I wish the actual experience at My Tho had been as cool as the photo ops.

As the mother of soldiers, I have a hard time facing the realities of war. Cu Chi was real.

Halong Bay was misty and mystical…and crowded.

Our visit to the Hanoi Hilton was a good reminder of how history is more than facts — it’s also perspective.

Ancient sacred sites were not built for accessibility, or for me with a hip injury.

I was embarrassingly uninformed about Vietnam’s modern-day politics. Now I know more.

You can’t fully capture the feeling of a place from watching TV. Anthony Bourdain told me what to expect from Vietnam, and I was still surprised.

If you want to rent a bike in the Netherlands, you’d better know what you’re doing.

Madurodam gave us an interesting view of the Netherlands and was just plain fun!

More than New York, Paris, or Barcelona, Amsterdam will always be my favorite museum city because of Van Gogh.

We took the train from Haarlem to Utrecht, a great day trip well worth the time.

Staying outside the big city was a definite win. I’m so glad we ended up in Haarlem.

I used AI to create my Amsterdam itinerary. Did it work?

The future of AI scares, but here I am, jumping on the bandwagon.

At the end of 15 days crossing the Atlantic, I found myself thinking about random things that surprised me about the cruise.

It only takes a few minutes to turn people from strangers and stereotypes to full, flesh and blood, Real People. I need to make the effort more often.

In spite of the crowds and the costs, sometimes cruise ship excursions can be the right choice for seeing the sights.

It takes a skilled acupuncture specialist to to be able to insert needles on rough seas. I’ll never forget my first acupuncture experience.

I’ve never been a fan of big cruise ships, but a transatlantic cruise sounded interesting.

Mark thought he was going to be sitting quietly in a corner drinking sake. The locals didn’t let that happen.