One of the most common questions I get is, “What’s your favorite country that you’ve visited?”
It’s a tough question. How do I compare places? Italy had the best food. Indonesia had the best adventures. Every time I’ve gone to the Czech Republic I’ve had a blast. I lived in China for a year, and it holds a special place in my heart. I love the food and culture and have been there almost 10 times. But it’s not my favorite.
As I think more and more about it, one place continuously comes to the front of my mind: Suriname.
Read MoreWhen I tell friends where I’m headed for my next vacation, they tell me how exciting my trip sounds. Then they invariably ask if it’s really safe to go there. Sometimes they simply tell me I shouldn’t go:
You’re going to Krakow? Poland is anti-Semitic.
Is Costa Rica safe? I read there was a kidnapping there.
You can’t go to Bali. They just had an earthquake.
Read More“Where are your suitcases?” my grandmother asked.
My husband and I were setting off on a three-month, round-the-world trip, and all we had were backpacks. It was 1982 and we’d found a window of opportunity after Ted’s surgery residency and before we had children. We traveled on our own from Sri Lanka to Taiwan and celebrated his 30th birthday in Bangkok.
We vowed to someday do it again. And we did – some 33 years later…
Read MoreThe dates, flights and hotels for a six-week trip through Asia with my husband, Ted, were plotted on my Excel spreadsheet. We would check out the main attractions: the immense and impressive Noryangjin Fish Market in Seoul; the ancient coins at the Islamic Arts Museum in Kuala Lumpur; a handful of the 2,000 Buddhist temples in Bagan, Myanmar (formerly Burma); and Angkor Wat, a Buddhist religious site originally built for the Hindu god Vishnu that is the world’s largest religious monument, in Siem Reap, Cambodia. And when it came time to fill in the blanks on the itinerary, I would look for Jewish sights.
This was Asia, Part II. In 1982, before children and in between Ted’s surgical residencies, we spent three months backpacking from Kashmir to Kyoto. Now with the kids out of the house, it was time to see the places we had missed. We would be taking half the time and twice as much luggage. We had more medicine and fewer paperback guidebooks, but we were just as excited.
Read MoreAs we waited in the airport for a plane back to Philadelphia recently, we glanced at our boarding passes and were pleasantly surprised to see Group 1 printed at the bottom. Group 1? We are usually in Group 4, along with the woman who forgot she has a 24-ounce bottle of shampoo in her purse.
When the agent announced that the plane was ready for priority boarding, we got up from the plastic seats, ready to go. Then he welcomed those seated in first class.
Read MoreWe walked through the muggy jungle battling swarms of bizarre multicolored insects that had probably not yet been discovered by science. As I cleared the brush with a forceful swing of my machete, I wondered what it would have been like to live here 400 years ago when the first Jews arrived.
Wait, Jews in the jungle? What? Where did that happen?
Read MoreLast Sunday was Hollie's wedding. It was held at Castle Rumble, a venue in Waterford, Queensland. This guy bought a large tract of land and built a castle on it, but had to stop before it was fully built. Now, 40-some years later, the exterior of the castle is finished but the middle is still open-air. Hollie had made the wedding Venice Carnival/Renaissance themed and so everyone dressed in their most theatrical costumes. I was told to wear bright colors, so i picked up some monks robes and rainbow yak wool slippers in Nepal. While I was the only Buddhist monk in attendance, I was certainly not out of place. Hollie arrived dressed in a blue princess gown and introduced me to her husband Dana. Dana, who is 6'6", was wearing all black and had his hair done up in a way that reminded me of 1600's Europe, a la the movie Amadeus, black nail polish and red eye liner. The ceremony was conducted outside in this garden with beautiful flowers. Not being a traditional wedding, there was no priest or anything. Instead, a husband and wife couple, who were friends of Hollie and Dana, led a ceremony worshipping the god and goddess and blessing Hollie and Dana.
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