As a child, I had a very mild case of polio. While I never had any trouble breathing, I did have trouble walking for a few weeks, but after a week or so in the hospital and a few weeks of being carried around by my father, I regained my ability to walk and all seemed well. 

Fifty years later, I was astounded to have to deal with post-polio syndrome. I can still walk but only for 15 to 20 feet before I become short of breath, and I have to walk very carefully, since I fall much...

Valencia is the third-largest city in Spain; it’s a 2½-hour train ride from Madrid and one hour south of Barcelona, yet it gets little mention in guidebooks about the country. The city features a long, wide and not overdeveloped beach, spectacular modern architecture, a charming large center with many pedestrian-only streets, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an amazing festival called Las Fallas. In fact, it was a chance viewing of a video clip about Las Fallas that lured my...

Could a 14-year-old girl find happiness taking Spanish lessons in Guatemala with her 75-year-old grandparents? We hoped so! 

Making plans

Our granddaughter, PJ, was graduating from middle school, and my wife, Rosie, and I realized that, given her increasingly busy schedule, we had better offer her a trip sooner rather than later. So for the summer of 2014, we gave her a choice of trips: to Williamsburg, Virginia, to see American colonial life or to Antigua, Guatemala,...