Marla Sink Druzgal

Rumors reached me earlier this year that the “big, fat, American passport” would be no more. I love reaching for my passport and feeling the heft of extra pages, filled with stamps and VISA stickers, tabbed with post-it flags to

Just after dark I heard the first scream. It was distant, barely there, drifting in through the cottage window, mingling with the sound of wind and ocean. “It’s just the wind.” I said the words out loud to the large,

I’m a literary junkie. Whenever I want to visit a new country, I try to read a lot of books written by authors who are from there, lived there, or traveled the nation extensively. Many travelers prepare for someplace new

It’s strange to pair the usual commercial Christmas characters with a summertime holiday. Polar bears, reindeer, and a jolly old man in a heavy, woolen red suit just doesn’t feel right. We’ve seen our share of Santa Clause as adapted

“It must be nice being an expat wife. I mean, you get to have like a 2-year vacation, huh?” I was surprised and a little more than hurt to hear these words from a South African I’ve gotten to know.

2014 saw its final supermoon of the year. A “supermoon” of course, is when a full moon, or new moon, happens at the same time the moon is closest to earth during its orbit, appearing so large it can seem

“Good luck seeing any whales in November. You know whale season is basically over by then, right?” An acquaintance at a Pretoria coffee shop was quick to douse my excitement when talking about our upcoming trip to Cape Town. It

I’m an American living in South Africa, writing this month’s column to you from France, before flying to Africa again with a layover in Addis Ababa. I love travel, but never expected to live in a foreign country, or make

“What’s bil-har-zia?” my older nephew asks me, enunciating slowly and pronouncing it perfectly. I am walking ahead of him to board the pontoon boat for our trip through the Blyde River Canyon. I stop. Bilharzia? Here? I try not to

“Look out!” I braced against the dashboard with my right hand and held firmly to the passenger door handle with my left as Kurt swerved quickly to the right, briefly crossing the center of the two-lane highway before correcting back