A couple of things happened last fall that are noteworthy.  First, a group of people Katie went to school with at one time or another were all in one place shockingly simultaneously.  (Not coincidentally, these people make up some of Katie's closest and dearest friends and are also the people that she might have to kill if she ever becomes famous for anything.  They know too much.)  Second, and perhaps more pertinent to the pu...

We've recently spent just 23 short hours in Paris jet-lagged but having a terrific time.  It's inspired us to come up with some ideas on exactly what you could do with just a single day in this classic European city.  First up, Katie offers suggestions on a full day mixing major sites and Parisian staples.

Katie's first stop is a good, solid cup of tea from the kettle at the hotel.  Paris is pretty expensive and there's no...

It's pretty easy to love the United Kingdom.  For many travelers, this serves as an easy introduction to foreign exploration; largely because there is no language barrier to potentially frighten off nervous vacationers.  A shared language does make it pretty easy to travel to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland but there are still some differences.  We've tried to make your trip a little easier by giving you 21 thing...

There are a number of historic sights that are essentially centered around unspeakable tragedies. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the beaches at Normandy, Auschwitz, the Cabinet War Rooms - all commemorate and pay tribute to the victims of horrible events.  They are reminders that real people, families, whole generations perished through senseless and horribly sad violence.  They sober us and remind us that life i...

Harry Potter: "Is this real, or is this all happening inside my head?" 
Albus Dumbledore: "Of course it is happening inside your head Harry, but why would that mean it's not real?" 
- Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows

I admit, I was nervous.  Far from a young, oblivious-to-the-heat, teen aged  super-fan, I was terrified of braving the relentless Florida sun and three hour lines to see Universal Studios Islands of Advent...