“Mind your thoughts for they become your words; mind your words for they become your actions; mind your actions for they become your habits; mind your habits for they become your character; mind your character for it becomes your destiny.” This quote, a variation of one first attributed to English writer Charles Reade, has been […]

It’s Valentine’s – that made up holiday in which the western world celebrates the martyrdom of Valentinius.  The funny thing about it is that no one seems to remember why.  In fact, other than the fact he was killed on February 14th, no one seems to know anything about him.  Oh, sure, there are lots […]

WIN A $100 iTUNES GIFT CARD Toland Travels is giving away a $100 iTunes gift card to one lucky winner to celebrate the release of Toland Travels Postcards.  It’s easy to win! Download the “Toland Travels Postcards” app from the iTunes Store. Use “Toland Travels Postcards” and create your very own digital postcard. Photos used […]

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful city built upon the water.  Instead of streets this city had canals, and in the middle of this floating city there was a large, open square.  The city was called Venice, and the square was San Marco’s Piazza.  Just a block away from San Marco, there was […]

I’m “Southern,” so there are certain realities about myself that I have come to accept.  I sometimes drop the “g” from the ends of words.  I’m never “about to” do something, but rather, I’m “fixin’ to,” and yes, I enjoy the occasional fried food.  However, one of the things that I think most defines southern […]

This is the third in a series of stories about my trip to Russia shortly after the fall of the Iron Curtain in the 1990s.  The first two entries can be found here and here. As part of my month long, teenage journey to the very “new” Russia, it was deemed that each person in […]

If you haven’t watched the international news this week, or kept up with events coming out of China over the last year, you might not be aware of the path of politician and businessman, Bo Xilai.  Bo is on trial for extensive corruption as both a local and a national politician.  Despite only claiming to […]

I’ve been to a lot of museums.  I’ve been to art museums, car museums, natural history museums, and even a couple of sex museums.  This weekend, though, I ended up in one of the strangest museums I have ever experienced. My friend Ben and I traveled to Warm Springs, Georgia.  As history teachers, our goal […]

I was traveling this weekend, and I made the mistake of booking my flight on Spirit Airlines.  The only thing I can tell you is never, ever, use this airline.  It was by far, the worst experience I’ve ever had. I was looking a for cheap flight that could get me to South Florida, and […]

I was recently asked about my experiences flying, and if I had any horror stories.  I’ve been on a lot of planes over the years, and all of them have been great. All of them, that is, except for one.  I had the honor/horror of flying on Aeroflot, the Russian National Airline nine months after […]