This category contains travel articles that I have written as well as links to other posts and pages related to travel.
Check out my books and bylines for more examples of my travel writing. You can also visit italofile.com, my blog about Italy travel.
The sights and sounds of the beach were as they had been before. At the hotel, set back in the jungle, monkeys scampered along the roof in the early morning, leaping onto palm fronds and sliding down slender, grey trunks. Peacocks meowed. Street dogs lounged on the dirt roads. From the balcony, you could see…
Need some hotel recommendations for Sri Lanka? Here’s a small, subjective selection of great properties all over the island.
For as long as I can remember, I have known that the first day of August was the day that MTV launched. It’s one of those anniversaries that has generational significance, like the moon landing (a nod to MTV’s original promo). It’s kinda sad that MTV doesn’t really show videos anymore. Or, is it? I…
Happy 2021! If you’re planning a project this year, it doesn’t matter how you start. The important thing is to get started.
Al Jazeera recently interviewed tourism industry leaders from three different countries on its Inside Story program. Officials from Greece, England, and Sri Lanka spoke about the measures that their countries are taking to make their countries safe for tourists and locals as they open up after quarantine. As I am currently living in Colombo, I…
With the release of her new album “1989” and single “Welcome to New York,” Taylor Swift has crossed over from being a poster girl for Nashville to being a welcome ambassador for New York City. Many in New York are calling this a questionable choice, as T.S. is a newcomer. In Swift’s defense, that’s kind of what…
The dream is that the rest of India could adhere to the same standards that govern the upkeep of the Taj Mahal. The grounds are well-manicured, with nary a speck of trash, paan (the betel-nut narcotic) is prohibited so as to keep users from spitting its bright red juice all over the monument, and vendors…
On the few occasions that I have visited the State Department, either for interviews, to get help from the Family Liaison Office, or to visit my husband for lunch, I have felt the need to linger just inside the security gates, in the imposing, marble lobby of the Harry S. Truman building, to view the…
“What would you ask an astronaut?” My friend Pam, who was preparing to interview everyone’s current favorite space explorer Commander Chris Hadfield, posed that question on Facebook the other day. “What would you ask an astronaut?” I chimed in because who wouldn’t want to ask an astronaut a question? Fewer than 600 people have ever…
