it's all in the details.

on our second full day in sri lanka we discovered one of the real gems of this flashpack tour.

something that's only loosely mentioned on their website and didn't register fully with me until we were on the tour.

meals prepared by local families.

in their homes.

when you travel, you're always on the lookout for truly authentic experiences, or at least as close as you can come to them.

but connections to people that are native to the area are hard to come by beyond passing conversations.

flashpack and their guides have worked to establish relationships with several families in sri lanka so that they can host groups and also support themselves at the same time.

our guide, in blue, introducing us to the couple who lives in this gorgeous piece of
countryside and prepared our meal for the day. 

on this day we had lunch outside a family home with a beautiful garden. it was really lovely and delicious with a variety of curries, rice and fruits.

all the chicken curry we had was far too hot for these baby taste buds sadly.

but the other curries were quite delicious and more suited for taste buds of all heat levels.

sri lanka's lion is slightly sweet and golden in color. 

the lunch set up was these blue picnic-style tables with one bench attached,
perfect in number for our group of 12

that evening, we were taken by tractor into the darkness. cautiously being told we should listen carefully for elephants nearby. hmmmm....probably more like a snipe hunt, but...we were brought to a open farmhouse, where a circle of pillows and a nearby fire pit provided quite the ambiance. a local couple prepared some hoppers, basically a sri lankan pancake formed into a bowl with an egg cracked into it. we were also introduced to arrack, alcohol that is distilled from sap of the coconut flowers or sugar cane. as is typical, it was far too strong for me!

half our group in the truck bed, being pulled by a tractor.

it was set up so nicely! 

hoppers! i love an egg, so...

as if the other two experiences weren't enought, the night we were in kandy, we took our small tour bus to a neighborhood full of family homes. we were led through the gates and down a long driveway into another family's home, where we dined on traditional sri lankan curries on their patio. they showed us around their home while their granddaughter slept in a nearby room.

you can see three members of the family in the back and then also in the bottom right corner. 

their patio, set up with tiki torches and a variety of hanging lights

it's these moments that really added something special to this tour. they were real highlights for me and one of the reasons i would book another flashpack tour again.

when can we travel again?

once upon a time there was a world where you could hop on a plane and travel anywhere you wanted in the world.

is this the start of our generation's, "i used to walk to school five miles, one way, in the snow..."

i find myself writing this and craving space that's more than two kilometers from my apartment.

here we are, mid may, and in the last 8 weeks, i've left my apartment only four times for something other than a walk.

it's had its ups and down, but nonetheless, it's a lot.

and there are no days off in online teaching. a mental health day doesn't exist. just like at school you still have to have all the plans and work for the kiddos and check it all the same.

we still have six weeks to go.

somehow in the midst of all this i've dug out this blog and thought about dusting off the digital dust that i've let accumulate.

here in dubai i'm simply too busy to make time for it.

but in an effort to occupy some time rather than just staring at the latest netflix series i thought i'd reminisce over some of my travels from before.

bc.

before coronavirus.

ugh.

so let's throw it back to last spring break when i left on a 10 day tour of sri lanka with flashpack, a uk based tour company.

i've never been much for tours, but i wasn't sure about traveling sri lanka solo, and i didn't have time to plan anything, so this seemed like an option that might help with both of those problems.

the tour was designed to travel through several parts of sri lanka and make sure you saw many of the most visited places, while still having a boutique type experience.

our group. twelve people who didn't know each other, but made a really fabulous group of travelers.

the tour includes nearly everything you need along the way, so while the tours aren't cheap, the hotels are amazing, the tour guide and team were top notch and i didn't have to think about a thing, so it was a price well paid in my mind. and allowed me to see quite a bit of country #45 i couldn't have seen on my own.

the first day of this tour hit the negombo fish market and then a long drive took us to the ancient fortress sigiriya, built in the 5th century. read more about sigiriya in this gorgeous national geographic article. avoid a tribe or two of monkeys, giant wasp nests, and some 1200 steps later and you can find yourself at the top of the "lion's rock." in true tour guide fashion, we were led here to arrive in time for sunset. it was not a bad way to start our sri lankan adventure.

welcome to sri lanka.

much of the fish at the negombo market is laid out to dry.

