Somerville, Mass – Here we are in the deepest darkest days of December. The weather is cold in grey. The nights are long. We are looking at four months of winter. And what shows up on my doorstep, but copies…
Gratitude
Late November, and it’s still beautiful in New England. Lately, I am grateful for every single opportunity I get to be outside, to breathe the air, and to move my body. Happy Thanksgiving!
Skyline Loop at Blue Hills Reservation
Milton, Mass – Every so often, good fortune shines down on the youth of America, and Voting Day (the first Tuesday in November) and Veterans Day (November 11) occur in the same week. In Somerville, there is no school on…
Big Green Monster Maze
Stow, Mass – Our annual trip to Honey Pot Hill apple orchard is one of our longest-standing fall traditions, which Daddio and I initiated well before we had kids. When the twins were little, we went for the farm animals…
Boston vs Chicago
I go head-to-head with my Chicago-based colleague, debating which city is best to visit, Boston vs Chicago. “I am a Midwesterner by birth and a New Englander by choice, so I feel well qualified to weigh in here. And considering…
Costa Rica on a Budget
Traveling in Costa Rica on a budget? It’s easy to experience sticker shock when checking into eco-lodges and renting vehicles and booking tours in Costa Rica. Indeed, it is the most expensive country in Central America, thanks to a booming economy and…
How to get around Costa Rica
Costa Rica packs a world of adventure into a relatively small area. Limited infrastructure means that getting around can be a challenge, but it’s also one reason that Costa Rica is the wild and wonderful place that it is. Do…
Things to know before you go to Costa Rica
Originally written for LonelyPlanet.com but they took it down, so now you can read the whole thing here! On a recent trip to Costa Rica, on a hike in the remote forests of Volcán Tenorio National Park, the sky unexpectedly opened up,…
Somerville Community Path
Somerville, Mass – Something wonderful happened in Somerville this summer. After many years of construction, they finally completed an extension of the Somerville Community Path, a paved rail trail that now connects the Minuteman Bikeway to North Point Park. The…
NEW Lonely Planet guidebooks to Costa Rica
After writing guidebooks for 20 years, it can be anticlimactic to receive the final products–sometimes as much as a year after completing the research and writing. There have been times that my author copies languished in the box for weeks,…