I am a born traveler. My very first photo, snapped at the hospital shortly after my birth, became my first passport photo. I boarded my first international flight shortly thereafter, and I have been traveling ever since. To date, I have visited 4 continents, 24 countries outside of the USA, and 31 states plus Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. My very patient husband jokes that I always start planning the next trip on the flight home (sometimes I actually start before that!). I think the planning is half the fun. Some of my favorite travel memories include family trips with my daughter and husband to Aspen, our honeymoon in Rome, Christmas with my parents in London, our little family's favorite beach trip to Puerto Rico, and my first solo adventure to Big Sky, Montana. I am also an avid reader, reading more than 100 books every year and currently working my way through the Boxall 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list. I come by my love of books naturally. I was raised by a librar...
My parents used to take up residence in a rented apartment in Paris during the summers when my mom was off work from teaching. She learned to speak French fluently in her 50s, and when my dad returned home in the middle of the summer for work, she would accept visitors. My daughter and I first went together when she was almost 4 months old at the tail end of my parental leave. It’s one of my favorite photos of her, spiky hair and gripping her passport, ready to take her first adventure. We went again when she was 3 and could hardly sit still. Then at age 5, I took her back with my sister-in-law and the cousins. My sister-in-law jokes that her soundtrack of Paris is permanently imprinted with Peppa Pig snorts from those years. What to Do with Children in Paris… In my opinion, Paris is a much better destination for small children than some of the other large European cities. For me, Paris is about wandering the streets and admiring the architecture, sitting in a café enjoying the del...