It’s 8 am on Christmas morning, and I’ve seen and done so much since my last post, five days ago, I can’t begin to recap it all. Much as I wish I could write about every experience and all my impressions as they happen, its not possible. The little things, the minuscule observations, the momentary…
Thursday, December 20, 7:00 am It’s Thursday morning, and my time at Arenal is coming to an end. In a little over an hour I meet my ride to Monteverde. Once I get there, I have the rest of the day free.
Some truths about travel I think I gave some of my readers the wrong impression with the last couple of posts. I haven’t been unhappy or disappointed or been looking for reasons to not enjoy myself. But all travel was not created equal, and here are some things I’ve learned, not just from my own…
Wristbands When I checked into my hotel yesterday, I was given a green wristband and told I needed to keep it on for my entire stay. It’s for security, I was told, and for the included breakfast. Most of the time I forget it’s there, but every so often I have the urge to tear…
A Confession I have not been looking forward to this trip with the level of enthusiasm that has always accompanied on my prior adventures. There’s so much about this trip that should get my heart racing: seeing exotic birds and animals and exploring beautiful environments. Plus reconnecting with my friend Linda. I haven’t seen her…
Two weeks from today I arrive in Costa Rica for my next big adventure, and my first excursion to Central America. I am planning on blogging daily, or at least most days as long as WiFi is available. But I’m thinking of trying something new, or at least something I haven’t done in a long…
I discovered Furkot kind of by accident while researching scenic route options for my Yellowstone road trip last month. It turned out to be an invaluable tool for planning the trip. I’m going to show you how to use it to plan your next trip.
My Yellowstone road trip is just one week out, and I’ve pretty much figured out all the details. I have been using an cool online tool I discovered to help with the planning. It’s called Furkot. I’ll share more about planning a road trip with Furkot in a separate post.
When I finally decide to take a trip, I don’t waste time. I’ve now gone from dreaming of a possible trip to Costa Rica to having made (almost) all my plans! I’m taking two weeks at the end of December to experience some of the highlights of this country that’s been near the top of…
Some trips plan themselves. Others require thinking and rethinking, a lot of second guessing, trade-offs, sacrifices in the name of time, and tough decisions for reasons of practicality. Take, for instance, the trip I’m planning for next spring to Germany, the Czech Republic, and Poland.
Chapter 9 in Rick Steves’ book Travel as a Political Act covers a topic that is close to my heart and about which I have strong feelings: the Holy Land. In 2013, after Rick got back from his trip to Israel and Palestine to produce a television documentary about this troubled area, he gave a…
The full title of Chapter 7 in Rick Steves’ Travel as a Political Act is “Europe: Not ‘Hard on Drugs’ or ‘Soft on Drugs,’ but Smart on Drugs.” It’s an awful title in my opinion, but it’s an interesting topic. Rick is a strong advocate for the legalization of marijuana in the United States. He…