“I know you, you’ve been here before?” I was stunned that they would remember me after 4 years and countless travelers coming through their doors. I don’t really think that I stand out at all, I have no real defining features, no distinct accents, and with each year the landscape of my face changes with [...]

I listened to man in the suit in front of me and really tried to concentrate on what he was saying. I took notes rapidly about dates, religious timelines, leaders, and wars. He authoritatively stated the names and periods as if he had given this lecture a thousands times. My mind started to wonder how [...]

Locals bustle around the market picking out fresh vegetables and carry on in conversations in Italian with the shop stall owners; the ease in the conversations lets you know that they’ve known each other a lifetime. A breeze blows through the open air market leaving the scent of fresh flowers in the air of the [...]

At one time I was going to major in Engineering. But as much as my father would have loved me to follow in his footsteps and choose a responsible career, I decided to pass up Engineering for the exciting career of Accounting. Whoo! Obviously accounting wasn’t really my calling either, and neither was Information Technology, [...]

You are making your first trip to the Big Apple and are pouring through online websites and guide books about New York City. You plan on seeing a Broadway show, doing the museums, and maybe even going for a run in Central Park. You most definitely want to eat out at great restaurants while you [...]

I stand looking out over the jagged landscape; toppled-over trees without bark and a silver sheen provide a contrast against the dark petrified sea of lava. Occasionally I see a tuft of green sprouting up as if it was trying to reach to the sun. I imagine these scarce green leaves sprouting out of the [...]

Ice cream, chocolate chip cookies, coffee, cakes, and shakes – these are all places where you expect to find vanilla beans or vanilla flavor. But what about lemonade, BBQ sauce, chutney, cornbread, maple syrup, jelly, or salad dressing? And would you expect to find a vanilla farm (the first & only commercial vanilla operation in [...]

After driving around the entire Big Island for a week I could appreciate the diversity of landscapes, however today is when the all of the puzzle pieces come together. The lava field piece connects with the rainforest piece. The brown desert piece connects to the turquoise waters of the coast. The towering mountains connecta with [...]