Blue Dot Explore

January 29, 2024 -  Pelourinho neighborhood in Salvador, Bahia. We left off in the previous blog after our time in the National Park, Chapata Diamontina, heading to Salvador, Bahia. I somehow forgot to mention in the previous blog that our 7+ hour bus ride that would take us from the National Park back to the coast hit a little snafu on the way. We've been lucky (knock on wood) with travel logistics for the most part, and even this seems pretty minor in comparison to the sort of things that can go wrong, but dealing with it at the moment and even looking back on it now makes me laugh.  At one point during the journey, we were temporarily left with nothing but Google Translate and the kindness of strangers to explain why our bus was not able to continue after our lunch stop. With all of us just sitting on the bus waiting, the heat was starting to become unbearable so folks began piling off. People were standing around talking but we, unable to speak Portuguese, were just sort o...

January 6, 2024 - view of Sugarloaf hill and Rio de Janeiro from Mirante Dona Marta. After a chill New Year's Eve spent with friends in Virginia, it was back into travel mode, spending the first couple days of 2024 getting ready to resume our trip after our 6-week stint in the US. Some tattered-looking clothes were swapped out, and some old faithfuls got repacked. Honestly, I thought I would've spent more time rethinking all the packing lessons I learned from the past year, but with everything going on, it just didn't happen, so I essentially left with the same suitcase innards from the year prior. The exception being, having cast the winter of Europe behind us, I threw in a few more beachwear items knowing they would get put to good use in our next destination, Brazil! With nothing but an airline ticket and a hotel booked for the first couple of nights, we jumped back into winging-it mode. I still had a bit of nerves the night before, surprising because we had been doing t...

November 13, 2023 - View of The Old Temple of Athena on the Acropolis. Athens, Greece. I've used the word "home" in many different contexts during this trip. When we're out and about in a new city, I say to Johnny "Do you want to go home?", referring to our current accommodations, whether that be a hotel, apartment, hostel, etc. Other times I may ask, "Anything new back home", meaning our friend group back in Arlington, VA. I might also share that "I have an update from home" to mean the farm where I grew up in California. Home can be lots of places. Throughout the experience of being "homeless" for the past year, the expression "home is where the heart is" has taken on a deeper meaning. For the most part, my home is with Johnny, but we all know that our hearts don't usually just reside with one person. Besides a partner, you share your heart with your best friends, your brother and sister, your parents...any numbe...