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Jan

Travel Hacks for 2020

by Joyce McGreevy on January 6, 2020

A mountain climber taking in the view from a peak reminds the author that 20/20 hindsight can actually be a valuable travel hack. (Public domain image by Skeeze/Pixabay)

Seen in hindsight, a travel challenge may prove to be a peak experience.
Image by Skeeze/Pixabay

Take a Fresh Look at 20/20 Hindsight

What’s your travel vision for 2020? Now that we’ve journeyed to a new decade, it’s tempting to focus forward. But don’t overlook the vision that’s always 20/20—hindsight.

Hindsight has a bad rep. No critic ever praised anyone for being “hindsightful.” If hindsight were a character, she’d be the younger sibling of over-achievers. As in, “Why can’t you be like your brother Foresight, always thinking ahead? Or your sister Insight, who brings home one A+ after another?” Read more...

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Clever Ideas/Life Lessons/Travels to the Past/Worldwide Sites

Dec

Holiday Wanderlust in Leipzig!

by Joyce McGreevy on December 16, 2019

People at the Leipziger Weihnachtsmarkt, the annual Christmas market in Leipzig, celebrate centuries-old German Christmas traditions. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

The Christmas Market has been a tradition in Leipzig for 600 years.
© Joyce McGreevy

**Winter is Wunderbar at Germany’s Christmas Markets**

It’s an ink-dark December morning as my sister and I board the train in Berlin. Yet our hearts are light, warmed by the promise of discovery. Winter wanderlust leads us to Leipzig’s Weihnachtsmarkt one of Germany’s oldest, biggest, and most beautiful Christmas markets!

Now popular around the world, the European tradition of the December market wasn’t always so charming. In the early Middle Ages, it was merely the last chance to stock up on supplies before hunkering down for a long, miserable winter. Visions of survival, not sugar plums, danced through one’s head in those days. Read more...

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Cultural Heritage & Traditions/Germany/The World's Art & Design/Travels to the Past

Nov

Green Grow the Alleys, O!

by Joyce McGreevy on November 11, 2019

A ruelle verte, or green alley, in Montréal, Canada reflects creative problem-solving that helps the planet. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Creative Problem-Solving, One Alley at a Time

What does the word alley bring to mind? Most likely someplace gray and utilitarian, a narrow passageway behind buildings. Perhaps it evokes unpleasantness, even menace, as in something “you wouldn’t want to encounter in a dark alley.”

But what if alleys reflected creative problem-solving? In a growing number of cities, they do. Presenting the “green alley,” an urban oasis created from what was once a concrete desert. Read more...