Ah, travel planning. My love for it is the whole reason this blog exists. But there are sometimes snags, and one of them is putting runs in my stockings at the moment. This summer’s travel to France and Andorra was an easy choice. It’s Take 2 after Take 1 caught COVID and had to stay home. The following summer was also an easy choice because it wasn’t mine to make. The husband chose Australia for his milestone birthday. (He acts like a teenager so he must be turning 20??) Then you have summer of 2026, which is a no-brainer. Having filed the paperwork and passed the interview on parenting fitne ..read more

Podcast episode 112 is available by clicking below.  It is also available on iTunes, Pocket Cast, and Spotify under the travel architect. St. Patrick’s Day is done and gone, but the luck of the Irish must still be with you, because in addition to the joke you get a mini language/culture lesson. Further, there are not one, but two national days. One involves shameless self-promotion and the other is a slap in the face to anyone who sees snow when they look out their back window. The husband’s Travel Quiz will have you appreciating most of the flights you take, even if they seem long and bo ..read more

Hi there. Now that I have you here, I need to come clean.  That title was, uhh, kinda clickbait-y. This post isn’t actually about the puzzling nature of travel (as if that’s even a thing). It’s about jigsaw puzzles, the newest hobby to compete for my limited time and scattered attention. A long-time crossword puzzle lover, I’ve only recently gotten into jigsaw puzzles. My timing couldn’t be worse, though, as puzzles and cats are a horrible combination. Even with my new handy dandy, piece-protecting, feline-foiling roll-up puzzle preservation mat . . . . . . it only works if I can get fre ..read more

Podcast episode 111 is available by clicking below.  It is also available on iTunes, Pocket Cast, and Spotify under the travel architect. We start off our eleventy-first episode with a joke that’s a harbinger of our upcoming travels, followed by a reasonable national day that’s falling on an unreasonable day of the week. If you didn’t guess our travel destination from the joke, you get a second shot with the Travel Quiz. Though I bombed it, I’m now armed with several fun facts I can use to engage with the locals. The bucket list destination leads to a discussion about the husband’s surpri ..read more

When we adopted our purr babies, Mango and Cheddar, we were thrown headlong into the wild world of kittenhood. Times two. At around that time, I began seeing cartoon after cartoon about the perils of mixing cats and Christmas. Though there would be a full year of growth and maturity before we needed to worry about toppled trees, wrestled wreaths, and shredded stockings, I couldn’t help envisioning the holiday season through a feline/fiasco lens. Source: Scott Metzger on Facebook Source: Scott Metzger on Pinterest Ergo, I decided a decoration-free holiday of travel was in order, but to get th ..read more

Podcast episode 110 is available by clicking below.  It is also available on iTunes, Pocket Cast, and Spotify under the travel architect. We begin with a joke in honor of that upcoming holiday that people either love to love or love to hate. The national day has double meaning in our house, and is loved whichever way you slice it. The husband serves up a very unloving Travel Quiz that sounds nice on the surface (The Caribbean, ooh) but that basically couldn’t be completed without a visual aid, which I’ve included below so you’re not utterly lost, as I was. Next we discuss some interesting ..read more

I swore it wouldn’t happen, but happen it did. And quickly, too. Living for decades near a Delta hub didn’t do it. Being a Delta Skymiles member since 1997 didn’t do it. But accidentally, inadvertently, unwittingly reaching the airline’s Silver Medallion status (I still don’t know how I managed it) gave me a big push toward Hook . . . And getting the Delta Reserve Amex card added Line . . . But dammit, I refuse to go all in with and Sinker. I don’t want to be overly loyalty-bound to any airline. But with my Delta Skymiles now quickly racking up, I have a new obsession: racking up more Skymiles ..read more

Podcast episode 109 is available by clicking below.  It is also available on iTunes, Pocket Cast, and Spotify under the travel architect. As we embark upon a week of frigid temps in the Upper Midwest, we combat the chill by reminiscing about our recent stay in the warm desert, starting with the joke. The national day has nothing to do with deserts, or even travel for that matter, but it is celebrated in our house gleefully and often. I did unexpectedly well on the Travel Quiz (admittedly, a few hints were given) despite arcane clues like GVB, T, and L. We then dive headlong into recollect ..read more

I am, by nature, a very outgoing individual. I enjoy the company of others and like to be social. So, perhaps it will surprise you that I also am strongly drawn to the remote, unpopulated regions of our world. I dream of crossing the mountainous desolation of central Asia by riding my bike along the old Silk Road, or visiting the deep desert heart of central Australia. I have pushed myself across the San Rafael Swell of Utah, and ridden along the U.S./Mexico Border where the Sky Islands dominate the Sonoran landscape. However, the place that draws me back, time and time again, is Death Valley ..read more

Podcast episode 108 is available by clicking below.  It is also available on iTunes, Pocket Cast, and Spotify under the travel architect. After a few weeks away, we’re back with our first episode of 2023. The joke doesn’t seem travel-related on first blush, but it very much is as far as my travel track record is concerned. Come to think of it, the national day is all about me as well. The husband tries but (mostly) fails to stump me on this week’s Travel Quiz. The rest of the time we discuss our trip to Death Valley. Well, not the destination exactly, but all the peripheral stuff: flight ..read more