New Friends, Diaper Rash, Lice, and an Early Departure

I am sitting on the big yellow school bus of my youth, now converted into a (still-uncomfortable) medium distance travel vessel mostly for grownups. My groggy two year old snuggles into the crook of my arm while the amiable man seated next to me chats about Noriega and the history of our military in Panama.…

The Panamanian Way?

I have traveled a bit in my life through various countries and locales and have always been a bit wary of taxi drivers, particularly when I stand out (whether through language, accent or clothing) as an obvious foreigner or tourist.  So as not to offend anyone, I won’t mention which specific countries I have had…

Some Turbulence

We made it! We had a relatively smooth time getting here, and considering how many things COULD HAVE gone wrong – we were very lucky indeed.  We left very early in the morning from a hotel in Minneapolis near the airport.  Even the kids weren’t too upset about having to get up at 4 am…

People like us?

I have introduced “us” as a young family with a very limited budget, but also the ability to travel and possibly live outside of the country – but that wasn’t always us.  Not so many years ago, I would have described us as a very typical American, two income family with a mortgage, car payments,…