Click on the map to view an enlarged version.

I hardly consider myself a great world traveler, but I love to travel. I have been to a lot of places considering I got a late start. Until my sophomore year in college, I’d been to a total of six states, all in the northeastern USA. Since then I’ve been working hard to make up for lost time.

in 2019 I retired and moved to Mexico with the plan of spending much of time in other places. A global pandemic put a temporary hold on those plans, but now that travel is possible again, I’m doing as much as I can.

I like to say I’m not happy unless I’m currently traveling or planning my next trip. I love planning nearly as much as I love traveling, and I always have at least one or two trips on the horizon, so I’m almost always happy! 

See the trips I’ve taken

Why I started this blog


Me stepping onto Asia for the first time, September 2022, Istanbul, Türkiye

Before I retired, I worked in Seattle, Washington, as a software architect. Software was my second career; I started out as a music educator, and with three degrees in music, one of my travel-related passions is to attend live performances at some of the worlds great concert halls and opera houses. 

I now live in Ajijic, Jalisco, on the north shore of Lago de Chapala, the largest lake in Mexico. One reason I chose this spot to retire is that it is close enough to an international airport that I can still get away for the travel I long to do. Depending on traffic, I can get to Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Guadalajara International Airport in 30–45 minutes.

When I’m not traveling, I can usually be found playing bridge at the Lake Chapala Duplicate Bridge Club, playing pub trivia, taking my dog for walks on the malecón, or enjoying the many fine restaurants in this community of a mix of locals and expats from the US and Canada. 

Visit my personal blog

See my list of favorite travel blogs and websites


Countries I’ve visited

(in chronological order)

  1. Canada
  2. France
  3. Switzerland
  4. Germany
  5. Austria
  6. Hungary
  7. England
  8. Wales
  9. Liechtenstein
  10. Italy
  11. Ireland
  12. Mexico
  13. Denmark
  14. Sweden
  15. Estonia
  16. Finland
  17. Iceland
  18. Croatia
  19. Slovenia
  20. Bosnia and Herzegovina
  21. Montenegro
  22. Belgium
  23. Netherlands
  24. Norway
  25. Chile
  26. Argentina
  27. Brazil
  28. Costa Rica
  29. Czechia
  30. Poland
  31. Cuba
  32. Peru
  33. Ecuador
  34. Turkey
  35. Azerbaijan
  36. Georgia
  37. Armenia
  38. Panama
  39. Colombia
  40. Scotland

