Travel

My husband and I settled in for a 12-hour flight to Thailand, eager to leave behind winter in Germany. The plane soared above cloudy Frankfurt, and I saw the sun for the first time in months. As the plane engines hummed, I grew drowsy but never drifted off to sleep.

Ready for a great spot to kick-back year-round, a place you can pretty much digest in about a week?  Then head over to Vientiane, population 750,000 and capital of Laos, erstwhile colony of France, at least till 1949.  (You can still sense a hint of prior French occupation in the architectural styles aligning the spacious downtown boulevards.)

When most people think about a paradise vacation they think about sun, surf, and sand. After living on Guam for two years in a tropical paradise, my husband and I wanted a winter escape. In December 2014, we decided to get away to the winter wonderland of Tokyo, Japan.

HYOGOby Erika Clark

A photo exhibition titled “Nature Therapy” featuring pictures of underwater creatures and hermit crabs living in their adopted homes of beach trash, can be viewed at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology through Feb. 29. The free exhibition is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day at the corridor of the Level C, Center Building.

Your definition of paradise might be a week-long vacation in a luxurious hotel on the beach, five star amenities and pampering service. Mine is not. Mine has no hot water. Mine has no reliable Wi-Fi. My idea of paradise is Koh Rong, Cambodia.