Ask anyone who has walked the Camino de Santiago if they know what a Spanish Tortilla is and I’m betting they’ll say, “Yes!”

Abyaneh, with soil the color of rich terracotta and residents dressed in cultural garb dating back centuries, a walk in Abyaneh is a walk through time.

In 2009 Jimmy Carter wrote an article titled, Losing My Religion for Equality.  I’ve read it before but today it showed up in my Facebook newsfeed. I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook – don’t we all – but today I was thankful to have a second opportunity to read this heartfelt piece. In essence, President Carter broke ties with his church over equal rights for women.  If you haven’t yet read his words, I encourage you to do so.  There is one particular passage I find especially relevant.

To tour or not to tour?  It’s the question we find ourselves asking more and more often as we travel.  Maybe it’s because we have officially retired and are a bit more selective as to how we spend our money, or maybe it’s because we’ve seen a few too many museums and castles.  Whatever the reason, we are more discriminating these days.

When I think of Tehran, I think of traffic; insanely chaotic overflowing the roadways traffic where designated lanes are just a suggestion. When I think of Tehran I think of a hugely populous city where stepping off of the sidewalk to cross the street can be likened to a game of Atari Frogger.

As I put fingers to keyboard to begin writing about our three weeks in Iran, I want to rewind for just a bit to write a few words about traveling in today’s world.

It’s an odd phenomenon.  When you travel for a length of time your life changes.  Moving from one place to the next becomes the task at hand.  What to do, where to go, where to stay, booking reservations, catching the bus, the train, the plane and so on, those are the decisions that guide your days.

Ten days in Aix en Provence; the south of France.  Even the name, Provence, sounds soothing to the soul. Pretty much the perfect final destination to wrap up this 3-month, 6 countries incredible journey we’ve been on.  I adore France and I’ve been known to say I could live in France if it weren’t for the smoking.

Making our way back across Spain – after walking the Camino and visiting Porto – there was only one stop I really wanted to make and basically it was for only one reason; to visit La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

On our last night in Porto – or should I say morning – it was 1:38 a.m. and I was wide awake writing this post.  Not by choice, believe me. Lesson learned, never – ever – book a hotel room on a bustling riverfront, on a Friday night, where there are bars and restaurants just below your hotel room window.  Oy vey!