Italy ranks as one of my favorite developed-world countries and it really comes down to the eating experiences. In fact, if you ask me, each person reading this should do their stomach a favor and put Italy on the bucket list because the country was made for foodies of all sorts (not just ice-cream-loving-fiends).

See, the meal is just the beginning though, it gets you to the dessert! Because once you’ve eaten your fill of bread and wine you have full permission to indulge in gelato, which is Italian-style ice cream.

I had a foodie love affair in the Czech Republic and I actually cheated on my relationship with chocolate for a daily dose of these sweet fruit dumplings.

Dumplings are a staple part of the diet the world over and I like them in just about every form they come in: from the Tibetan dumplings I chowed down on in Northern India to Polish pirogies and the even the Chinese dumplings last month. Then there are the Italian dumplings (aka ravioli) I eat back home and on as many trips to Italy as I can squeeze into my schedule.

Travel Memories:
The Blasket Islands in Dingle, Ireland

Sometimes joy and fun in an experience is directly proportionate to how difficult it is…
…the short hike to the lookout point for the Blasket Islands in southern Ireland is one of those circumstances. It was cold and windy for my driving/hiking adventure and with the ever-present misting Irish rain a constant companion every time I stepped out of the car.
Slea Head Drive rings the Dingle Peninsula and takes half a day to drive if you’re like me and stop for pictures, hike a little, see a few …

You know that idyllic image of American life in the 1950s? You know the one I mean:  pretty little suburbs with neat yards, low white picket fences and neighbors pruning their roses while tossing friendly hellos to their neighbors?
I wasn’t alive back then so I don’t know how much of that image was the peachy-keen, wholesome advertising of the era and how much was true, but I do know it’s not a part of our culture any more. Neighbors don’t bring you a fresh apple pie to welcome you to …

Travel Memories:
Thought Bubble Tree in Croatia

Walking the wooden boardwalks around Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia I looked up and saw this dead tree with a very clear thought bubble  painted across the sky by mother nature; like something out of a comic book.
What would a tree say? Even more pointedly, what would a dead tree say on a beautifully sunny day with a bright blue sky like that as a backdrop for the conversation?
Any ideas? :)
Read more  travel memories here on A Little Adrift for some nostalgic reminisces of the best moments …

I’ll tell you right up front the point of this blog post if you haven’t extrapolated an inkling of a notion from the title – for those who approach me with yearnings to hit the road and recite a litany of reasons they can’t do so: figure out the solution, it exists.

A common refrain I hear when I tell people I travel the world is “wow, I wish I could too.” And of course I tell them they can. And I talk about traveling is cheaper than most people assume. …

There’s a secret spot in Ireland. And the locals don’t want you to know it exits.
I found it by chance – though I recommend renting a car in Ireland that means a good deal of alone-time for solo travelers. Time spent following the directions of lonely brown heritage signs, standing as sentinels of history on  the side of the road. In you go, into the overgrown grassy fields filled with sheep and in the search of elusive ruins. Sometimes it’s just a rock in the ground. Old to be sure, …

I studied abroad in the north of Italy, Bergamo, during the summer of 2005 doing some Italian language intensives at the Universita’ di Bergamo. There was a slew of us from my Florida university and after the program ended I went south for a week exploring Rome. I wasn’t completely alone in Rome, but there were several days of exploring solo as the other students from my Uni went separate ways. It was my first time ever going it alone abroad – Bergamo is a much smaller city and we all traveled …