More from the World
Come with us on a Costa Rican vacation without the hassle
Life is too short to let travel planning decisions keep you from exploring the world with amazing people. If you’re ready for a hassle-free trip, we’d love to have you join us on a Costa Rican vacation in May 2025. Postcard Jar is a reader-supported blog and we have...
Ready to embark on our longest trip yet
We're excited to announce that we're (cautiously) looking forward to our longest trip yet. Starting in November (acknowledging world events may change our plans) we're traveling from Dubai to Australia and New Zealand aboard the Celebrity Edge cruise ship. We’ll be...
Escape to Italy with us this week
Ciao! Are you ready to escape to Italy with us (virtually, of course)? It's Italy Week at Postcard Jar! We hope you'll join us on our social media channels as we all learn more about what makes Italy such a special travel destination. While this may not be the right...
Cartizze Hill: Tip 5 for your visit to Prosecco Road
At over $1 million per hectare (2.47 acres), Cartizze Hill in Valdobbiadene is some of Europe's most expensive agricultural land. It offers the perfect combination of soil, acidity, sunlight, and water for Prosecco's Glera grape to thrive. Plots of land on this hill...
Tips for your visit to Prosecco Road: #4 Savor the food
When we were in Italy this summer tasting the bubbly wines along Prosecco Road, it was easy to be laser focused on the next wine tasting. However, to go to the Prosecco region and only concentrate on the wine would be a shame. That's because Valdobbiadene had some of...
Tips for your visit to Prosecco Road #3 – Get to know your wine
A slow journey along the Prosecco Road allows you really get to know the wine you are drinking in a way not found in other parts of Italy. Because it doesn't have the masses of tourists found elsewhere in the country, visitors to the Prosecco region can really immerse...
Tips for your visit to Prosecco Road – #2 Stay at an Italian agriturismo
If you're wondering what an Italian agriturismo is, don't worry. You're in good company. I had no idea they even existed before our trip to Italy this summer. In fact, it wasn't until I stayed in one that I gained a good understanding of what they are and how they can...
Tips for your visit to Prosecco Road – #1 Hire a driver and local guide
If you like Prosecco wine, you'll love a trip down the Prosecco Road near Valdobbiadene, Italy. I promise you will. Our visit there this summer was one of our favorite and most memorable stops on our tour through Italy. We've wrestled for weeks about how to write...
A unique wine tasting in the woods and our stay near Montepulciano, Italy
When we went wine tasting in Tuscany (can I just interject that I've dreamt about saying those words for quite some time) I had no idea what to expect from our visit to the town of Montepulciano, other than we would likely be tasting Vino Nobile, the typical wine of...
Five tips for wine tasting in Tuscany
I’ve done wine tastings before. You pull into a winery, hear all about their wonderful product while sampling a flight of four to five wines poured out in small, two-sip portions 10 seconds apart, decide whether to buy, and then head out the door. So, when we set out...
Our incredible private tour and cooking class in Chianti with Italy Unfiltered
After spending a day on our own exploring beautiful Siena, Italy, our hosts Deb of Italy Unfiltered and her husband Massi the Driver picked us up at our hotel and we began our complimentary tour of Italian food, wine, and culture in the Chianti Region. As we got in...
How I fell into a Tuscan food coma – Part 2
This is Part 2 about our complimentary delicious Tuscan food tour with American, Deb, of Italy Unfiltered, and her Italian husband, Massi the Driver. To read Part 1, click HERE. Time to walk off some of that delicious Tuscan food We left the bakery, simultaneously...
How I fell into a Tuscan food coma – Part 1
I intended to write this post about our incredible first day with hosts Deb and Massi yesterday, but I accidentally slipped into a Tuscan food coma. In all fairness, it isn't my fault. I mean, they took us on a foodie tour of Siena, and it was a grueling delicious...
Our first day in Rome, Italy, was quite an adventure. But who cares? We had wine.
Caio from Rome, Italy! We made it and Rome and intentionally did not pre-plan much of our first day in Italy. We tried that a couple of years ago but a mechanical issue caused our flight out of Omaha to be canceled and we lost money on pre-purchased tickets for a...
We’ve been invited to tour Italy with Deb and Massi the Driver and we can’t wait!
Yes, we've been invited to tour Italy with Deb and Massi. She's from upstate New York, backpacked through Australia and New Zealand, and worked in Silicon Valley and in Texas. He's small town boy who grew up on a Tuscan hunting estate and winery and took a job in a...
Our swim in Cenote Ik Kil in Mexico
I had no idea what a cenote was before our cruise to Mexico. In fact, I don't even think I'd ever even heard the word. But I signed up to swim in one, anyway, because travel is about adventure, right? After leaving Chichén Itzá, we made a short drive over to Cenote Ik...
Our first wonder of the world: Chichén Itzá
It may surprise you that despite spending most of my career as a public school administrator, I was actually an anthropology major in college. Yes, that's right, I majored in anthropology and am not ashamed to admit that I'm an archaeology geek. I loved the semesters...
