Hello Renaissance Rebecca Subscribers and Friends– You may have noticed that I haven’t posted on this blog since Nov 22, 2024. This is because I’m working on something new and am writing on a different platform once per week. I want to keep reading your stuff–how do I sign up? What’s this new thing you’re…
Tag: travel
One Step Ahead of the Storms
I lived in Asheville, North Carolina until June, 2021–when we moved to Valencia, Spain. In the last five weeks, both have experienced natural disasters on a monumental scale. On Friday, September 27, after multiple days of rain, Western North Carolina was hit by Hurricane Helene, causing flooding on a scale never seen before. On Tuesday,…
The Worst Day on the Camino de Santiago
“How do you know how to do all this?” Dad asked me as we stood together waiting for the metro in Madrid. “Do what?” “This–trains, buses, subways . . .” “On that high school trip to London, Mr. Briggs taught us how to use the subway, and once you know the idea, they’re pretty much…
Camino with Dad 2024: A Poem
June 15, 2024: Another dayAnother fresh squeezed orange juiceAnother bar giving us a free snack when we order our breakfastAnother medieval bridgeAnother taxi ad in the middle of nowhere in case the 16 miles walk is too much for usAnother napAnother day meeting people from all over the worldAnother day Dad and I are lucky…
Flight delay? Yes, please.
After the tour of Brugge was finished, my sister Meg and I wandered in the direction of a recommended restaurant. We paused for a second to get our bearings and that’s when we saw her: a young woman who had been on our tour. I smiled at her as she got closer and asked if…
Getting In Cars With Strangers
“Is this safe?” someone asked on one of my international Facebook groups. They must be American, I said to myself with a sigh. I’ve had more than a few international friends tell me it’s usually us Americans who ask questions about safety. Whether it’s walking the Camino de Santiago, traveling on budget airlines, or car…
The Best Laid Plans
In December, 2022, I printed out a monthly calendar for 2023 and started filling it in. “If I can just make it ’til August,” I thought. I made it ’til March. Planning my parents’ visit had nearly done me in. Probably because planning trips to New York and California hadn’t been the easiest thing to…
Things Learned on The Queen Mary 2
Sleep on a cruise ship can come in a variety of forms. Level 0 would be no movement at all: you and your bed would easily stay in the same position the entire night. Level 0 is never actually experienced on a cruise ship, unless you are sleeping in one that has been dry-docked for…
Signs of Spring
On our terrace, the first poppy has bloomed and the irises are only days away from bursting open. The afternoon sun makes our living room so warm that Michael has to pull down the shades. But my favorite sign of spring’s impending arrival? The local artisanal ice cream shop has opened. When I walked in…
Saturday Lunch (Random Roadside Restaurant in Spain version)
After taking our drink orders, the waiter returned with a Coca-cola Zero, a flask of wine, and two tall glasses, scratched from years of use. I wondered why he didn’t bring a wine glass as I pulled the cork from the flask. “How does that work again?” Michael asked me, eyeing the flask. “How do…
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