A Road Trip to the Amana Colonies During the Pandemic
Traveling to the Amana Colonies is like stepping back in time. The history of the Amana’s is unique and makes this a special place. This was a great trip for us because right now, during this pandemic, we are keeping travel regional, so we won’t have to worry about quarantining once we return home. To get from […]
Tour Guides Face the Pandemic Problem
When traveling to countries where people didn’t speak or look like me, my teachers were tour guides. They steered me to places and people I will never forget. Many memories of my travels are directly linked to the guides who showed me the way to appreciate their culture, spiritual practices and political systems. Like many […]
Flagstaff or Bust: Traveling During the Pandemic
After two months of sheltering in place, I was ready to get the heck out of dodge. Plans were in place since Fall 2019 for me to attend Flagstaff Blues & Brews, the largest blues festival in Arizona. Held every June when the rest of Arizona is hotter than Hades and Flagstaff offers a more refreshing mountain respite, the 2020 festival would mark its seventh year and […]
San Miguel de Allende shows that the heart of Mexico Beats on!
Why is scenic and dynamic San Miguel de Allende called “the Heart of Mexico”? The simple answer would be its place on the map — smack dab in the middle of the country, in the state of Guanajuato. But the reality is that Mexico’s metaphorical heart beats in this charming colonial city for many reasons: The country’s crucible of freedom, the cradle of its independence movement, lies in the urban core. […]
Taking a cue from the Q-Station in Sydney Harbor
January 12, 2020 was a brilliant day in Sydney Harbor when I boarded the ferry headed for Manly Headlands. I ran upstairs to the front deck to face the wind and sucked in the intoxicating air. The boat picked up speed as we left the bustle of the quay behind. Soon we were scooting past the sails of the Sydney Opera House flashing in the sun. We were off to explore […]
Traveling During CoVid19 – A Trip To Costa Rica
As I was packing hand sanitizers, facemasks, and disinfectant wipes for our first road trip in four months, I realized that this was not the first time we had traveled during the Coronavirus. We were on vacation in Costa Rica in March, when the World Health Organization declared CoVid19 a pandemic. We booked the trip last year – seems a lifetime […]
Coffee Mugs, T Shirts, and Baseball Hats – A Lifetime of Travel Reimagined Post-COVID
A mishmash of coffee mugs emblazoned with logos and locations sits in the cupboard: Kalik, Beer of the Bahamas; World Famous Mountain Top Coffee, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; Falkland Islands – “Desire the Right.” T-shirts splashed with the names of hotspots and name brands occupy corners in the closet: Gamboa Rainforest Resort, Panama Canal; Bloody Marys Bora Bora, French Polynesia; Hard Rock Café, Hong Kong; Cerveza Clara Dos Equis, Lager Especial, …AAAH! Even the ubiquitous […]
SOLO BACKPACKING Longs Peak, Colorado
It’s July, and I have been officially furloughed since March18th. After the “Stay at Home” orders began in Los Angeles, my days consisted of enjoying being home, writing, making videos and, like the rest of the country, … waiting. Normally my year consists of working on films and TV shows. This year would have been no exception as I had just signed on to do two films in […]
San Miguel de Allende Shows How to Open Up a Tourist City Again—Safely
By now the procedure had become routine: walk across floor pads containing a pool of disinfectant, hold our arms out to have our temperature scanned, and then hold out our hands for a squirt of hand sanitizer. Masked up and purified, we could now go shopping—keeping our distance from others, of course. San Miguel de Allende often shows up in glossy travel magazines […]
Please Don’t Forget to Pack Your “Travel Manners”
After months of online school, travelling only as far as the grocery store, and baking like it was my primary business, I was one of many British Columbians anxious to resume travel once the time was right. In late June, the Government of British Columbia announced Phase 3 in the COVID-19 Restart Plan, and this included […]