Following our hearts to St. Kitts
Two years ago, I had never even heard of St. Kitts. Then, in August 2015, two incredible young men from this small island in the Caribbean stepped into our lives and into our hearts. We met Michael and Josiah their first week in Crete when they came to our church one...
Plane spotting at Maho Beach in St. Maarten
I've always loved airplanes and flying, so I was really looking forward to our stop at Maho Beach in St. Maarten. Situated at the end of the runway of St. Maarten's Airport sits Maho Beach, a wonderful spot to take in some rays and bob in the waters of the Caribbean...
Cruising the Caribbean: St. Lucia
I have been to tropical places. I've admired the lush forests and gazed at the blue waters. But nothing could have prepared me for the for sights and sounds above the treetops in St. Lucia. The second port of call on our Caribbean Christmas cruise was this incredible...
Cruising the Caribbean: Barbados
The first stop on our Caribbean cruise on the Celebrity Summit was the island nation of Barbados. Twenty one miles long by 14 miles wide, Barbados is home to nearly 300,000 people if there are not ships in town. Our ship was one of about five docked there that day,...
Celebrating Christmas at sea
Christmas has always been a really important time for me. I love preparing for and celebrating the birth of my Savior, giving and receiving gifts, singing Christmas carols, and spending time with family and friends. So, it was't easy for me to agree to taking a family...
A peek at this year’s new ornaments
For the past several years, we've decorated what we like to call our Christmas travel tree. [We wrote a blog post all about it that you can read HERE.] We had lots of help decorating for Christmas this year. Our daughter, Meghan, was home and we invited a couple local...
A postcard from Turkey
Some friends of ours, Paul and Micaela, sent us this postcard from Istanbul! Paul is a teacher in the same district where I work as a principal. Micaela is an athletic trainer at a local college and has worked some with Ann on weight training. We've enjoyed getting to...
5 interesting facts about Stonehenge
We arrived in London, England, as scheduled and had a lovely drive (thanks Chirton Grange) through the countryside to our first stop -- Stonehenge. It was amazing to see this ancient phenomena in person and learn even more about its history and mystique. We spent...
Postcard from Africa and the Watoto Children’s Choir
Six years ago this week, a 7-month old baby boy was abandoned at a hospital in Mbarara in western Uganda, Africa. He was malnourished and weighed just 7.6 pounds, a size typical for most newborns in America. His then teenage mother was unable to care for him and he...
A postcard from James in Kuwait
A former student of mine, James Donaldson, sent this postcard from Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. I first knew James when I taught Spanish in Greenville, Mississippi, right after college. He, and his now wife, Kira, played on the high school soccer team I coached there. I...
A postcard from Argentina
Six years ago, we had the privilege of meeting a delightful young lady from Germany who was living with a family we know in our hometown of Crete, Nebraska. She was here to study at the high school as a foreign exchange student. At the time, she was in school with our...
The Joy of Sidewalk Cafes
I have always loved travel. As a Spanish teacher, I thought it important to share my love of travel with my students. So, together with a German teacher colleague from across the hall who shared that belief, we planned a European tour for our students. It was hugely...
Exploring Ancient Roman Ruins
When we stepped out of the car along a roadside overlooking the Roman Forum and ruins, I could hardly believe my eyes. I'd seen pictures of these places in history books, and watched movies like Gladiator that showed these scenes, but nothing quite compared to the...
Postmark: China
It wasn't easy to go back to school today after a two-week winter break (I'm a middle school principal), but as I've said before, I'm blessed to get to work with some special teachers in my job. One of our teachers, Mary, has spent a month of each of her past two...
Thanks, Paul and Connor!
Last summer, my brother and nephew took a father/son trip to Italy and did lots of sightseeing, exploring, and even took an Italian cooking class. While their schedules were busy, we really appreciated them taking time out to find postcards to send to us, even when it...
A postcard from the Vatican
As you may already know, whenever we travel, we look for opportunities to purchase postcards and mail them home to our "postcard jar" [read more about that here]. We started doing this several years ago as a way to easily document our travels, remind us where we'd...
St. Peter’s Basilica
I'd looked forward to this day since we'd booked our European vacation. I'd been to Rome twenty years ago, so had been to the Vatican, but Ann had not. I'd told her that St. Peter's was something we could not miss on our visit to the Eternal City. I'd been counting...
Roaming Rome
The first stop on our European adventure was Rome. Since we were arriving mid-morning after a 10-hour flight, and because we weren't sure how Ann would be feeling due to her illness, we pre-booked a private car tour to give us an overview of the city until we were...
A memorable European vacation
Last fall, our college-aged daughter, Meghan, shared with us that she was interested in doing a summer study abroad in Spain. Since she is a Spanish major (as was Steve), we thought this was a great opportunity and encouraged her to apply. Once she was accepted and...
Thanks, Cody and Mikayla!
One of my former students and his wife sent us a postcard with an aerial view of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. It was our first postcard from outside of the United States! Cody and Mikayla have recently been enjoying time in Europe. They've traveled to...
Inspiring the next step on your journey