I take a deep breathe and launch down a black diamond run at Killington, heart pounding, and I remember how much I love to ski! When a friend first invited me to come to Vermont for New Year's I didn't really consider it. At Christmas when I was in Hawaii she reminded me and I … Continue reading A Year of Travel: How It Changed Me
In my 2019 travels (A Year of Travel FAQ) I learned a lot about logistics. How to pack a suitcase, navigate an airport, find the best flights, accommodations and tours. The best apps for communicating, translating, managing photos and finances. But those things are ephemeral, made redundant by new tools, new software, new regulations. A … Continue reading A Year of Travel: What I Learned about the World
A drink in my hand, I look out over the New York skyline from the One World Observatory, watching as the sun sets and the city lights start to shine. I've been in almost this same place before, on my first trip to New York in the late '80s. I don't remember what I was … Continue reading New York, New York! Then and Now
How many countries? Twelve: Israel, Jordan, Egypt, England, Germany, India, Japan, USA (5 separate entries, 26 states), Iceland, Finland, Russia, Peru. I'm not counting transit countries (Turkey, UAE) or Canada, although I did some traveling in my home country, too. Other Stats? 14,000 kilometres driven in my car, plus quite a few in tour buses … Continue reading A Year of Travel FAQ
When I tried to find the positive in my husband's sudden departure, first on the list was,"I will never have to stay in a condo on a golf course again." Yet here I am. My first blog post was written a year ago in Hawaii, on a holiday where I was supposed to be with … Continue reading Condo on a Golf Course (Reprise)
I wake up and I don't know what to do. It's not just that I have a choice that is difficult, but I honestly, on my first day home, have no idea what I should do. I wander around the apartment and look at the boxes that need unpacking, the suitcase with laundry and papers … Continue reading Home— and It’s Complicated
I step. I breathe. I wonder again why I thought I could do this. I step. I breathe. The Inca Trail is a 4 day, 45 km, high-altitude hike in Peru that ends at Machu Picchu, a UNESCO world heritage site. Google South America and likely the first photo you see will be this iconic … Continue reading Doing it the Hard Way: Machu Picchu from the Inca Trail
Deep in the Amazonian rainforest, beside an ironwood tree, our guide tells us about his ayahuasca experience. In a dark hut with his shaman, after days of fasting, he took the sacred plant concoction. It felt like snakes were coming out of his mouth and nose, he said, as all the bad in his soul … Continue reading Letting Go, Part 2
I presented a possible plan for our stay in Denver, that we should stay at a hotel instead of with the new friends who had offered a room at their house. There was no reply. Nervous, I came up with another suggestion, for a different hotel in a different location. Still no reply from the … Continue reading Opening my Heart Again
Technically, I have been homeless for 7 months. I walked out the door of the house I'd lived in for 18 years in mid-April and will not have an address of residence for another two weeks. In reality, it has been a privileged and voluntary form of homelessness. For 5 months of that period I … Continue reading Homeless
Brave Travels 