Greece is a hot but beautiful place in August, and today we’re going to tell you what happened to us when we visited.

Before we do, this week’s question: Where’s the must unusual place you’ve gone swimming in your travels? We saw people swimming in the Seine this week. Insane! I remember when I was growing up, no one would go near the Seine because it was so polluted. Now, it’s not (we’ll have more on the Seine and Paris next week.)

Athens was really crowded, but I managed to get a shot of the boys in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Annunciation when everyone was out for lunch. We stayed in the suburbs and took the Metro into town a few times.

The Athens suburbs are not at all like other suburbs. They’re like mini-cities, with plenty of cafes, restaurants, and grocery stores. Note: The grocery stores are all closed on Sunday.

This! Is! Sparta!

(Ok, I just had to say that.) We were in town for a family reunion because that’s where my grandfather emigrated from. This is a statue of Spartan king Leonidas I. You know, the guy from the movie 300.

It was great to see our family and explore Sparta, which had almost no tourists this time of year. Hot tip: If you want to experience authentic Greek culture without all the crowds, this is the place to visit.

Yep, there’s even a beach. We drove over the mountain to Kalamata, which is famous for its olives. This part of Greece is so scenic and the food is delicious. We have an entire section in the podcast dedicated to Greek food. Actually, we can’t stop talking about Greek food. We are still talking about it.

Don’t forget to answer this week’s query: Where’s the strangest place you’ve gone swimming in your travels? As always, we’ll read your comments in our next podcast.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.elliottconfidential.com/subscribe

Hello from Paris. In today’s long-awaited podcast, we’ll tell you about our adventures in eastern Germany.

But first, this week’s question: What’s the buggiest destination you’ve ever visited? We ask because there’s no air conditioning in our apartment, and we opened the windows last night, and … well, you’ll have to see the rest.

Our tour took us from Frankfurt all the way to the Germany’s Baltic coast. We lived in a houseboat. We hiked through the marshland. We saw medieval castles.

We even walked to Poland. The border is only a kilometer or two from where we stayed in Ahlbeck on the island of Usedom. Americans rarely visit these places, so we can’t wait to show them to you!

Here’s our houseboat. I’ve never lived in a houseboat, so this was a real treat. The ripples rock you to sleep at night.

There’s so much more. I hope you’ll tune in to the full podcast. Just scroll up and click the play button.

Don’t forget to answer our question: What’s the buggiest destination you’ve ever visited?

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.elliottconfidential.com/subscribe

Hello from Lenzen, Germany. We’re halfway between Berlin and Hamburg in a small town along the Elbe. Did you miss us?

It’s been weeks since our last podcast, so we have a lot to talk about. But first, our question of the week: Have you ever traveled to a place to do something that you thought you would like, but ended up not liking?

(We have. We’ll tell you about it in the podcast.)

Okinawa is one of our favorite places in Japan, and we’ll tell you why in this podcast. From Blue Zone menus to our favorite burrito place in American Village, we’ll show you what we found. It is also stunningly beautiful and it feels half a world away from the frenetic pace of Tokyo. (Above is a picture of one of the hotels we saw, Hoshino’s Okinawa property.)

Next stop: Seoul, South Korea. It was our second trip and this time we didn’t waste any time getting to know this fascinating city. We found the best bakeries and coffee shops, where they specialize in extra-strong cafe Americanos. Mmmm. Here’s a picture of Aren at Gyeongbokgung, the former royal palace in Seoul. Please don’t make me pronounce that in the podcast.

It’s great to be back in Germany. We’ve been hiking through a lot of forests, paddling through canals, and exploring wetlands on this trip. I can’t wait to tell you more about it. We’ll have a full report on Germany in our next podcast.

In the meantime, I’d love to get your thoughts on this week’s question: Have you ever traveled to a place to do something that you thought you would like, but ended up not liking?

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.elliottconfidential.com/subscribe

Lí hó from Taipei!

It’s been two weeks since our last Elliott Confidential podcast, and we have been on the move. We’ll do a lightning round on hotels, and we also have a hotel-related question of the week: In all of your travels, what’s been your favorite hotel experience?

