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PLANET PUG – A DOG’S ODYSSEY
I first met Watson in 1998, when my daughter insisted that we acquire a Pug. Watson was different. He couldn’t have been more different from our current Pug – Buddy. Buddy is the perfect Pug – beautiful wrinkles, perfect whiskers, […]
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HAT QUEST
“Vestis virum faciit” – “Clothes make the man” as the Romans were fond of saying. And the focal point of any outfit is always the hat. I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that I’m a big fan of […]
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RAJASTHAN – INDIA’S TURBAN CENTRAL
We first touched down in India in December of 1975 as part of our initial around-the-world trip. We flew from Nairobi to the Seychelles, and then to Sri Lanka. In 1975, I found Sri Lanka to be the most exotic […]
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BURMA – A TRIP BACK IN TIME
This is Burma, and it will be quite unlike any land you know about …Rudyard Kipling I couldn’t agree more. Picture Thailand in the 1930’s and 40’s and you’ll get a very rough idea of what Burma (now Myanmar) is […]
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GREAT WORLD MARKETS…NORTH AMERICA
I am fortunate to have several of California’s best Farmers Markets located within an hour’s drive of my house. It would be hard for any market to compete with the famous Ferry Building Farmers Market in San Francisco. Located in […]
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GREAT WORLD MARKETS…EUROPE
The first thing I learned when I hit the road In 1974 was that the most interesting thing about travel was the people. The second thing I learned was that the best place to see the people was in the […]
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GREAT WORLD MARKETS…EAST ASIA
The first thing I learned when I hit the road in 1975 was that the most interesting thing about travel was the people. The second thing I learned was that the best place to see the people was in the […]
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GREAT WORLD MARKETS…SOUTHEAST ASIA
The part of the world that we now refer to as Southeast Asia, was once one of the most remote and exotic places in the world…Siam, Saigon, French Indochina, Singapore, Borneo, the Spice Islands. Most of the region is now starting to catch […]
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ARE AFRICAN COUNTRIES “SHITHOLES?”
It took me a while to decide to respond to the liberal hysteria surrounding Donald Trump’s recent “shithole” comment. I do my best to stay out of politics. But, I finally decided that I needed to say something about this […]
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TRIBAL INDIA – ORISSA
A picture is worth a thousand words. It’s an old saying but nonetheless true – especially when it comes to choosing a travel destination. I learned years ago that the best way to get an accurate idea about a place that you […]
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THE MASKED LADIES OF OMAN
Our trip to Oman came about as sort of an after thought. We were planning a Tanzania Safari and decided to travel to Kilimanjaro Airport via the Persian Gulf. I had seen a couple of photos of Oman, and decided to add it […]
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IS IT TOO LATE FOR YEMEN?
I’ll never forget the first photos I saw of Sana’a, Yemen. A magical, fairy tale sort of place that reminded me of a medieval Dubai. Situated in a mountain valley at an altitude of 6,600 feet and inhabited for more […]
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HARD SELL IN EGYPT
I planned our first around-the-world trip during my internship in 1975. I would have to say that I was completely innocent at the time with no travel experience at all – completely naïve about the world. Our first dose of reality hit us […]
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THE MOST DANGEROUS ROAD ON EARTH
I have mentioned my obsession with hats. In early 2003, I was getting the itch to see some more. I was well aware that the city with the most hats per capita was La Paz, Bolivia. La Paz was also my favorite South […]
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MY TAKE ON CUBA
I had never been in a big hurry to visit Cuba. Having visited Eastern Europe several times prior to 1990, I was not a big fan of socialism, and travel to Cuba was illegal for Americans. Of course, there were […]
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BIG HATS IN BORNEO
I suppose that everyone has a “favorite thing”. My favorite thing has always been hats – the bigger the better. In fact, I’m so crazy about hats that I’ve traveled to six continents in search of them. And I’ve found quite a […]
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THE WORLD’S STRANGEST COUNTRY
I first learned of the Tolkuchka Bazaar about five years ago. I think it was from some photos I saw, possibly in one of those magazines that you find on an airplane in “the seat pocket in front of you”. It was […]
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BRAZILIAN MISADVENTURE
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I first visited Brazil in 1979 as part of a six month around-the-world trip. Except for a short side trip from Argentina to the Brazilian side of Iguassu Falls in 1989, it would be […]
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SHOULD I VISIT COLOMBIA?
I had always heard that Colombia is a beautiful country. When I first saw it from the air on a rare daylight flight home from Bolivia, I marveled at how green and mountainous it was. It has been on my list […]
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THE GOLDEN TEMPLE TRUMPS THE TAJ
The Taj Mahal – the serene structure that sits at the top of every traveler’s bucket list. I first visited the Taj in 1976 during a swing through India on our first around-the-world jaunt. I’ve since been back on three other […]
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THE BIG U-TURN
I first visited Brazil in 1979 as part of an Around-the-World Southern Hemisphere Trip. I’d have to say that getting there was not half the fun. We had arranged to fly from Cape Town, South Africa to Rio de Janeiro on Varig […]
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THE HELICOPTER IN MY ROOM
In 1993, my wife and I decided that it was time to visit Papua New Guinea with our daughter, Jamie. We traveled independently and made a stop in Tari, the main city in the Western Highlands. Tari is the home […]
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ANOTHER TRAVEL BLOG?
Does the world need another travel blog? Do I have any new information that might be useful or interesting to a prospective traveler? Do I have a different perspective than that of the typical travel blogger? Is it worth my […]
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AUNTIE GAIL AND THE FRENCH FAUX PAS
It’s time for another short episode in the continuing saga of Auntie Gail and her travel misadventures. Auntie Gail had never been to Europe. So, in the Spring of 2008, her sister, Joan, decided that it was high time for her to go. […]