I never thought I’d enjoy “birding.” I have a friend who told me how much she enjoys it, but this friend also loves doing calligraphy and...

How are the kids liking it in The Gambia? That’s definitely the question I’ve been asked most during my first month here. Every parent...

You know when you have plans to change your life, maybe New Year’s resolutions, but you never follow through? I feel like I spent most of...

Some types of stress I can see coming from a mile away, like the cortisol spikes that inevitably accompany long distance travel, moving...

The first couple of weeks in a new country typically involve a lot of searching for stores to buy food, supplies, furniture, and...

During my first week in The Gambia I already experienced a bit of local culture that had me taken aback. I was surprised and a little...

So, I live in The Gambia now. The capital city is Banjul, a tiny town formerly known as Bathurst. But I technically live in the “Greater...

Every 2-3 years we take home leave, which is mandatory time off between overseas assignments. They typically last 4-6 weeks and require a...

Another year gone! Being 40 has been great. No complaints. Well, maybe a tiny complaint that my face takes a long time to unwrinkle in...

Because we’re moving to The Gambia for our next assignment (#8!) we can bring up to 3,750 pounds of consumables—food, drinks, and...

I can't imagine there was a single Foreign Service Officer (FSO) in Washington DC, or even overseas, who didn't wake up scared on Friday,...

This month has been a whirlwind of packing and saying goodbye. It’s the 7th time we’re leaving a country we lived in for a few years and...

I love biographies and memoirs. I've been reading them since I was a teenager, but it only recently dawned on me that it's my favorite book genre. When I was an international relations student I didn't read much for fun. I chose serious works by Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama, Elizabeth Warren and Ann-Marie Slaughter. One vacation I read Fred Lawrence's book about Marylin Monroe, to give myself a break. I loved it because it’s juicy but also has a lot of detail an

So, I did it! I stayed to a Vipassana center (dhamma) near my house in Mumbai. There are hundreds of centers in the world, in 94...

And I'm done! I just completed a 10-day meditation course at Dhamma Pattana (near Mumbai) along with about ninety other students. It was...

I'm about to embark on a 10-day Vipassana retreat at Dhamma Pattana, in Mumbai. Two days from now, I'll report to the meditation center...

I didn’t understand much about Hinduism before I moved to India. Cows are holy, reincarnation, lots of gods. That’s about it. I hoped I...

Before coming to India I was only vaguely aware of Aryuvedic medicine. I’d heard about elements/doshas and had even figured out I’m a...

Did you know that Shymbulak is the largest ski resort in Central Asia? And that if you want guaranteed snow in March, it's one of the...

When & where to run in Mumbai Even if you really love running outdoors—and I know few people in Mumbai do!—it can be challenging to find...