a dramatic corner of the mainland. Earlier, our drive had taken us… Continue reading Over the Sea to Skye

When the Sun Shines In Scotland

February 18 – 25 Isle of Luing, Inner Hebrides, Scotland On a late February day in the northwest of Scotland, we had been given a gift.  It came in the form of a radiantly beautiful day, one in which a low-slung winter sun glazed the pastures and seacoast of the Inner Hebrides with a warm,… Continue reading When the Sun Shines In Scotland

Aotearoa by Pictures: Part 1

July 2010 North Island, New Zealand When I recently purged the hard drive on my Mac in a vain attempt to rid myself of some obscure, persistent error afflicting OS X, I came across several previously unpublished photos from our two months spent RVing in New Zealand during June and July 2010.  Rather than archiving… Continue reading Aotearoa by Pictures: Part 1

Looking Down the Tyrrhenian Coast

August 31 – September 9 Amalfi & Cilento Coasts, Campania, Italy Twenty minutes into our ascent from Sorrento town up the cliffs near Sant’Agata, and Ollie was puking up his breakfast. Such was the nature of the roads in this part of the country that his delicate tummy was simply no match.  And so we… Continue reading Looking Down the Tyrrhenian Coast