The Grand Hotel in Taipei. This is a landmark in the Taiwanese capital and well worth a visit just to see the lobby.

Our hotel this weekend: The Kimpton Da-An in Taipei. Close to everything.

We didn’t stay in the presidential suite at the Mandarin Oriental, but we got a tour. Iden looks like he’s right at home, doesn’t he? The MO has a legendary customer service culture.

The Grand Hyatt near Taipei 101, the famous skyscraper. They made us feel really welcome here.

The helipad at the Grand Hyatt with Taipei 101 across the street. Aren was trying to get the shot in a heavy downpour.

The teas in Taiwan are truly incredible. Our favorite is the Alishan Jinxuan Oolong, which tastes like flowers. The high-altitude tea (grown above 2,000 meters) is the best.

Don’t forget this week’s question: What’s your favorite hotel experience? Our answer is in this week’s podcast. We’ll read your responses in our next episode.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.elliottconfidential.com/subscribe

Hello from Hong Kong!

We’ve been exploring this fascinating city and hiking around town for the past few days. We’ve also taken a side trip to Phuket, Thailand, and we’ll share details in this podcast.

But first, this week’s question. Last week, we asked where you’ve felt the healthiest in your travels. This week, we want to know where you’ve felt the most unwell.

This is Tai Kwun, the old Central Police Station in Hong Kong. It’s now a shopping and entertainment complex with a museum.

We had lunch at LockCha Hong Kong, a tea house and restaurant. Yummy dim sum!

Today we went hiking with our friend Gabi from Dragon’s Back to Big Wave Bay, a local beach. It’s not the kind of experience you would expect from Hong Kong — lots of lush vegetation and birds and a white sand beach.

The Anantara Layan Phuket Resort’s new Layan Life medical spa. If you’ve got a problem, they will fix it. I had a bad shoulder and they got it back to almost 100 percent.

Here’s Aren with their physiotherapist, Pat. She showed us a few exercises to keep us in shape while we’re on the road.

Don’t forget to answer this week’s question: Tell us about the most unwell you’ve ever felt in your travels. We’ll read your responses in our next podcast.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.elliottconfidential.com/subscribe

Sabaidi from Luang Prabang, Laos!

We’re coming to you today from Phuket, Thailand, but we just got back from Laos and we have a lot to share with you.

Before we get there, here’s this week’s question: In all of your travels, where have you felt the healthiest? (I’m working on a series of stories about wellness, so I will have more on this topic soon.)

One of the highlights of our visit was the Kuang Si Falls, which are some of the most beautiful waterfalls we’ve ever seen. We’ll have more about the falls in our podcast.

The National Museum in Luang Prabang contains artifacts from the old royal capital. It’s a must-see stop on your tour of the city. Although Laos is a communist country, they’re not preachy about it. People here love tourists and they are extra friendly.

Everyone gets around on mopeds in Luang Prabang. If you want to fit in, all you need to do is rent one. We recommend helmets.

Although Luang Prabang has lots of hostels, but also a few high-end hotels like the Avani. We were lucky enough to stay here a few nights. We’ll have details in the podcast.

Hey, don’t forget to answer this week’s question: In all of your travels, where have you felt the healthiest?

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.elliottconfidential.com/subscribe

Hello from Yokohama, Japan!

We’re in Japan’s second-largest city today at the Westin Yokohama. I’m researching a series of stories on wellness (I’ll have more on that soon). In the meantime, we’re just checking out the place.

Our question of the week: Since it’s Golden Week here in Japan, we thought we’d ask — what’s the one holiday you’d never travel on? (Golden Week is four national holidays rolled into one, so it’s got our vote.)

Yokohama is more spread out than Tokyo. There’s space to walk around. We’ll tell you more in the podcast.

Here’s our room at the Westin Yokohama. Maybe you’ve heard of the Heavenly Bed 2.0. This is the first property in Japan to have all-new Heavenly Beds. I wrote about the Bed Wars many years ago, which were actually started by Westin. We had a chance to try the 2.0 bed, and it was very comfortable.

