01stJanuary

Goodbye 2012, Hello 2013

We just wanted to take a second to wish you, our family and friends, old and new, near and far, very sincere wishes for a happy new year. For some dear to us, 2012 was difficult and challenging, for others, a year of new beginnings and happy occurrences. For the majority, as is most years, it was a mix of incredible and unfortunate. Whatever the case, for each of you, we hope 2013 brings you joy, success, adventure, love,  and …

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03rdOctober

Hospitals & Weddings & Stereotypes, Oh My!

It wouldn’t really be fair to spend 2 weeks in America and not give any sort of recap of our time there – after all, adventures happen at home too. After spending a few days in Santiago, Chile, which was an extremely modern and easily navigable city, we received bad news on the home front on Thursday, the 13th. We had spent the evening at an over-priced expat sports bar in the nicest neighborhood watching the Bears vs. Packers game as …

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20thSeptember

It’s not Thanksgiving but…

We recently completed our almost 7 month odyssey around South America, a journey that will certainly never be forgotten. One that has changed me as a person in many little ways, hopefully for the better, as only challenging travel can. We’ve been spending the last week here in the US with my family as we rally around my Grandmother in the hospital and I’ve had a lot of time to think about the things i’m grateful for in life. I’ve been …

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11thSeptember

To Aunt Dorothy

Tyler’s Great-Aunt Dorothy passed away early in the morning on Monday, September 3rd. She was almost 91 years old and in good health until being diagnosed with inoperable stomach cancer this spring. She chose not to undergo any treatment and unfortunately  and most undeservedly faced a great deal of pain in her last days. When we chatted with her though, she was nothing but positive and grateful for having lived the life she had. Her faith in God and her …

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20thJuly

This one goes out to Tom

Sad news today. One of our Panama-to-Colombia shipmates emailed us (from Ecuador) because he heard that Tom, the captain of our ship, the Luka, passed away from a heart attack! He and Bea were sailing from Colombia to Panama with 4 passengers when they apparently ran into some navigation trouble. The stress caused Tom to have a heart attack. He had just found out in Colombia that one of his arteries was 99% blocked and was planning to go back …

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30thMay

Best/Worst of Central America

T&I came up with this list upon exiting Panama. Though we’ve visited Mexico, Costa Rica, and Honduras on previous trips, we have excluded those experiences from this best/worst list and have only included Belize, Nicaragua, and Panama. We hope to come up with something similar for South America as well, mostly because it makes for a good passing-time activity on bus rides. FORMAT: Category- Best/Worst Category Best Worst  Beer  Toña (Nicaragua)  Belikin (Belize – only 9oz)  Rum  Flor de Caña (Nicaragua)  Strong Rum (Belize)  Street Food  Lady selling oxtail stew & other …

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17thMay

When I grow up, I want to be…

Throughout my youth, I would have answered one of the following: pediatrician, teacher, aeronautical engineer (thanks to Apollo 13 and a visit to space camp in AL), psychiatrist (until I realized they really only dole out drugs and don’t do much counseling), therapist, policy-maker (vague, I know), and of course, lawyer (though not something as specific as Illinois public finance). But now, I have no idea how to complete that sentence. The answer could very well be bond lawyer extraordinaire, …

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12thMay

Food/Comida a Central America overview

This post is dedicated to my friend (we’ll call her L) who sent me an email last week saying she loves the blog but wants to hear more about the food. L- I hope this satisfies your appetite. It should be no surprise to most of you that Tyler and I describe ourselves as amateur foodies. We appreciate all types of cuisine at all prices, and when in Chicago, probably spend too much money on eating out. But we love to …

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27thFebruary

You’re doing what?!

To truly understand why we’re going on this adventure, you have to know a little bit of background. For starters, one of the reasons I fell in love with Tyler is his sense of adventure and seemingly unquenchable desire to experience everything the world has to offer. For those of you know who know me well, adventurous wouldn’t be one of the first adjectives used to describe me. I’m a straight arrow kind of girl – my path, albeit an …

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