Holy Holy Land over the Holidays! I have had a recent string of travels that didn’t quite turn out as planned. The Arctic, India, Peru and the Azores—all were great runs but were aborted or shortened due to a variety of reasons, including a urinary tract infection in the Azores, how embarrassing. For an aging travel junkie, […]
Photo above of Wayne and Trish at Sete Cidades on Sao Miguel Island – ABSOLUTELY STUNNING! Surrounded by the Atlantic, the Azores are a cluster of nine small, hauntingly beautiful islands far off the coast of Portugal A Bit of Heaven and Hell “The Azores are a heady mix that can overwhelm the senses. Birds, […]
Having just finished the school year and officially launched my novel, Finding the Way: A Novel of Lao Tzu, I desperately needed an escape and digital detox. For ten months I micro-planned and dreamed of solitude high in the Andes. This would be my Eat, Play, Trek. However, this seclusion would be compromised with an […]
“Lock your door and don’t get out of the car,” mother said when I told her I was heading to the United States? “Remember to duck,” was another response, this from a nephew starved to travel but already holding his nose when it came to the U.S. Such is the current reputation of the U.S. […]
Be forewarned, this here lies the last, latest and longest post, covering all my India…. It’s a well worn cliche that people go to India to find themselves. I’d be happy to just find my ass, having been kicked around so much. India throws everything at you and takes no prisoners. You either love it […]
Mandalay and area U Bein Bridge, Mandalay Longest teak bridge in the world….as if the world was filled with teak bridges Stuck in the dustbowl town ( they all are) of Moanywa, I scraped bottom. In retrospect going from Japan to Myanmar, and glued to your wingman 24/7 to solo was a leap I didn’t […]
It’s hard not to think of the Netherlands without associating it with cycling. 31% of the Dutch cycle daily. 70% of all travel is done on 2 wheels. Bike safety is taught as part of school curriculum. In some schools, 90% of children cycle. They spend $600 million a year on their network of […]
You know how tourists come to North America and go crazy over squirrels? Well Icelanders must chuckle as we marvel over the hundreds of waterfalls (foss) surrounding us. It’s gottten so common that Trish and I have becomes foss snobs. Quietude and crowd-free are a must, and of course size doesnt matter. I say that […]
After the savoury sights, sounds and craziness of the past four or five months, I may have come to the Antarctic with the least expectations of anybody on this expedition cruise. It’s hard to top the splash of a saffron robed monk collecting alms at six in the morning in Luang Prabang, or scaling the […]
This final leg of this travel is the most bizarre. Bizarre in that we’ve gone from the heat of Asia to the heat of Buenos Aires, on the way to the Antartic. Bizarre in that people look at me like I’m a money-bag when I tell them where I’m going. And bizarre to be going […]