Why Flipper Committed Suicide – and What You Can Do for the OthersThis is not a joke. It is the review of a very moving film by Ric O’Barry, the man who trained “Flipper”. Before “The Cove” most people did not know how “Flipper” died. My husband warned me, and I will warn [...]

All I Want for Christmas is a Real Good Tan (And You)
In December of 2003, I was at a crossroads, literally and figuratively. I had been married almost four years. We had been through some good times and some hard things, but we were going through about the hardest thing we’d been through [...]

Making Money While WWOOFing
This is more of an issue for long-term WWOOFers. In most WWOOFing situations, you will have free rent and utitilities, and at least some free food.  Some hosts will even have Internet access, a swimming pool, a vehicle to use, or other extras.  But at most places you’ll just get the [...]

WWOOFing With Kids
The Basics
I get asked all the time if you can WWOOF if you have kids.  The short answer is yes!  Many hosts do allow and even encourage volunteers to bring their children.  But actually doing it can be challenging.
What is WWOOFing, exactly?  Willing Workers On Organic Farms or Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms, [...]

5 Mistakes WWOOFers MakeI’ve heard WWOOFing horror stories from both hosts and volunteers, and I’ve seen some incredibly bad behavior.  Most of these things (as with all things in life) could be avoided if people would just communicate and do their jobs.  Here are a few pointers:
1. Not communicating – if there’s a problem, most [...]

How to WWOOF Long-TermWWOOFing is a great program, but each person’s experience is a little different because WWOOFing is conducted by individuals who make their own decisions about who they want to work with and what they expect in return.  The organization puts farms and volunteers together.  But it doesn’t decide who does what.
There are [...]

The woman didn’t want to take her computer out of the box: “I don’t want smut on my computer!”

Have You Hugged Your Librarian Today?I’ve seen these question asked a number of times, and I decided it’s time to write a blog post about it:
Will Google Books replace libraries?
Will the Kindle or other applications replace books altogether?
I can see the arguments. No paper/trees needed.  No shipping costs, easier to share, instant access [...]

How do I use this toilet? Where’s the peanut butter? And what the heck are they saying about me?A book review of Ni Howdy! by Desi Downey
I think all expats ask these questions in the beginning.  In Belize, I had an outhouse, the worst toilet I’ve ever had. Even European toilets have their [...]

Overlooked Ways to Learn or Practice a Foreign LanguageI’ve always been interested in languages, but in my travels (specifically Belize, France, and Germany) I’ve had to learn some basic Spanish, French, and German to just go to the store and to do the everyday things like take the bus or order a pizza.
I’m not fluent [...]