Category: Travel
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A Country Mile
Oh, the places you will go … and the places I have been … country counting … and why I travel …
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Proud Mary
Conclude two-months of travel in United Kingdom and Ireland. Travel south from Scotland to England, and return to the United States on board Queen Mary 2.
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UK & Ireland
Grab your rain jacket and umbrella … travel to Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland … train, bus, and ferry … oh my!
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BeNeLux
Pencils down … time’s up … conclude 90-days inside the Schengen area … Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, before onward travel to the United Kingdom.
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Baltic Avenue
July travel … more ferries (fairies) … to Sweden and Finland … and onward to the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
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Svalbard
New York City to Iceland … and more boats … to Denmark via the Faroe Islands … to Sweden … and onward to Svalbard … 400-miles from the North Pole.
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Gulf between Us
Travel north, along Gulf of Mexico, and return to the United States; visit friends in Texas, and cancel a trip to Virginia.
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Rabies … or not
Finally, north of the equator; travel highlands of Ecuador and Columbia. It is wet season, dodge raindrops, but, not able to dodge a dog bite.
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Galápagos Islands
Traverse the length of Chile, transit Peru (wet season), and onward to Ecuador and Galapagos Islands.
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Rapa Nui
Arrive at southern tip of mainland Chile, via three-day ferry through Patagonia. Travel north to Santiago by bus, and onward to Easter Island.
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Variations on a Theme
How might I organize a collection of essays in ten years hence after traveling to 180 of 200 countries.
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Lost in Translation
Join me for two months in Japan, appreciate high-speed train service from Hokkaido (north) to Okinawa (south), and every place in between.
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Whirled Travel
Second month in Australia; travel south along Queensland and the great barrier reef; Cairns, Townsville, Brisbane, Sydney, and Canberra.
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Down Under
Two months in Australia; Indian Pacific Train | camper van to Uluru and Alice Springs | motorcycle tour of Tasmania |
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Aotearoa
Kia Ora! One month in New Zealand; north island campervan tour, south island motorcycle tour, and a few trains.
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Promised Land
Wrote about Israel and Palestine during the past year, leading up to, and following my travels; this post consolidates the essays in one location.
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Full Circle
Return full circle to London, where the journey began six-months ago; overland travel from Morocco, Spain, France, to England.
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North Africa
North Africa “desert fox” campaign: Egypt (Sinai, Cairo, Aswan, Nile River, Luxor, Siwa, Alexandria), Tunisia (Tunis, Gabes, Sfax, Monastir, Sousse, Kairouan, El Jem, Mahdia, Bizerte), Morocco (Casablanca, Marrakesh, Rabat, Fez, Tangier).
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Arabian Nights
Visit the Arab states of the Persian Gulf: Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia.
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Middle East
Welcome to the levant: Beirut Lebanon, Jordan (Amman, Petra, Wadi Rum), Israel (Jerusalem, Tel Aviv), Palestine (Hebron).
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Türkei
Explore western and central Turkey: Pamukkale, Ephesus, Gallipoli, Istanbul, Ankara, Safranbolu, Konya, Cappadocia, Mersin, and Adana.
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Greece
Travel overland from London to Athens, and onward to Cyprus, Mykonos, Santorini, Crete, and Rhodes.
