Our hectic pace of life takes its toll on our physical and emotional health, so when it’s vacation time, why not consider a trip that’s part of the Slow Cities movement.  The movement, started by the Italians in the 1990’s, is a way of protecting traditions and traditional ways of living.  You remember those – before gadgets and communications systems demanded that we be available 24/7?
Slow Travel gives you an opportunity to connect to a place and its people, rather than racing through a bunch of cities.  It’s about experiencing culture and heritage, not just about finding the nearest fast …read more

This summer was my second trip to Italy, and while some of the familiar things from last year were incorporated in to the journey, it was important to me to add on some new experiences as well.  I knew our intrepid group would be flying into Milan, and then three of us would have a few days that weren’t otherwise booked, before heading to Tuscany to pick up our fourth traveling companion.  We were up for anything, but the planning was going to fall to me.
I started mapping out what was do-able from Milan, and would still allow us to …read more

Like most travel lovers, I like keeping track of where in the world that I’ve been.
And, of course, like yesterday, thinking about where I might want to go next.
TravBuddy has created some easy tools for you to check off the states, provinces, and countries that you’ve been to, and then share it with your friends on your blog, Facebook page, or by other means.
Here’s my map showing that I’ve been to only 8% of the countries of the world.  You can click on the plus and minus sign icons in the upper left corner of the map to zoom in …read more