I hardly consider myself a great world traveler, but I love to travel and 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. Now I’ve been to all 50 states, eight Canadian provinces, Mexico, and 26 other countries in Europe and South America. And in June 2019, I moved to Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico.

I’m always either on a trip or planning the next one. In 2019 I took a four-week tour to eastern Germany, Czechia, and Poland. In January 2020: a short getaway to Michoacán to see the monarch butterfly migration, and in February, a week-long tour to Cuba. And I’m currently planning a trip to Jordan, Israel, and Palestine this fall.

See the trips I’ve taken

Why I started this blog

Map of countries where I've been
Me at Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina, 2017

I am a retired software architect living the good life in Ajijic, Jalisco, 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.

When I’m not traveling, I can usually be found playing bridge at the Lake Chapala Duplicate Bridge Club, playing pub trivia, or enjoying the many fine restaurants in this community of about half locals and half expats from the US and Canada. 

Visit my personal blog

See my list of favorite travel blogs and websites

 

Ten facts about me

  1. I grew up in Massapequa, Long Island, New York State, United States of America.
  2. Until I was in college, I’d never been outside the northeast United States.
  3. Until I was in college, I’d never flown on an airplane.
  4. I love architecture. When I was in high school, I planned to be an architect.
  5. I love music. When I was in college, I switched my major from architecture to music. I have Bachelor, Master, and Doctoral degrees in music. For about 20 years I taught music at the high school and college levels.
  6. I don’t do music anymore, except for my own personal enjoyment. I work in computer technology.
  7. I’ve been in all fifty of the United States, to eight Canadian provinces, Mexico, and 28 other countries.
  8. I prefer traveling alone over tours with large groups of other tourists. When I’m traveling, I love to seek out opportunities for solitude. (I don’t always succeed at that.)
  9. I love to walk. When traveling, I often walk rather than taking buses or taxis.
  10. I love to write. This blog and some short fiction are the products of this love.

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

 

The map above is not meant to show every single city I’ve ever been to. It’s a representative list of the towns, villages, and cities I’ve visited with some intention, not just as a place to pass through or spend the night. And I don’t include all the suburban communities and small day-trip destinations I may have hit while living in or on a trip to a major city. 

These are the airports where I’ve landed or taken off, even if they were merely layovers on the way to somewhere else.