Airports I’ve flown through

US Airports (in random order)
  1. Ted Stevens Anchorage
  2. Seattle-Tacoma
  3. Seldovia (Alaska)
  4. Phoenix Sky Harbor
  5. Los Angeles
  6. Palm Springs
  7. San Diego
  8. San Francisco
  9. Norman Y. Mineta San Jose
  10. Boulder Municipal
  11. Tampa
  12. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta
  13. Honolulu
  14. Lihue
  15. Stapleton (former Denver airport)
  16. O’Hare
  17. Chicago Midway
  18. General Wayne A. Downing Peoria (Illinois)
  19. Barkley Regional (Paducah, Kentucky)
  20. Louis Armstrong New Orleans
  21. Portland (Maine)
  22. Baltimore/Washington
  23. Detroit Metropolitan
  24. Minneapolis-Saint Paul
  25. St. Louis Lambert
  26. McCarran (Las Vegas)
  27. Reno-Tahoe
  28. Manchester-Boston Regional (New Hampshire)
  29. Newark Liberty
  30. Buffalo Niagara
  31. LaGuardia (New York)
  32. John F. Kennedy (New York)
  33. Long Island MacArthur (New York)
  34. Syracuse Hancock (New York)
  35. Westchester County (New York)
  36. Charlotte Douglas
  37. Cleveland Hopkins
  38. Dallas-Fort Worth
  39. William P. Hobby (Houston)
  40. George Bush Intercontinental (Houston)
  41. San Antonio
  42. Ronald Reagan Washington
  43. Dulles (Washington, D.C.)
  44. Boeing Field (Seattle)
  45. Juneau
  46. Homer (Alaska)
  47. John Wayne (Santa Ana, California)
  48. Philadelphia
  49. Austin-Bergstrom (Texas)
  50. Talkeetna (Alaska)
International Airports (in chronological order)
  1. Charles de Gaulle (Paris)
  2. Zurich
  3. Munich
  4. Heathrow (London)
  5. Frankfurt
  6. Milan Malpensa
  7. Shannon (Ireland)
  8. Schiphol (Amsterdam)
  9. Leonardo Da Vinci (Fiumicino, Rome)
  10. Keflavik (Iceland)
  11. Oslo
  12. Copenhagen
  13. Helsinki
  14. Zagreb Franjo Tuđman
  15. Dubrovnik
  16. Brussels
  17. Bergen (Norway)
  18. Trondheim (Norway)
  19. Mataveri (Rapa Nui, Chile)
  20. Jorge Newbery (Buenos Aires)
  21. Santiago (Chile)
  22. Bariloche (Argentina)
  23. El Tepual (Puerto Montt, Chile)
  24. Presidente Carles Ibáñez del Campo (Punta Arenas, Chile)
  25. El Calafate (Argentina)
  26. Cataratas (Iguazú, Argentina)
  27. Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil)
  28. Galeão (Rio de Janeiro)
  29. Mexico City
  30. Juan Santamaria (San Jose, Costa Rica)
  31. Drake Bay (Costa Rica)
  32. Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (Guadalajara)
  33. Václav Havel (Prague)
  34. Lech Walesa (Gdansk)
  35. Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz (Puerto Vallarta)
  36. Jose Marti (Havana, Cuba)
  37. Tijuana
  38. General Roberto Fierro Villalobos (Chihuahua)
  39. Jorge Chávez (Lima)
  40. Alejandro Velasco Astete (Cusco)
  41. Mariscal Sucre (Quito)
  42. José Joaquín de Olmedo (Guayaquil)
  43. Seymour Galápagos Ecological (Baltra Island, Galápagos)
  44. Acapulco
  45. Cancun
  46. Istanbul
  47. İzmir Adnan Menderes
  48. Antalya
  49. Kayseri Erkilet
  50. Heydar Aliyev (Baku)
  51. Tbilisi
  52. Zvartnots (Yerevan)
  53. Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen
  54. Tocumen (Panama City)
  55. El Dorado (Bogotá)
  56. El Edén (Armenia, Quindío, Colombia)
  57. Medellín Olaya Herrera
  58. José María Córdova (Medellín)
  59. Simón Bolívar (Santa Marta)
  60. Rafael Núñez (Cartagena)
  61. Edinburgh

US National Parks I’ve visited

(in alphabetical order)

  1. Acadia
  2. Arches
  3. Badlands
  4. Bryce Canyon
  5. Crater Lake
  6. Denali
  7. Gateway Arch
  8. Glacier
  9. Grand Canyon
  10. Grand Teton
  11. Joshua Tree
  12. Kenai Fjords
  13. Mammoth Cave
  14. Mesa Verde
  15. Mount Rainier
  16. North Cascades
  17. Olympic
  18. Rocky Mountain
  19. Yellowstone
  20. Zion

Mexican States I’ve visited

(in chronological order)

  1. Baja California
  2. CDMX
  3. Morelos
  4. Jalisco
  5. Michoacán
  6. Zacatecas
  7. Aguascalientes
  8. Guanajuato
  9. Chihuahua
  10. Nayarit
  11. Guerrero

Mexican Pueblos Mágicos I’ve visited

(in chronological order)

  1. Tepoztlán, Morelos
  2. Tlaquepaque, Jalisco
  3. Ajijic, Jalisco
  4. Pátzcuaro, Michoacán
  5. Tequila, Jalisco
  6. Mazamitla, Jalisco
  7. Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco
  8. Pinos, Zacatecas
  9. Guadalupe, Zacatecas
  10. Sombrerete, Zacatecas
  11. Jerez, Zacatecas
  12. Asientos, Aguascalientes
  13. San José de Gracia, Aguascalientes
  14. Calvillo, Aguascalientes
  15. Nochistlán, Zacatecas
  16. Teúl de González Ortega, Zacatecas
  17. Creel, Chihuahua
  18. Talpa de Allende, Jalisco
  19. Mascota, Jalisco
  20. San Sebastián del Oeste, Jalisco
  21. Sayulita, Nayarit
  22. Compostela, Nayarit
  23. Jala, Nayarit
  24. Tapalpa, Jalisco