Ginza is nothing like Yokohama. It’s a frenetic shopping district in Tokyo with crowds of tourists. We stayed at the Yotel Ginza, a hotel for a younger crowd that emphasized efficiency (much like Japan).

Here’s Iden checking into the Yotel. It’s all automated, so you don’t have to talk to anyone if you’d rather not. Iden is a people person, so he also struck up a conversation with the hotel employees. Such a friendly guy!

Don’t forget our question of the week: What’s the one holiday you’d never travel on? We’ll read your comments in the next podcast.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.elliottconfidential.com/subscribe

Hello again from Tokyo! This week we’re going local with trips to a Japanese grocery store, a park with lots of Americans (and one with almost none) and we have more funny signs.

Before I get to that, here’s this week’s question: Since this is a holiday weekend in the U.S., we wanted to know — what’s your favorite holiday to travel?

This is Mejiro, our neighborhood. We live on the 16th floor of a high-rise apartment (here’s a view from our balcony). But behind us there are homes and a much more residential feel. It’s perfect for walking.

Shopping for groceries is an adventure. There’s a three-step checkout process — the cash register, payment and bagging. It’s very efficient, but it takes a little getting used to.

We discovered two vast green spaces in Tokyo, and they couldn’t be any more different. Meiji Park, with its beautiful temples, is where you go to meet other Americans. Yoyogi Park is where all the tomin go to ride their bikes or hike.

We liked them both, but Meiji was a little crowded. (In this photo, Iden and I are marveling at all the tourists in Meiji. Honesty, I felt like I was back in the States.) We’ll have more on the parks and Tokyo’s urban spaces in the podcast.

Don’t forget this week’s question: What’s your favorite holiday to travel? We’ll read your comments in the next podcast.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.elliottconfidential.com/subscribe

Kon'nichiwa from Tokyo.

We’ve been here for more than a week and are adjusting to life in Japan. Early April is the perfect time to be here — the weather is still cool and everything is in bloom.

That brings us to this week’s question: What's the longest vacation you've taken?Where did you go — and was it worth it?

We thought the cherry blossoms would be gone by now, but they aren’t. You can still walk around Tokyo and see the famous sakura. We’ll tell you more about this famous Japanese spring performance in our podcast.

Everything must be kept clean in Tokyo. Sweeping up the cherry blossoms is a full-time job. The moment they’re finished, the sakura resume their fall — it looks like a blizzard — and the process starts all over again.

Tokyo is also famous for its camera stores. Here’s Iden with a lens we would never buy (where would we put it?), but it sure takes terrific pictures. The camera retailers carry all the Japanese brands you know — Sony, Fujifilm, Nikon. And the prices are pretty decent, too.

And then there are the vending machines. You can buy almost anything from them, but most of them carry a variety of cold beverages. Iden’s favorite is a peach soda. We’ll have more on the vending machine scene in the podcast, of course.

Our Tokyo adventure will continue next week.

Don’t forget this week’s question: What's the longest vacation you've taken? We’ll read your comments in our next podcast.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.elliottconfidential.com/subscribe

Surprise! Iden has joined us after almost two years of traveling abroad and starting a gaming channel. We’re so happy to have him back.

Yep, it’s cherry blossom season in Tokyo. You can see them everywhere!

Which brings us to this week’s question: Have you ever visited a place that you keep coming back to? For us, it’s Japan. And New Zealand. And Qatar. And … well, the list goes on.

We love Ramen. This is from one of our favorite places in Shinjuku called Ippudo.

Spring is absolutely spectacular in Tokyo. If you have a chance to come here this time of year, take it! We know it’s special because all the locals were out enjoying the blossoms and taking pictures. (They have the best cameras here.)

We’ll have more on cherry blossoms, a full Iden update and all the news from Tokyo in this podcast.

Don’t forget this week’s question: Have you ever visited a place that you keep coming back to? We’ll read your comments next week.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.elliottconfidential.com/subscribe