It’s All About the Culture

One expects to encounter and experience other cultures when traveling. We definitely anticipate this if we are going to another country. However, even within a large country like the United States we can encounter other cultures as we travel around. We may not realize that because we may not understand what culture really is. Defining culture can be challenging. One definition I like is “the way of life for an entire society.” One of the things I like about this…

Challenged by Korean Cultural and Social Differences

Last week I began sharing about my experience teaching English in a summer program in South Korea in 2006. The school was located near Seoul. I traveled there with some other American teachers. While we enjoyed working with our students, working with the administration had its challenges. One of the positive things for me at the school was their technology. I was teaching in a private school at that time, and our technology was not at a very high level.…

Teaching English in South Korea One Summer

One of my first posts was entitled “Why Travel?” I listed four reasons for traveling, but of course there are more reasons than that. One such reason is to travel to actually work. Businesses have often sent their workers to various locations to offer face to face contact with clients. In my case I traveled to do what I do best, teach. The location was South Korea. In 2006 recruiters came to the school where I was teaching with an…

Memphis and Nashville, Hot Spots of American Musical History

In 2013 we decided to spend my spring break in Tennessee. While we spent a few days in Chattanooga, I want to focus on the two music cities of Tennessee, Nashville and Memphis. Each has a real place in music history yet are quite unique and different. Which should you visit? Well let’s look at some of the differences, and you can decide for yourself. Nothing says country music like Nashville. However Nashville is not just about country music as…

Travel Experiences that were Better Than Expected

Whenever people travel, they always have some kind of expectations about their time on the road. Maybe they’re hoping for some rest and relaxation. Perhaps they are looking forward to some new and interesting experiences. Sometimes as people travel there are certain activities that just seem to be a necessary activity to participate in or experience. These may not be something that excites them, but when they get back home they know people will ask about it so they just…

National Park Service: More Than Just Parks

When people consider where to travel within the United States, National Parks often rise to the top of the list. However, to limit one’s options to just the 62 designated National Parks is to miss out on many other opportunities across the United States. The National Park Service oversees 423 units or parks along with some 150 areas. In previous posts I have noted the National Historical Parks as well as the National Monuments which other government agencies sometimes oversee.…

Beaches, Boats, and Bikes in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

Costa Rica has been quite the adventure. We zipped over the jungle in Monteverde and rode the rapids in La Fortuna. A night walk was part of the agenda in our glamping site in Sarapiqui. Later we watched a turtle lay eggs in Tortuguero. Now we were headed to our final destination, Puerto Viejo. It was a rainy morning for our hour long boat ride back to the main road from Tortuguero. Because of the rain, they pulled the plastic…

Spying on a Sea Turtle in Tortuguero, Costa Rica

Having left our glamping site in Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, we headed out on a bus toward our next stop, Tortuguero. Unfortunately an accident on a narrow bridge stopped all traffic. After checking out the situation, our tour guide, Danny, told us we were to get out of our bus and start walking. Carrying all our luggage Danny led us across the bridge. There we saw a line of cars, buses, and vans waiting to cross the bridge from the other…