Sometimes folks new to town mistakenly assume that San Diego has no seasons. Here are ten foolproof ways to spot "autumn."
How to Identify “Fall” in the Land of Eternal Summer
Cuba Libre
“How was Cuba?” they ask. “What was it like?” And I struggle because I can’t distill the trip into a brief and pithy summary suitable for cocktail conversation or breakroom chitchat. Because now, even a few weeks later, Cuba is still a mosaic of discrete moments and images that I cannot make a story out... Continue Reading →
How to Travel in Grizzly Country
Tip #1: If you see a bear and the bear is not aware of you, quietly and calmly leave the area in such a manner as to avoid being detected. Do not approach more closely for any reason. It’s an hour and a half flight from Fairbanks to Bettles, Alaska. The nine-seater plane leaves not... Continue Reading →
Flinging Yourself In
The minibus driver pulled out without looking, just as my twelve-year-old passed on her bike. Two taxis, caught behind her, began call-and-response honking. She sped up, but so did the minibus driver, drag-racing my little girl on the traffic-choked streets of this dusty Colombian town. My husband and I had assumed the English-speaking bike tour... Continue Reading →
No One Told the Bakeries
Communism had fallen, but no one told the bakeries. It was the early, hopeful years of Yeltsin (before he devolved into a bloated drunk) and the news agencies were reporting that Russia was flowering, backed by B-roll footage of the first McDonalds near Red Square. I was 21, my first passport stiff in my money... Continue Reading →
Worst-Case Scenarios
In honor of the one(ish) year anniversary of Eric's free-diving accident, here is the full(er) story. I am in a taxi on my way to Hospital Mar Caribe. It took longer than usual to find a taxi because it’s Good Friday, which appears to be a shut-the-city-down kind of holiday in Colombia. The beaches have... Continue Reading →
Some Advice to My Past Self
Dear January 1st Becca, Tomorrow you leave on a six-month trip to Colombia. I know you are both heart-poundingly excited and sleepless with anxiety. What will Colombia be like? How will traveling as a family go? Will you be able to write? You have conflicting visions of how this crazy plan will go down. In... Continue Reading →
Old Life, New Eyes
“As surely as there is a voyage away, there is a journey home.” -- John Kabat-Zinn One of my most vivid memories of my college summer in Russia didn't occur in Russia at all, but instead on my first day back in the United States. I had flown straight back to my unfurnished apartment and... Continue Reading →
What You Don’t Know About [FILL IN THE BLANK] Could Kill You: The Amazon
One of our friends, back in our career-and-beer 20s, wrote news for a local Boston TV station. We would tease her about the station's feature exposes, each a variation on, “What you don’t know about peanut butter could kill you.” We’d sit around in various bars and put on our smarmiest TV announcer voice, filling in... Continue Reading →
Absence Makes the Heart Grow Delusional
This morning, as I brushed my teeth (water-free since the tap water isn’t safe) in the house where we are staying in rural Peru, I watched the neighbor plow his backyard with a pair of oxen. This sounds like a romantic view -- and four months ago it would have been -- but it prompted... Continue Reading →
Cue the Llamas: The Inca Trail
The Inca Trail is not for wimps. Forty-four kilometers long -- that’s a marathon -- it begins at 8650 feet, climbs over two 13,000-foot-plus passes and arrives four days later in Machu Picchu. And those Incas didn’t do switchbacks. No, those bad-ass mo-fos saw a cliff face and said, “You know what sounds fun? Let’s build... Continue Reading →
Gratuitous Photos of Adorable Peruvian Children, and Musings on Indigenous Cultures
In Cusco, the entire month of June is apparently a festival. There have been parades in the Plaza de Armas in the city center every day (so far), each day featuring brightly costumed dancers of various ages. Here are the littlest ones on parade, because, well, we couldn't help ourselves: And the youth: Because... Continue Reading →
What-If, Should-Have and Good Enough: A Tango with Regret
We assume that more choice means better options and greater satisfaction. But beware of excessive choice: choice overload can make you question the decisions you make before you even make them, it can set you up for unrealistically high expectations, and it can make you blame yourself for any and all failures. In the long... Continue Reading →
The Quest for Culinary Diversity: Island, City, Mountains
The food in Santa Marta is delicious: fresh, accessible, flavorful. But it's also a bit monotonous, an endless parade of fried fish, grilled chicken, patacon [plantain pancake] and arroz con coco [coconut rice, which locals in their charming, final-syllable-swallowing accent call arro-co-co]. Of course the universe of fruits is vast, with mangoes, papayas, avocados, lulos, guanabana, guayaba and coconuts,... Continue Reading →
Tidbits of Everyday Colombian Life
Sometimes, it isn't the famous sites or grand adventures that highlight the differences in culture, but the little, everyday things. Here is a loosely curated list of what's different in Colombia. Some good or fun ideas, some not-so-good, and some that continue -- even after almost five months -- to completely baffle us... We could learn from this!... Continue Reading →
Defying Death: A Madcap, Foolhardy, Stupidly-Dangerous Bike Tour of Santa Marta
The minibus, as expected, pulled out from the curb without looking, just as my 12-year-old was passing on her bike. I could see her calculating as she was squeezed out into the tangle of cars and motos: should I speed up to pass, or slow down to drop behind? (This is a legitimate question here,... Continue Reading →
The Season of Invitados
For almost three months, we were a self-sufficient four-person unit: Karpinskis vs. Colombia. We ate, slept, studied, shopped, cooked, cleaned, watched Modern Family, did everything as a foursome. It was both awesome -- we could complete each other’s thoughts! -- and occasionally painful -- we could complete each other’s thoughts! Then late March and Eric’s... Continue Reading →
Friendly ≠ Customer Service, and Reflections on Over-Stimulation
Of the 36 countries I have visited in my life, Colombia is hands-down the friendliest. A close second was Egypt, a country where (at least in 1998) strangers would lean out of upper story windows to welcome us to their neighborhood, take us by the hand to lead us where we needed to go, and... Continue Reading →
Monos, Nenes and Gordos (Monkeys, Babies and Fatsos)
When we first arrived in Medellin, someone referred to my children as monos. Mono in Spanish means “monkey” so, for obvious reasons, I was a bit taken aback. “Sure, Jack has a lot of energy, “ thought I. “But are you, as a complete stranger, allowed to call my children monkeys?!” It turns out that... Continue Reading →
The Doldrums, plus Poems of Homesickness
As we tried to channel our longing for home in a productive manner, poems happened. TWO-VOICE POEM by Retta San Diego Both Santa Marta You grew up with me You’re experiencing with me I am newfangled I am native I am here, I am waiting I can teach you I can comfort you I can... Continue Reading →
The World's Okayest Mom 