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After five years of traveling in over 30 countries, my husband, Michael, and I find it hard to pick any one spot as our favorite. We’ve stayed in so many lovely homes; each with their own unique characteristics and charms, but all with one thing in common…
The warm turquoise waters of the Gulf of Mexico are just steps from “our” nine-room boutique hotel on the outskirts of Celestún on the Yucatán peninsula, where we're currently housesitting. Most mornings my husband, Michael, and I have the beautiful white-sand beach and some of the clearest waters in the Yucatán all to ourselves.
With record breaking snowfalls this winter in many parts of North America, my husband Michael and I are betting that many folks are dreaming of escaping to somewhere warm and tropical. Perhaps even dreaming of that vacation home they are going to have someday.
Ecuador’s capital city, Quito, located high in the Andes mountains at 9,350 feet, is the highest capital city in the world. It is also one of the most dramatically situated, hemmed in by encircling peaks and volcanoes. But, like most large cities, it has rush hour, traffic pollution, and less salubrious neighborhoods.
Cynthia West bounced through the door vibrating with the news she was about to tell her husband Robert. He listened with mounting glee as she explained her medical company's plan to inject some younger blood into the workforce. They were offering an early retirement package—one that would give Cynthia "an avenue of escape" from her high stress, 10-hour-a-day job in Silicon Valley. She grabbed the opportunity. Though Robert, 62, was working part-time...
Sitting in our own private little courtyard with a bubbling stream on one side, a warbling symphony from the aviary on another, with pink bougainvillea and fiery red geraniums cascading down a third, my husband Michael and I could be in Italy.
After spending a crazy weekend in Paris decades ago, dashing madly from the Louvre to the Arc De Triomphe, with chaotic traffic and irate Parisians, I had no desire to return to France. That was until my husband Michael and I spent a few weeks at an award-winning vineyard in southern France. It was a far different experience than the chaos of Paris.
If, like me, you’re hooked on the ocean and the laidback vibe of the Caribbean, you may also dream of living there… But, driven by the tourism industry, rising prices mean that many people feel a slice of paradise could be beyond their budget. Let me introduce you to Grenada, where my husband Michael and I were lucky enough to spend one month last year. (And we intend to go back soon.) We’ve visited many Caribbean islands, but in Grenada we found a true gem that combines terrific beaches and weather with an affordable cost of living and reasonably priced real estate.
Three years ago, my husband Michael and I were both on the corporate treadmill—Michael as a consulting engineer and me running my own business. We were working long hours just to maintain our lifestyles, leaving us overworked and miserable. When a dear friend died, we asked ourselves, "If we had six months to live would we continue doing what we're doing?" The answer was a resounding no. We had to find the "off" switch for the treadmill.
Two years ago we were both on the corporate treadmill—my husband Michael as a consulting engineer for some of the largest oil and gas companies in the world, and I running my own business. While dealing with the challenges of an ever-increasing workload, a dear friend died. It was then that we realized that we had to find the "off" switch for the treadmill.