2023 Travel

This was a hard year. My mom was really sick so most of my travel was to Michigan to take care of my parents. Spending 14 hour days taking care of them was hard on my health until I found my routine of stopping at Whole Foods before going to their apartment. I also found a lovely coffee shop that had a delicious almond matcha latte that gave my the long lasting fuel I needed to be there for my parents.

I was able to squeeze in trips to other places mostly for work including:

  • Berlin

  • Iceland

  • Geneva

  • London

  • Paris

  • Rome

  • Sicily

  • Vatican City

  • Zurich

2023 was the year I finally knocked Italy and Switzerland off my list which thrilled me. (It’s also the year I learned that Vatican City is a country.)

Staying well in London was easy as I go there for work often and I know how to navigate it well. My stomach doesn’t do so well after transatlantic travel so I tend to eat fish for the first couple of days. My favorite place is Som Saa in East London. They have a whole seabass that is divine. It reminds me of the flavors of northern Vietnam which we adored and agreed with our constitution.

Staying well in Paris and Berlin were relatively easy as they’re big cities and I’ve been to both, especially Berlin where I spent a lot of time for work in 2018 and 2019.

Eating well in Reykjavik was easy though it was a bit more difficult when on the southern part of Iceland except for our hotel. We got stuck in a car for four hours during a wind storm with gusts over 100 miles an hours which was a harrowing experience. At some point I’ll write about how I stayed well during and after this stressful event.

Pasta is my kryptonite so staying well in Italy was tricky, especially in Sicily. Luckily I was almost always able to find fresh and delicious mussels and other seafood. I even found kombucha and fresh veggies at the organic grocery store on Sicily which was a real help for my aching tummy.

Switzerland was easy to stay well in. We had the most amazing meal in Zurich that was a lovely respite from the pasta of Sicily. There were great organic groceries, delicious local kombucha and tasty matcha at several places in Geneva.

Despite it being a hard year due to my mom’s health, I was pretty successful at staying well while I traveled and handled BIG life stuff.

The delicious mussels of Rome

The stunning meal in Zurich

Suzan Bond