Journey into Travel

08/08/2026

It was a very full three days in Seattle, and I wish I had a few more days

I hit up all my favorite neighborhood spots in Beacon Hill, grabbed a few things from my home storage, shopped, of course, and made it around town to see some new and old friends.

After pancakes in Colombia City, I walked around Volunteer park with Elisa, saw my old Capitol Hill house, and then had to get a doughnut at Top Pot. I then walked through Capitol Hill all the way to downtown. Got some Beecher’s mac & cheese, and seeing the upgraded waterfront was amazing. The city did a really great job and tons of tourists were out. It was not lost on me that I moved from a tourist town to another one, albeit very different.

I made it all the way to Ballard to go to Rachels Bagels and Burritos and talk shop with my new friend Paul. And then Discovery Park for the loop and forest bathing with Beth. We met her and Doug In Hoi An and have kept up with them over the years. It’s fun to have a friend who has both a Seattle and Vietnam connection.

I definitely did not get to meet up with everyone, but the vibe, the nature, the memories made for a soul-touching trip. Don’t know if it’s the hormones or what, but lots of tears. Still processing that….

Thank you Seattle.

03/08/2026

Weird to be back after 4 years… haven’t lived here for almost 9 years. What I have noticed
*Wow expensive
*The lack of smiling still alive
*Said hi to a group of homeless men in the park. They were shocked. Pleasantly.
*I walked right by the screaming guy in the wheelchair with 0 feet and 1 umbrella
*Going through border control was anxiety inducing
*I need to buy pants. It is 16 degrees. Summer!
*I love hearing the table of loud puertoriquenos next to me
*I miss having a dog, that I put a sweater on, bring to the bar, with her own bed, so she can eat sweet potato fries
*There is cheese shop in my neighborhood
*I love seeing the water, mountains and trees
*I now have to question the safety of walking home by myself to my AirBNB
*Speaking of, 4 nights in the tiny apartment equals 6 weeks of rent in Hoi An
*I met our lovely new tenants and it was amazing to “get a tour” of my house. Damn I did a great job designing it and it’s in fantastic condition. Very grateful.

26/06/2026

It’s been exceptionally hot here as I know it is in a lot of the rest of the world. That means I’m barely going outside. Happy that the universe granted us a thunderstorm this afternoon and the temperatures cooled to a breezy 31. (88F)

Trust me, it’s normally way way hotter with full sun and no breeze, and zero chance of me sitting outside.

Thank you for having a beautiful patio that is all to myself for this Friday afternoon Happy hour.

Except for of course, traveling karaoke one man band. Anyone know his real name? And do we think he would make us a .city.bagels jingle?

This town and country might not be our forever home, but it is our home for a very long chapter. Very grateful for the many blessings it brings.

15/02/2026

Chiang Mai 49th Flower Festival.

02/12/2025

Our last couple nights were pure connection and relaxation. Eating, reading, sitting by the fire, naps by the window, staring at birds and stars, listening to music, whiskey by the fire, soaking in the private steamy onsen…. A 48 hour date. ❤️

This place wasn’t cheap but definitely worth it.

30/11/2025

We left city life for 2 nights in a Jozankei onsen ryokan for our anniversary and found snow!

This 22nd anniversary will likely be the only one where we dress up in matching outfits for dinner. Of course we closed down the place with post-dinner whiskey by the fire.

The table next to us had literally just got engaged and it was cute to talk to young love birds at the beginning of their journey. Pretty sure that if our “one night stand” produced a baby, it would be the age of those two.

Clearly the one night stand idea didn’t stand a chance. It’s been 26 years since we had our first hangout. Tailgating, NC State football game, drunk hot tub, Waffle House, and a chilly night cuddling on the 310 Furches couch where David made an impression of a cockroach to entertain me…. And clearly he made quite the impression.

Marriage is choosing togetherness not just every year, but every day and hour. Oh this has been quite the journey…

Happy Anniversary 😘

29/11/2025

Coffee, seafood, ice cream, beer, shopping, walking, repeat. A Le vacation.

We found some great places including an Irish pub with a proper Guinness (open until 6am), a specialty coffee shop, a bottle shop, and of course a Hokkaido ice cream shop. We repeated some places 3x! Ramen has been a bit disappointing but this town is really about seafood which is amazing. There is also amazing dairy here so the cute gyoza shop with cheese dumplings was a hit.

We had to have Sapporo at the Sapporo museum, but compared to the Guinness one in Dublin, it was a snooze. After the obligatory tasting we quickly returned to our other two favorite places for beer.

At the stroke of midnight as we looked out the pub window into the lit up square, we saw some snow flurries (it was 20 degrees F after all), which was a great way to start off our 22nd anniversary.

More on that later…..

27/11/2025

No snow on this 22nd Thanksversary, but at least it’s cold and sunny.

In true Le fashion, we are spending our time eating, drinking, walking and seeking out parks and good coffee here in Sapporo.

We ate a record-breaking 4 meals and 2 snacks today: breakfast seafood rice bowls, coffee, ice cream, curry ramen, ice cream again, beer, beer again, steak teppanyaki, whiskey, ramen.

We have one more full day here and then it’s off to anniversary onsen ryokan.

30/10/2025

While we can’t host at .city.bagels and definitely not at .porch.hoian or .an.pilates, we are always happy to share a bagel and coffee with friends at home.

While our house doesn’t have “a view,” that practical choice has meant that we are in a no flood zone and we’ve kept our power and water.

There are a lot of people still in crisis here in town, and the future is very up in the air, but our focus on creating community really shows its value in times like these.

Thank you to everyone who is donating, distributing, coordinating, rescuing, and those far and wide who are checking in.

28/10/2025