Puerto Carillo, Costa Rica – We survived a six-hour drive across the country to the Pacific Coast. Once again, Tres Hermanas BBQ was perfectly placed to be our stopping point. My restaurant review from last year still holds true. Bonus:…
Rio Sarapiqui
Chilamate, Costa Rica – Life in this part of the country revolves around the river. It has long been an artery for transportation and trade, a source for fishing and – most importantly for our purposes – the go-to destination…
Life in the Rainforest
Chilamate, Costa Rica – Our first stop in Costa Rica is Chilamate, located on the Sarapiqui River in the country’s Northern Lowlands, a rainforest-covered region that was in danger of being completely converted to banana and pineapple plantations. With the growth of ecotourism,…
Journeys & Arrivals
Alajuela, Costa Rica – One of my travel truisms is that all the best places are hard to get to. You can’t just take a direct flight to paradise. It requires multiple flights, perhaps on tiny airplanes. Or – even better – multiple…
Peter & the Wolf
Boston, Massachusetts – I always envy those people at the symphony who are sitting in their seats, completely enraptured by the music, and discreetly conducting their own private orchestra. They know the music so well–at least they think they know…
Central America on a Shoestring
Somerville, Mass – This beautiful new book showed up on my doorstep recently, featuring a new and improved Costa Rica chapter, written by yours truly. It’s just the thing to get us all excited about our next trip to Costa…
Raise a Kid Who Loves To Travel
Somerville, Mass – My friend posted on Facebook: “I was defiant against the term `stay-at-home parent’ this summer. Stay at home? We were OUT! We napped in the stroller! We went to the park! We took the T! We drove…
The Food Book Mini
Somerville, Mass – This little red book showed up on my doorstep. It’s “A Journey Through the Great Cuisines of the World.” You know… France, Italy, China… Hungary…? Well, this book may be mini, but it covers the cuisines of…
Moomins & Monsters
Somerville, Mass – Ever since we got back from Finland, the twins have been crazy for the Moomins. These sweet but strange cartoon characters were created by Finnish author Tove Jansson back in the 1940s. She wrote endearing titles such…
All Aboard the Potty Train
Somerville, Mass – In case anyone is wondering why I have been so quiet lately (anyone? anyone…?) it’s because I have nothing to write about. We haven’t been traveling, even locally. We haven’t been going anywhere, really. Lately, we have…