When Rachel and I first started planning our two weeks in Panama we pretty much only had two places on our itinerary: the Panama Canal and the San Blas Islands. The canal was easy to visit, but arranging a trip to San Blas proved a little more tricky. Seriously, it was so ...
I Had a Blue Christmas
Remember when Christmas truly did feel magical? There's nothing like that nervous excitement we felt as kids on Christmas Eve. But somewhere along the way I started feeling more nervous than excited, and I realized that holiday magic also has a dark side. I mean my goodness, ...
A Christmas Road Trip Around Northern Norway
We are well into polar night here in Tromsø, with barely any of that magical blue light we were getting in November. Right now Tromsø gets some twilight around 11 am, and then by 1 pm it's dark. But I'm happy to report that the darkness doesn't seem to be affecting me much. I'm ...
My Tromsø Apartment Tour
I've mentioned before that I was a bit unsure of Tromsø when I moved here. I hadn't loved the city on previous visits, and mostly just chose to move here because it's the biggest city in Northern Norway, and I wanted to live in a city but didn't want to move south. But when I ...
13 Ways Norwegians Taught Me to Love Cold, Dark Winters
At this point I can't even count how many friends have sent me links to various articles about how everyone should try to adopt a Scandinavian mindset when it comes to getting through the long winter ahead. The prospect of winter during a pandemic feels dark, and I guess the idea ...