Enjoy Anna Maria Island on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

Anna Maria Island is a lovely seven mile stretch of land off the western coast of Florida.  The island is shared by the cities Anna Maria, Holmes Beach, and Bradenton Beach.  It’s white, sandy beaches and relaxed atmosphere have made the island an increasingly popular vacation destination over the years.  Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Anna Maria Island is close to several theme parks including Busch Gardens Tampa, Universal Studios Florida, and Walt Disney World. I’ve had a special […]

2023 Yearly Digest.

I’m grateful to be welcoming in the new year by cataloging the important parts from the previous year. It helps me have the right mindset going forward. In preparing to write this 2023 recap, I enjoyed going over details of events that I had already forgotten about. I am so grateful that I hold myself to doing this annual digest, even though it’s more for me than the readers of this blog, because it brings out incredible reflections on the […]

Koopa the Traveling Pet Budgie.

Allow me to introduce Koopa, my four year old pet budgie, emotional support animal, and pint-sized travel companion.  She is named after Koopa Troopa, a turtle-like character from the Super Mario series.  She loves to eat corn and climb in my hair.  Koopa also loves to fly laps around our home and requires constant supervision. I love her so much it hurts. Perhaps the most interesting thing about Koopa is that she travels with us!  People, especially dog or cat […]

100 Days Back Home.

I never thought I’d be so deeply dissatisfied after returning home.  I thought that transitioning from expat to repat would be difficult but overwhelmingly positive.  I was wrong. Mr. Meena and I were gone from the United States for 13 continuous months.  As we neared the end of our time in Germany I was rather desperate to be reacquainted with my family, certain luxuries from home, and my native language (not that I was ever successful at learning German beyond ordering coffee). Yet, […]

Visiting Busch Gardens Tampa Bay: A Review + Tips.

This was a pretty special trip for us.  Mr. Meena’s grandparents live near Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, and he’s visited the park several times on family vacations over the years.  We’ve driven past the park each time we were in the area (so that he could gaze fondly upon the coasters) and hoped that we’d soon be back and have time to visit this park together.  So after about three years of wishing for this trip (and also almost three […]