Mike, my daughter’s boyfriend, now her husband, was talking about racing in the Tour Divide when they visited, Christmas 2014. This is a self-supporting bike race from Banff, Alberta, Canada along the Rockies to Antelope Wells, New Mexico, 2745 miles. He was talking about flying up and wondering how to pack his bike and his supplies. I, mostly joking at that point, said, I’ve never been to Banff so if you need someone to drive you there, I will. He…
I invited Alex on a short holiday trip with me, over Thanksgiving week. She was able to get a few days off work. I booked a 3-city Switzerland tour with Go-Today. We left Saturday, November 22, from Peoria, via Chicago to Zurich. Zurich We arrived about 1100 on Sunday. After getting through customs we took the train to town and walked to our hotel. We stayed at the Hotel Arlette Beim, a nice old-fashioned place very close to…
Kelly and I loved our visit to Croatia in 2013 and wanted to see more, so we planned several days in north and west Croatia, several days in Slovenia, then a few days in Venice, Italy. We flew out of Peoria to Chicago on Saturday, August 30th for our flight to Zagreb. Croatia We arrived Sunday morning at 1000. After passport control and getting cash (just me because Kelly’s card wasn’t working, so I took out the max to share…
My daughter’s college roommate, Kim, spent two years teaching English in Madagascar as a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV). I wanted to visit Madagascar, so Kim invited Alex and me down during her school’s break, April 2014, just a few months before she was due to finish her two years of service. Unfortunately, Alex couldn’t get time off her job, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. Sorry, Alex. I booked round-trip flights to Antananarivo and Kim did all of…
I love, love this beautiful country. It is one of my favorites and one I would happily move to permanently if I could get citizenship. Alex and I visited Australia and New Zealand in 2005. We spent about 20 days on this trip but most was in Australia, with only five days on the South Island and two nights in Auckland. When Kelly and I were talking about travel in 2012, she couldn’t go in September/October like we usually do,…
For the past several years, when Kelly and I had been traveling in Europe, we met people who told us Croatia was a “must-see”! So we decided to plan a trip. We wanted to visit several of the islands plus Dubrovnik. We both tried finding cruises, and Kelly came across Sail Croatia, they offered a week long small boat cruise (36 guests) from Split to Dubrovnik with stops in Hvar, Vis, Korcula, and Mljet. We booked the trip with 3…
Antarctica, the final frontier. These are the voyages of Lisa and Alex. Our life long mission: to explore strange new places, to seek out new people and new cultures, to boldly go where we haven’t gone before. After our first visit to Europe in 1987, Asia in 1998, Africa in 2001, Oceania in 2005, South America in 2008, Antarctica would be our final continent. I did a lot of research of the various companies that go to Antarctica; I chose…
Ushuaia “Fin del Mundo” or the End of the World, Ushuaia is the southernmost city in the world. Most Antarctica cruises begin at their ship terminal. We arrived late on Friday, February 22, a couple days before the start of our cruise so we could see a bit of this charming town. I had booked a full day tour of Tierra del Fuego National Parque for Saturday. We had a 3rd passenger, Caterina, a nice lady from Italy, joining us…
Santiago We booked the Antarctica cruise with Quark and decided to extend our trip with a few days in Santiago before heading to Ushuaia. We booked a 3-night Santiago trip through Go-Today, flying in on a direct 10 hour flight from Dallas. Santiago is a great walking city, lots of murals and interesting architecture. We booked a walking tour with Free Tours; walking tours with a local guide are always a great opportunity for learning a lot about a city…
I had been to New Zealand for a week. My daughter and I had a 3-week package tour to Australia and New Zealand in 2005, spending the last week on the south island of New Zealand with a few days in Auckland. I loved it and knew I wanted to return. Kelly was busy in our usual travel months of September and October, but was still interested in a trip this year. I remember her asking what location would be…