After a 10-year Pacific Northwest hiatus, it was finally time to be reunited with the city where it all began...where Greg spent seven years of his life as a professor at Charles University before meeting Mandy in 2007, who had recently moved there to be an English teacher. See that story. We were more than ready to return...to be wrapped…

Continue ReadingExplorations in our Second Home: Prague, Czech Republic

Our favorite thing to do when we lived in Prague was leave the city behind, often via the wonder paths of the Czech trail system. Trails weave through cities, villages, pastureland, valleys and hills, natural attractions, and historic sites. All with easy-to-understand color coded trail markers that even the most navigationally challenged can follow. Geography fun fact: the Czech Republic…

Continue ReadingCzechia: Off-the-Beaten Path Day Trips from Prague

It was in Prague that we began our story… noses buried in our guide books, hurriedly walking down a cobblestone street and not paying attention until, suddenly crashing into each other. Knocking each other flat to the ground whilst locking eyes, and suddenly the song “That’s Amore” begins playing. A majestic castle looms in the background, overlooking the Seine –correction,…

Continue ReadingTwo Genes Swimming In The Same Pool: Our Story

It’s not everyday you decide to pack all your Forever (not-so) 21 and Charlotte Russe apparel in boxes, alongside your 10 seasons of Friends DVDs, and get on the plane to move to another country. Being a planner, one might think this was a long deliberated decision, in which I stewed upon for months, contemplating alternatives on when, where, how,…

Continue ReadingThe Making of an Explorer Gene(Her Story: Part II)

My now husband and I were tucked between two lumberjack (err, gentlemen’s) clubs and an empanada food truck on SE 82nd Avenue when he realized without a doubt he wanted to marry me in 2012. We had found our way to a Vietnamese travel agency in East Portland thanks to our building handyman, Binh Nguyen’s recommendation to seek out “Tim”…

Continue ReadingThe Making of an Explorer Gene (Her Story)