• Colorful float with many riders

    Pride, Jazz, and Art in the Big Easy

    Looking back, it’s hard to believe that a person could do SO MUCH in just one day. You may remember that it started off with a tour of St. Louis Cemetery, the home of the Voodoo Queen and the future home of actor, Nicholas Cage. We ended the day walking two miles back to our hotel sometime just after 3am. In between, we experienced pride, jazz, and art in the Big Easy! Join us as we unpack one helluva day in New Orleans. Trolley Ride and Lunch Though it was barely 11, the temperature was hovering right around 10,000,000 degrees. Thankfully, the street car had air conditioning and we were…

  • Weimaraner and Stephen. Contact us for house and pet sitting.

    Have the Travel Oracle watch your home and furry friends

    We get it! It’s hard to hit the road when you’re worried about things back home. Did you know that we are more than just adventurers and travel writers? You can actually have the Travel Oracle watch your home and furry friends! We have two great ways for you to learn more. 1. Check out “Trusted House Sitters“ Don’t just take our word for it. Find us on Trusted House Sitters where sitters are fully vetted before they can be added to their site. Really, like an actual vet came to our home and gave us shots and a de-wormer. (Kidding, of course.) Members have to be bonded and have…

  • Picture of actor Nicholas Cage, holding a goblet of red wine. He's wearing all back clothing, red sun glasses and red beads.

    Visiting the Voodoo Queen and Nick Cage in the Big Easy

    Ah, New Orleans: The great melting pot of the South. Years ahead of the rest of the country, people from all different backgrounds came together to make one community. Nowhere is that more apparent than the day we went visiting the Voodoo Queen and Nick Cage in the Big Easy! If you’re a taphophile, like me, or someone who just likes to share an adventure, get comfy, grab a beverage and join us for some fun stories while walk among the tombstones. First thing you should know…you have to go with a tour Thanks to the abuse the cemeteries have endured over the years, the arch-diocese of New Orleans no…

  • Yellow two story building with a balconly

    Chasing Ghosts (among other things) in the Big Easy

    I don’t know about you but sometimes I feel like life can be…a lot. You feel me? And last month was extra much. Though I tried to compartmentalize and take things as they came, Stephen could see I was carrying a lot of stress on my shoulders. Knowing me like he does, he planned a curated weekend around all the things I love…history, ghost stories, folk lore, live music, great food, art, and alcohol. If that sounds like fun to you too…join us as we unpack our first day in New Orleans and go chasing ghosts (among other things) in the Big Easy. First, let’s talk about where we stayed…

  • Man in a Boston Scally cap and a woman seated in Delta One pods

    The 5 things you need before your next adventure

    Whether you’ve been planning for months or just decided on a last minute road trip, what you bring with you has the ability to make or break your vacation. If you’re anything like me, not packing the perfect suitcase equals a trip to the local Walmart. (And depending on where you are…”local” can be an hour drive!!) Though we cannot predict the weather, we do have a list of the 5 things you need before your next adventure. 1. Get you some packing cubes I’m sure you’ve read this in many a travel article but let me say, this sh&t WORKS! Think of them as a dresser in your suitcase…

  • Woman standing in a red telephone booth

    London – the Rest of the Story

    Though we were in London for the marathon, we did make time to see a few fun sites about town before we had to skip back across the pond. Of course, we did manage the secret bar crawl in the evenings during the week, but we took advantage of THE WHOLE day Saturday and we want to share the highlights with you. So grab a cup of your favorite beverage and join us for a look at London – the Rest of the Story. First…Finally saw Ben in ALL his glory So this wasn’t our first time in London. In fact, this was third time I attempted to see Big…

  • Woman standing in the middle of the little stone monk statues. She is hunched down, smiling and holding an umbrella

    A Rainy Walk in the Kimono and Bamboo Forests

    Kyoto, Miyajima and Hiroshima were some of THE MOST picturesque places we’d ever seen. But the universe was like, “Hold my beer”. Wait until you see the day we went on a rainy walk in the Kimono and Bamboo Forests. Oh and these two places weren’t even the best part. We spent the afternoon with probably a thousand stone mini-monks. Grab a cup of cozy and join us for the last leg of our Kyoto adventure. The Glorious Beginning Like every morning, the breakfast provided by our hotel, the Sotetsu Fresa Inn, was OUTSTANDING. I didn’t know how I would feel about salad and fish for the first meal of…

  • The Road to the Tokyo Marathon

    After our 14+ hour flight via Delta One, we arrived in Japan. One of us was well rested. The other was just too excited to sleep. After all, we had weeks of temples, shrines, pagodas, pandas and snow monkeys ahead of us. After our driver took a wrong turn, taking us a half hour out of our way and getting a ticket. We finally unpacked our bags to begin our adventure on the road to the Tokyo Marathon. Day 1 – The EARLY Morning We arrived at the Sotetsu Fresa Inn around 10pm local time and were glad to drop our bags in our little room. At first, it felt…

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    So you found our site. Maybe through Facebook. Maybe it was on Instagram. Perhaps you saw a Pin on Pinterest. Or maybe we twitted. Twittered? Anyway, you may be asking yourself, “why should I subscribe to the Travel Oracle?” Here are some GREAT reasons to join us on our journey. You’ll get our latest articles right to your in-box That’s right! You won’t need to hunt for us or wonder what we’re up to. Every week we will send you the absolute latest right to your email in-box. Our subscribers get exclusive content We scour the internet for related articles we think you’ll really enjoy and we occasionally write “secret…

  • Whale tail coming out of the water

    TBT: The Most Amazing Sound We Ever Heard

    “Living in interesting times” has been reported to be an ancient Chinese curse. Navigating our way through the Covid pandemic, things sure did get interesting. People who love to run races dealt with cancellations, medical testing, socially distanced running and lots of rescheduling. Here’s a look at an incredible experience resulting from the Boston Marathon being rescheduled for the day after the Chicago Marathon. This was the day we went storm chasing in Gloucester and experience the most amazing sound we ever heard. What Came Before Since “the before” is a whole story in itself, let me briefly sketch what the weekend looked like for us: And Then…Vacation! By some…