While planning for our year, both in advance and on-the-go, TripAdvisor became our sixth family member. We poured over reviews and suggestions of restaurants, apartments, hikes, hotels, trains, and self-guided tours. As a school writing assignment, we even studied what makes a good review and...

The results are in, and the winner is…..Malaysia, by about 48 hours. A Malaysian Ringgit, though worth only about 30 cents, comes as a beautiful, periwinkle blue paper bill with a delicate, transparent window and a tropical hibiscus. But H mainly sees a 3-ringgit pack of gum at the...

I’ve been trying to walk the boys through some Easter-related conversations during Lent. We sat down for yesterday’s conversation about MERCY in a perfect setting: each of us oceanside on a reclining chair, the late afternoon sun drooping towards the horizon, water from the...

At this late hour, a group of Japanese fellow tourists are swimming together in the darkness. A lot of laughing is coming from that direction. They may or may not be naked. So it is as we’re enjoying a healthy dose of goofy in our current location, a seaside resort off the western coast...

So I think it’s right that your view of the stars depends on where you are in our world. That would mean that the night sky in Virginia, say, is different than the night sky in Malaysia. If true, it would explain why Orion’s Belt is directly above us … when it’s...

The tooth hangs by a thread, flicking back and forth almost as easily and mindlessly as breathing in and out. If you ask him why he doesn’t just pull it out, the answer is quick and firm: “NO. I DON’T WANT TO.” H is on the verge of losing his second tooth of the trip....

    One of our sons lost a particularly special memento today, a blue bracelet with home memories that he picked up just before we left the USA last summer. It’s been on his wrist ever since. I don’t want to treat his loss lightly. He is devastated. We realized it was...

My first friend was — is — Charles. An early memory: he and I are walking up a hill in our neighborhood, and we’re spitting every few steps. It was a cool habit we’d picked up very intentionally from another friend at elementary school named Scott. “Soon,”...

Another day, another continent…. It seems too soon to leave Africa behind, but here we are in Kuala Lumpur, with all of our luggage AND all of our children. The first food stand I saw in the airport was for “corny fish”. Is this for bad fish jokes or a fishy corn dog? Too...