There are mornings when waking up at 4:30 a.m. feels like punishment.This morning felt like punishment with potential.We were in Luxor, and we had booked a sunrise hot air balloon…
There are places in Egypt where the ancient world feels far away.The Valley of the Kings is not one of them.It feels close.Not close in the comforting way, like an…
After several days of alarms that felt personally hostile, the morning in Aswan began with something gentler.We were still leaving.The bags were still packed.The schedule still existed.But instead of climbing…
There are wakeup times that feel adventurous.There are wakeup times that feel unpleasant.And then there is 3:45 a.m., which feels less like morning and more like a clerical error.Our alarms…
There is something disorienting about waking up on a sleeper train and realizing the day has already started without asking your permission.We were on our way to Aswan after a…
There are mornings when a 6:15 a.m. alarm feels like a suggestion.This was not one of those mornings.This was Cairo. This was pyramid day. This was our only real chance…
There are certain moments when you look at your elderly mother, look at the side of a hot air balloon basket, and think, “This may be where the adventure gets…
There is a point in every long family trip when clean laundry becomes more exciting than historic monuments.I am not proud of this.But I am honest.By the time we reached…
There are some places that feel ancient.There are some places that feel cinematic.And then there is Ait Ben Haddou, which somehow manages to look like both an archaeological site and…
There are few things that will get me out of bed early on vacation.A flight, unfortunately.A buffet breakfast with good pastries, possibly.A sunrise over the Sahara Desert, absolutely.After our cloudy,…