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Texas
Introduction: Of all the places where I have lived and worked, enjoy Texas. Houston is a cultural melting pot, and a wonderful “foodie” city. State has a wealth of geographic diversity, and have enjoyed its national and state parks. Its citizens are friendly, and with no state income tax, an affordable place to live. I…
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Mexico
Introduction: Lived four years in Canada, one year in Japan. Third most-traveled country is Mexico, at six months. It’s civil, temperate winter weather, affordable, and available professional services. Yucatan Peninsula: WED 01/25: water taxi from Caye Caulker Belize to Chetumal Mexico, arriving at sunset; much easier to coordinate than trying to cross the land border.…
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Central America
Introduction: There is nothing quite like foreign travel to shatter the illusion of control. Not just control, but also the illusion of knowing, or more appropriately, un-knowing; un-familiar, un-comfortable. The folly of certainty. World travel shatters my false assumptions and behavior patterns; shatters the many ways that I’ve been deceiving myself for years too long.…
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Travel | 2023
Introduction: Planning to travel nine months next year, in 2023. Three months during the winter, and six months during the summer. Winter: Fly to Panama at the end of December, visit Central America, travel along the Pan-American Highway via first-class bus. Airfare expensive; used frequent flier miles on United Airlines. January, anticipate passing through Panama,…
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Atlantic Province
Lived in Ottawa Canada from 2007 – 2011; should have visited Canada’s Atlantic and maritime provinces, but wanted to travel to more “exotic” shores. My intention was to visit the provinces in 2020, but Canada border was closed to tourism for nearly two years. Better late than never, grateful to have visited this beautiful part…
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Trans-Labrador Highway
Monday (August 22nd) woke up early, departed Connecticut 4:00am. Drove Interstate-95 to Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Parked the car, and took the shuttle bus to the ferry terminal. The ferry ride was brief, and arrived on Martha’s Vineyard by 8:00am. Sky was overcast with scattered showers, the air was humid. Local bus from Vineyard Haven to…
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Trans-Canada Highway
Monday (August 1st), drove seven hours, 375-miles along Highway 16, from Dawson Creek, British Columbia to Edmonton, Alberta; heavy morning fog, due to overnight thunderstorms. Edmonton is the provincial capital, population of 1-million; economy is driven by oil and gas. Arrived in the city center before mid-day, laptop work at local Starbucks; local library was…
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Aleutian Islands
Monday (July 18th), six-mile trail run along Chester Creek Trail in Anchorage, followed by laptop work at local Starbucks. After a break in the rain, hiked Flat Top Mountain (4-miles round-trip, 2000-feet elevation gain), outside the city, and one of the most frequently climbed mountains in Alaska, which provides views of Anchorage and Cook Inlet.…
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Wrangell – St. Elias
Saturday (July 2nd), departed Denali National Park, drove southeast, along Parks Highway and Glenn Highway, towards Glennallen and Copper Center. Enjoyed seeing Denali at sunrise, for the first time, given the prevalence of wildfire smoke. Visited Matanuska Glacier, en route, before stopping at the National Park Visitor Center. Was going to car camp in the…
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Prudhoe Bay
Fairbanks: Departed the ferry at Haines Alaska; drove north to Haines Junction, Yukon Territory, Canada. If you blinked your eyes, you could drive through Haines Junction, and miss the town. Planned to stay two days in Haines Junction, allowing a buffer if the ferry was delayed. On Sunday (June 19th), was planning to trail run…
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Glaciers
Part I: Mountains Glacier National Park Visited west side of Glacier National Park on Monday (June 6th); hiked several trails, about eight miles. There were scattered showers, my feet were wet, but my body stayed mostly dry. As the park ranger explained to me at the gate, “there is no such thing as a bad…
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Evil Clowns
Part I: desert Cloudcroft NM Enjoyed visiting Cloudcroft NM, and staying at Cloudcroft Hostel. Owners did a nice job remodeling a derelict building; there are before and after photos on its website. Owners live on-site, upstairs; they don’t have any employees, similar to the Triple Crown Hostel in Silver City NM, where I visited last…
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HTX
Part I: travel Woke up Monday May 9th at 4:00am, out of the house by 4:15am; first light by 5:00am. Dry day, temperate, good day for driving. Drove south on Interstate-95, crossed George Washington Bridge, towards Easton PA, connecting to Interstate-81. Typically fill-up at truck stops (ie. Loves, Flying J, Pilot, etc.), average fuel cost…
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Travel: Summer 2022
Part I: background Returned to United States from Mexico at the end of April; visited family and friends in Connecticut for two weeks. Went running with my brother; got new tires for the car; received second COVID booster. Head to Houston in mid-May to renew auto registration. Part II: driving west Drive to Houston is…
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Ciudad de Mexico
Tepoztlán Morelos: On Sunday, took the subway (blue line | linea 2) from Hidalgo station at 7:00am, when it opened, to its terminus at Tasquena. Once the subway clears centro, most of the line is above ground. The southern bus terminal is located at its terminus, which takes passengers to destinations south of Mexico City.…
