I didn’t start out as a solo traveler. My first times in a foreign country were with friends who knew the ropes and spoke another language or two. But it wasn’t until I went out on my own that I really started to learn the art of travel. The better I got at it, the more I liked the freedom of calling the shots, the more confident I got at trusting my own judgment, the more people I met, and the more I saw when I didn’t have to wait for others. Still, as any lone wolf will tell you, there are times when being on your own sucks. There are days when you’d like someone else to make the decisions....

I’ve had a head full of coffee the last few weeks. As I learned in Cartel’s Seed to Cup classes, you don’t need a lot of money to learn how to brew a good cup. I’ve invested in a grinder and French press. From there, it’s practice and learning technique. For pointers, the baristas left us with a list of free and inexpensive resources. Here’s a short list of recommendations from Cartel’s barista extrodinaire, Jen, to get started. Online Guides are Free. Try guides from micro-roasteries like Stumptown Coffee, Ritual Roasters, Barismo, and Counter Culture Coffee. Connect with Experts on...

The thermometer just hit 114F in Phoenix setting a new record high. It’s that moment in our long, hot summer when the end seems nowhere in sight. Each morning starts with at 90-something degrees, a does of cabin fever, and thoughts of how the heck I will get out of here. Unfortunately, so is everyone else. It makes turning escape fantasies into budget affordable reality a little harder. Here are some tips I try to follow while scanning the Internets for at least an idea of outdoor relief. Cash in Miles While it’s pretty much impossible to use airline miles for last minute reward seats in the...

A month ago I left Finale and started my journey back to Arizona. I’ve been lost in time and space ever since. My airplane time machine should have just taken me back nine hours, and if I had only been gone a few weeks, I would have adjusted to my present after a few days of strange sleep. But after three months living my dream life, moving backwards wasn’t as simple as sleeping off jet lag. I got off the plane not just 90 days in the past, but 16 years. I was a stranger in a strange land starting my life in desert again. I was confused as Rip Van Winkle. Friends had lost weight, gotten pregnant,...

Two weeks into my new Italian life and my standing in Finale changes – from tourist to local. What does that mean? That my grace period for piecemeal Italian is over. No more pointing, saying a few words and getting by reading body language. My friends now insist that I learn the language and speak complete sentences. Alessandro is the first to call me out. When he introduces me to new people, they often compliment me on my attempts to speak their language. But he teasingly corrects them. My pronunciation is not so good. Neither is my grammar – and he laughs at my garbled text messages....