We are Michael Hodgson and Therese Iknoian, the husband-and-wife team behind the HI Travel Tales curtain – and, yes, despite travel’s occasional travails, we remain happily married and always look forward to the next trip together. We are veteran journalists, photographers and award-winning writers. We have taken our lifetimes of globetrotting, leveraged our journalists’ chops and innate people skills, and added a dash of humor and playfulness.
We offer our readers insider looks at uncommon places, plus insights into the more well-traveled. We find adventures to share everywhere, from mountain trails and remote islands to urban neighborhoods or small villages. Our personal stories paired with concrete advice, outstanding photography and compelling videos blend to create a travel blog that brings readers back again and again.
We love sharing stories from other travelers, too, and have a growing slate of wonderful contributors. We are also surrogate parents to a rather large and still growing family of stuffed animals who all have names and invariably fight over who gets to go on the next trip (Michael sometimes insists two go, hiding one in Therese’s carry-on.)
We are travelers. Always have been. We engage. We explore. We immerse ourselves everywhere we go. We are both uber-curious and enthusiastic about sharing our experiences. Here are a few of our latest travel adventures.
We know dinner shows are all the rage, but who needs dinner AND a show when dinner IS the show. At The Kitchen in Sacramento, Calif., the chefs, servers, wine and ingredients all work together to put on a culinary performance that will keep you coming back, time and again – we promise.
It was a cool, windy, November day when we scrambled across a narrow isthmus at low tide to visit the Battery Point Lighthouse in Crescent City, Calif. Our first view of the lighthouse came the day before, illuminated by a stunning sunset.
The Stasi Museum Leipzig is where the Stasi had its headquarters in one of former East Germany’s important industrial cities.
After being open just a year, the Urban Nation Berlin street art museum re-opened with a reinvention that truly speaks to its roots. A new exhibit, redesigned interior with an authentic street feel, and a number of artists residences make this museum in Berlin a must to visit for art lovers of all kinds.
When you are in Carmel on the Monterey Peninsula of California, don’t forget to seek out inland trails to find the best hike in Carmel. Palo Corona Regional Park.
Many hundreds died in the Hohenschönhausen Stasi memorial prison in Berlin during its operation, with several hundred thousand spending time there as prisoners over its 40+ years. You can only visit with a guide, many of whom were former prisoners.
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