On Mother’s Day, a 30-year old friend of mine called me from New York City, where she was lamenting the site of mothers with their children in Central Park. She was sad because she hadn’t had a child yet and felt like she hadn’t accomplished anything in her life and wasn’t fulfilled. I, on the [...]

People get under my skin. Sarajevo got in my veins. Boston doesn’t escape my thoughts.
For the past two weeks, I’ve been wandering in the North End, the old Italian neighborhood in Boston. I actually visited the North End on June 11th, fifteen days ago. I’ve spent more time since I left Boston mentally walking [...]

Last week, at Book Expo America in New York, I had some extra time and went to the Latino Book Awards, not knowing anything about the event.
I walked in on Bill Santiago’s stand-up comedy routine in Spanglish, the mixture of Spanish and English by Spanish speakers in the US. He’s written a book in [...]

Being a world traveler and polyglot can disorient someone, even a seasoned traveler like myself. I think my brain is not able to process multiple realities simultaneously. I am actually kind of embarrassed to say this given how much I love travel and believe in its benefits. However, my recent trip to Macedonia left me [...]

They call me a globetrotter, but to walk the world I must have healthy feet.
So what should I do when my feet are in less than pristine condition?
I still travel, much to the dismay of most level headed people.
In October, after having sprained my left foot twice, I traveled to the Frankfurt Book [...]

The radio news reports make it sound like everyday is a new step to financial turmoil. It’s as though nothing else is going on in the world besides the financial collapse.
But I see another reality on the street. On Saturday, I was around Union Square in San Francisco and was surprised to see two [...]

In November, I was listening to the audio book recording of “The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s search for happiness” by Eric Weiner while I was at the gym and driving around. I was very amused by his reflections on various countries and their levels of happiness. He described the rich country and its shopping [...]

I can finally walk now, after two months of pain and a forced sedentary life. Now that I can walk, where do I go?
For a traveler, a doctor’s order to stay off one’s feet is a mild form of imprisonment. Despite my podiatric paralysis, I did go to the Persian Gulf for two [...]

I’ve hesitated for a long time to write in any language besides English in my blog or in my books because when I mix languages, I lose my reader. But, it’s not uncommon for thoughts to manifest themselves in languages other than English and I have to translate them into English when speaking to people [...]

Keeping inspired and hopeful despite bad news
I woke up this morning to another radio news report of a huge layoff and bad economic statistics and found myself just wanting to turn off the radio. I believe it’s important to know what’s going on around the world, but too much bad news makes me weak.
All [...]