I’ve often wondered what makes some people early-morning risers while others can’t function until later in the day. My mother tells me I’ve always been of the early-bird variety, waking chipper and ready to go at the crack of dawn.

Living abroad has made rising early to work a necessity as the noise level in the Mexican, Costa Rican and Chinese cities I lived in made it impossible to write after midmorning. The first couple of hours are pretty quiet with just the roosters crowing in the background and the occasional dog barking. Doves coo, birds chirp and the only constant sound is the melodic tapping on my keyboard. more…

After five continuous years of traveling and living around the world, I’m returning to America to travel and live. Not a normal working nine-to-five job, living-in-a-suburb life, mind you.  But you wouldn’t expect that of me, now would you? And my travels won’t be exactly of the regular sort either I expect.

Travel buddy, business partner, and husband Jacob (after 27 years of marriage I could add a few more titles, but I won’t) and I have visited over 50 countries and all seven continents in the past five years. Several countries such as Mexico, Costa Rica, China, Thailand, the United States, and Canada we visited several times. We also returned to live in Mexico, Costa Rica, and China. more…

Returning to a familiar place, especially during the holidays, brings with it a wealth of emotions that make your travels so much more meaningful than at any other time of the year. That’s probably why so many of us make the trip home despite the higher cost of airfares, the blizzard-blocked roads, and the stress-caused fights that come from cramming so many family members together.

While I rarely travel to the same location twice—there are simply too many places in the world to visit—Guanajuato, Mexico is certainly the exception as this is the fourth time in four years I’ve been here (okay, France is another one where I’ve traveled three times in 20 years). This is the second time that I’m here for the holidays so while I’m being reminded of where things are located in this small town–the bakery, the post office, the Mercado Hidalgo, the little calejon (street) with the silver jewelry store–I’m also re-encountering traditions related to Christmas. more…

There’s nothing like being home for the holidays, any expat will tell you: but what if you have many homes? And no, I’m not some jet-setting international traveler with real estate on every continent.

I just left my home in China where husband Jacob is finishing up his one-year teaching contract. Since I truly believe that home is where the heart is, my home is wherever the love of my life is.

My first home is in Canada where my mother, four sisters, and the rest of my family lives. Since all of my childhood memories of the holidays are set in the Great White North, my home is where my nostalgic heart pines to be. more…

World travelers have this peculiar sentimentality about the way things are done back home that is colored by distance and time away. After traveling and living abroad for five years my expectations of customer service in the USA are, not surprisingly, a little out of whack.

But wow! Was I surprised at the frequency and variety of blunders I encountered in just two weeks of trying to do business. These were mostly by national and international companies who should know better. more…