There’s a side of Florida that most people – even those of us who live here – never get to see. The state is home to some of the most expansive underwater cave systems in the world. Cave divers, of course, know about these natural wonders and come from all over to try to connect underground routes through these lost tunnels that descend hundreds of feet and often open into stadium-sized rooms far below the surface. There, the lucky few can spot whale fossils and all kinds of other oddities before racing the clock (the air in their tanks)…

Mid-March will be my first time traveling with two passports – my own, and that of my young son, Nico. I am taking my boy on his first flight, and it’s also his first time out of the US. To start his travel life out on an extraordinary note, we are headed to the Arctic, to one of my favorite places in the world: the tiny fishing village of Henningsvær in Norway’s Lofoten Islands.

I’ve been here many times over the past four years, but this time will be special, and not just because my little warm-blooded Cuban-American, Nico,and…

I’m writing from the sailboat’s quiet salon, one of those rare moments when you’re all alone on the boat when you’re actually not all alone on the boat. (more…)

Checking in on night four of our great expedition north, and already that celebratory moment sailing out of Barba’s homeport in Stavanger (and the admittedly stressful preparations leading up to it) feels like ages ago… (more…)

I’ve been in Florida for a few weeks to spend time with family and friends before flying back across the Atlantic to Norway for what’s likely going to be my biggest adventure to date. (more…)

This fall has been full of adventures, but a Norway sailing adventure is always the best kind. (more…)

Over the last few years, I’ve fallen madly for the cold countries.  Places like Norway, Swedish Lapland and Greenland have captured my heart in a way a tropical island no longer can. (more…)

If there is more fun to be had on four legs, then I would like to know about it. (more…)

The French have the word dépaysement for “the feeling that comes from not being in one’s home country,” and I suppose that could be a launching point for what I am feeling right now. Only it’s tied more to people than place. (more…)

I met Andreas a few years back in Bergen, where I had a short stop on a work trip in Norway. He’s a sailor, a marine biologist, a diver and a dreamer. The kind of person who’s not afraid to jump in the water with orcas (only friendly ones, he says, marine biologists can apparently discern these things) or sail his boat among Greenland’s icebergs – all the while making you stretch your ocean dreams a bit further too. (more…)