traveling reminds you how privileged we each are to live the lives we do. even with a virus keeping us in our homes.

you're lucky that the internet has not yet developed a way for you to smell what you see. 

the fish vendors were steps from the ocean. 

approaching sigiriya.

from the top.

sunset in sri lanka. 

blogs are best delivered in small doses, right?

well, assuming my motivation continues, there's several more days to highlight from this amazing trip.

special shout out to my tour group for sharing all their fantastic photos, many of which i've used here!

traveling stateside: first stop? seattle

as part of the #summerof40 my family and i planned an alaskan cruise.

i decided to try to sloooooowly acclimate to the time zone difference by swinging through seattle for a few days on my way to that side of the us.

i had wanted to visit more of the west coast of the us for awhile, and this was a great chance to explore more while headed in that direction.

of course i had planned to visit the space needle, a seattle tourist mecca. it's a little expensive for what it is, but you have to do it, right?

views from the space needle

right next door to the space needle is the chihuly garden and glass. this was an amazing place. i've always loved chihuly's blown glass artwork and this museum and garden is just full of bright, colorful and unique pieces.

i happened to be in this area on the 4th of july and happened upon a rush of people in red, white and blue pouring into a local convention center. after looking around at what was going on, i discovered that all these people, carrying american flags, were racing to try and get a picture with the mayor after they became us citizens.

seriously?

they were all so happy. it was hopeful to see so many people thrilled to become americans and be reminded that despite my current disappointment with the government that being american is something to cherish.

i tried out the free tour in seattle. after trying them all over the world, thought i'd give one of these a shot on us soil.

i spent the rest of the time in seattle eating. and eating. and eating. the public market area is so full of food vendors you could eat there for days. i saw the fish being thrown through the market.

Piroshky Piroshky Bakery yum! 

Rachel's Ginger Beer

awesome grilled cheese from Beecher's

Rainier cherries
I actually think I was allergic to them. Eeeek!

i drank starbucks in seattle.

repeat.

i drank starbucks in seattle.

i saved none of those snaps apparently.

#theoriginal

the line for the "first" shop is ridiculously long and i never was willing to wait when there was a starbucks around the corner with no line.

seattle was really great! i loved all the food options and the beautiful views of the water and the nearby mountains. the one downfall i'd say is the homelessness that has overrun the downtown area. there were so many destitute individuals, and many who were mentally ill, that at times it felt unsafe.

from seattle i flew to anchorage to wait for my family's arrival!

travel tip:
-buy your tickets for the space needle when you first arrive to the area or order online in advance. they are set with a time, so you will usually have to wait for your time window to start. buying in advance should limit your wait.

third time's a charm. perfection in paris.

i love returning to cities i've visited before.

there's something about having a little prior knowledge that allows you to really start to enjoy a city, and not just feel like a completely lost tourist.

a few weeks ago, i was lucky enough to make my third trip to the city of lights.

#paris

i was traveling with a friend who had never been before, so we started our long weekend with a bike tour throughout the city. we really enjoyed our tour guide and the tour itself. the group was small and we were able to see a lot of the city in a short amount of time. we even rode our bikes along the seine for a stretch and that was awesome!

we wandered a couple neighborhoods that i have a particular affinity for, the 3rd and the 6th. 

we ate falafel from the place to eat falafel in paris. 

it was huge.
and awesome!

we sat and watched the people. and their pets.

on our last day, i went to pere lachaise cemetery. there's always such great photographs to be taken in cemeteries. there are a handful of celebrity graves in this gigantic cemetery, so i used rick steves' paris guidebook and followed his walking tour. this kept my time in the cemetery under two hours. 

Oscar Wilde's tomb

composer Frederic Chopin is buried here

Jim Morrison's grave site, which is
unfortunately completely fenced off to keep everyone from
climbing all over the graves

i cruised by the eiffel tower with hopes of catching some fall colors in the leaves, but it was just a bit too early. 

i bought overpriced, but amazing, macarons. 

traveler's tips:

we stayed here at a crazily discounted price. it's nice to have a sister in the hotel industry. 

one memorable meal happened here in addition to the above mentioned falafel

paris...always perfection. do you have favorite things to do or places to eat? i'm always looking for recommendations! i'd love to hear from you!