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San Miguel de Allende
San Miguel de Allende: San Miguel is a small colonial town, located in eastern Guanajuato state, in the Bajio mountains, and is named after friar Juan de San Miguel, a martyr for Mexican Independence, and Ignacio Allende. City was named UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) world heritage site in 2008. Economy is…
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Guanajuato
San Luis Potosi: Walked to Zacatecas bus station before dawn; cold-front passing through, 40-degrees overnight; hands are cold; eyes are watering. High will only be 60-degrees, likely the coldest day in Mexico to date. El Cerro de la Bufa, the valley summit, is illuminated by the colors of the Mexican flag (white, red, green). Took…
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Zacatecas
Aguascalientes: Aguascalientes is the capital of Aguascalientes state, with a population of more than 1.2-million; city is a business hub, and includes a large, joint-venture Nissan automotive plant. Passed through the city for two nights, to break-up the bus trip from Guadalajara to Zacatecas. Woke-up before sunrise in Guadalajara; took light rail from centro to…
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Guadalajara
Guadalajara: Guadalajara is the second largest city in Mexico, with 1.4-million people, capital of Jalisco state, and is 350-miles west of Mexico City. City has a light rail system, constructed in 1989, with three lines connecting 50 stations; construction of fourth line began last year; daily ridership 250,000 people. City is at 5,000 feet elevation;…
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Morelia
Morelia: Morelia is 200-miles west of Mexico City; it is the largest city and capital of Michoacan state, with 750,000 people. City is at 6,300 feet elevation; warm days and cool evenings. City was designated UNESCO world heritage site in 1991, due to its well-preserved colonial buildings, and the layout of its historical center. WED…
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Puebla
Puebla: Puebla, 60-miles southeast of Mexico City, is the fourth largest city in Mexico, and lies in a valley surrounded by mountains and volcanoes. It was named a UNESCO world heritage site in 1987, and has the largest Volkswagen production facility outside Germany. Cinco de Mayo, the fifth of May, is an annual celebration commemorating…
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Oaxaca
Oaxaca: Oaxaca is a state and city, southeast of Mexico City. Its origins date back to the ancient Aztecs, followed by Spanish colonization in the 1500’s. City is built in a grid layout, around a central square, or zocalo, offering historic buildings, cathedrals, art, and food. Oaxaca was named a UNESCO world heritage site in…
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Mexico City
Intention of this series of bi-weekly posts is to share updates on living in Mexico. Mexico City: TUE December 28th 2021 – TUE January 4th 2022 MON December 27th 2021 My Dad dropped me off at the local train station in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Shoreline East to New Haven, connected with Metro North to Grand…
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Travel: Winter 2022
Visiting Mexico after the winter holiday; four months, until the end of April. Flying non-stop on United Airlines, Newark to Mexico City, using frequent flyer miles. Visiting eight colonial cities, including: Puebla, Oaxaca, Morelia, Guadalajara, Zacatecas, Guanajuato, and San Miguel de Allende. Each city is reasonably close; less than four hours apart, by local bus.…
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National Parks
It’s been said that “sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself.” I enjoy visiting the National Parks. An annual park pass costs $80. If you’re a senior citizen, you may purchase a lifetime park pass for $80. An adult can’t get into Disney…
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Hostels
My friend, Cathy, introduced me to hostels in 2009. I will admit that the experience was a bit of a learning curve; sleeping in a dorm with limited privacy or personal space. I will admit today that my preferred lodging experience is a hostel; when I can’t find a hostel, I look at AirBnB; when…
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Zion Narrows
My first trip to Zion National Park was September 2013; I was visiting the five national parks in Utah, and I didn’t serve the park justice. My second trip to Zion was November 2013; greatly enjoyed hiking Angels Landing, and the Walter’s Wiggles section, one of the classic hikes in the park. My third trip…
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Grand Canyon: R2R2R
I visited Grand Canyon National Park three times in the past decade. The first trip was in March 2013, there was light snow at the rim; I visited the typical visitor viewpoints in the park. The second trip was in October 2016; I hiked down South Kaibab trail and up Bright Angel trail, 16-miles, 5000-feet…
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Travel: Fall 2021
In late May, I visited Great Smokey Mountains National Park in Tennessee; my second visit to the park. Before mid-day, the park became quite crowded; it was difficult to find parking in places, and the hiking trails were congested. I often enjoy visiting the national parks after Labor Day, when many people return to work…
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Future Travel
There are many places to which I would like to travel; here is a brief list, in no particular order.
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Travel History
I was introduced to world travel by my friend Cathy, from graduate school, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Prior to this, I really didn’t have the financial means to travel. Cathy introduced me to hostels, which remains my preferred lodging choice. Besides being affordable, I appreciate the sense of community with similar-minded people. What…
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