- Sunday, April 14 – New York and Leiden (0) (Trip Diaries)We arrived at my father’s house just after midnight, to find my stepmother trying and failing to handle a plunger.
- Saturday, April 6 – Sweet Home Chicago (1) (Trip Diaries)From Iowa, we pulled into Chicago, where we took a taxi to Hyde Park. Hyde Park is a culturally flourishing neighborhood on the South Side, dominated by the University of Chicago. Since I both attended college at the University of Chicago and lived there for another three years after that, when I married someone who […]
- Monday, April 1 – In case you were wondering… (1) (Updates)Naomi and M did make it to Chicago, and then to New York. Where N’s father had just tested positive for COVID-19. Thanks to paxlovid he has improved enough that N felt that it was safe to leave him, after setting him up with DoorDash for getting deliveries from drugstores, which mostly don’t deliver in […]
- Friday, March 29 – Colorado and the Midwest (4) (Trip Diaries)Wednesday, March 27. Our second day on the California Zephyr was alleged to be the most beautiful; indeed, the most beautiful on any passenger train in the United States. It lived up to its billing. First, though, we passed overnight through Utah and into the high desert. There’s a reason they call it that — […]
- Wednesday, March 27 – Oakland and the Zephyr (2) (Trip Diaries)We pulled into Emeryville, CA — a subsection of Oakland, as far as I can tell — at 8:30 in the morning, and set about dragging our enormous suitcases behind us to the Sonesta Hotel. It’s a lovely hotel and I would use it again, but when they say it’s within walking distance of the […]
- Monday, March 25 – The Coast Starlight (0) (Trip Diaries)Saturday, March 23. We began our trip this morning, boarding the Coast Starlight out of Seattle at 9:50 this morning. This meant getting up much earlier than we normally do, as there were things to pack which had to be used overnight or first thing in the morning, and a lot of general scurrying around […]
- Friday, March 22 – Who knows where the time goes? (0) (Updates)… and what was that about the best-laid plans? A lot has happened in the year and a half since our last entry. Among other things, we missed a whole trip! Naomi, her husband G, and I went to the Netherlands, staying in Leiden and Amsterdam with a side trip to Utrecht. We might be […]
- Thursday, October 13 – Ass Over Teakettle (1) (Updates)So, you may have noticed that this post is a day late. Yeah, I admit it. I admit also that the last several weeks have been thin on posts in general, and even more thin on posts that actually cover the trip to Italy in detail. I haven’t abandoned them — I’ve been writing all […]
- Wednesday, October 5 – A Few Random Notes from Chance (0) (Updates)We said last week that “If nothing else goes sideways, you’ll get a real post next Wednesday.“. Well, the best-laid plans of mice and other vertebrates, and all that. Fortunately one of us is a crab. Who is feeling somewhat crabby because Naomi forgot that today is Yom Kippur, and Steve was lazy and didn’t […]
- Friday, September 30 – Postcard from Florence, July 2022 (1) (Postcards)We’re running a little late this week — sorry about that. Naomi’s been taking care of two sick kids, and Steve spent yesterday as a zombie thanks to a COVID booster. So in place of an actual post about Florence, you’re getting a postcard. If nothing else goes sideways, you’ll get a real post next […]
- Thursday, September 22 – Talking of Michelangelo (0) (Trip Diaries)“In the room, the women come and go Talking of Michelangelo…” –T. S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock” After a three hour train trip from Naples, we arrived in Florence and settled into the 3110 ArtHotel, which was located on the second and third floors of an Art Deco building not far […]
- Thursday, September 15 – Traveling With a Guitar (2) (Tips and Tricks)There are several ways to travel with a guitar; using one that fits in the overhead bin on a plane is only one of them, but it’s the safest and least nerve-wracking.
- Wednesday, September 7 – Desert Driving: Mesas and Mistakes (0) (Trip Diaries)I’m back at home, finally! … I had better finish up the road trip I started writing about last week while it was happening. Because it got a lot weirder from there.
- Wednesday, August 31 – Bonus Post – Monterey Bay Aquarium (0) (Postcards, Trip Diaries)As promised in the last post, here are the photos from the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
- Wednesday, August 31 – Ay-yi-yi-yi, The Open Road is Home (2) (Trip Diaries)We take a break from the Italy trip report to tell you about the road trip, which is finally happening even as we speak. I’m writing this from a Best Western in Barstow, California.
- Wednesday, August 24 – A Message From the Crab. (0) (Trip Diaries)A crab knows beaches better than any vertebrate. And the beach was where we went next. Sorrento, to be specific, on the Amalfi Coast.
- Wednesday, August 24 – A couple of announcements (0) (Updates)We’re changing the posting schedule: posts will now be coming out onWednesdays. There’s just too much happening around here on Mondays;switching to Wednesday gives us all day Tuesday to write. To kick off the new schedule, tomorrow’s post will be coming to you from avery special guest writer. Stay tuned!
- Wednesday, August 17 – St. Peter and St. Christopher (0) (Trip Diaries)The Papal Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican, more commonly simply known as St. Peter’s Basilica, is the largest church in the world. And boy, does it ever make sure that you know it.
- Tuesday, August 9 – United Breaks Passengers (3) (Trip Diaries)We interrupt the saga of our Italian adventure to bring you the horrific story of what has been happening as we attempt to finish the trip. Next week, I’ll be back to telling you all about St. Peter’s Basilica and our adventures in the subways of Rome, but I had to stop for a while to tell you about this. Because it’s the worst airport experience I’ve had in almost fifty years of frequent flying.
- Tuesday, August 2 – Another Country (2) (Trip Diaries)The Vatican — a very different country from the antiquities of Rome, or even the flashy design of modern Italy.
- Tuesday, July 26 – Of Things Colossal (0) (Trip Diaries)The Roman Colosseum is indeed colossal, but that’s not how it got its name. According to our guide, the emperor Nero …
- Tuesday, July 19 – Scattered Chunks of Antiquity (0) (Trip Diaries)In addition to the ancient pieces built into the everyday houses around us, there were random elements of ancient archaeological sites all around us.
- Tuesday, July 12 – Fettered to the Foam (0) (Trip Diaries)I always feel both halves of that song, when I’m getting ready to take off for a trip. I love travel. It’s my favorite thing to do in the entire world. Every trip has me breathless and eager — and yet, I do leave a family behind, and it’s always, always hard.
- Wednesday, July 6 – Last Steps (Italy) (0) (Trip Diaries)I’m currently in the panic phase of preparation — the stage at which we’re getting close, but there is a lot still left uncertain and it feels incomprehensible that it will all come together in time.
- Wednesday, June 29 – Exploring at Home (0) (Updates)One of the most common pieces of advice travelers get is, if you can’t go anywhere right away, go traveling in your own town or city.
- Tuesday, June 21 – Traveling With a CPAP (2) (Tips and Tricks)Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder in which one stops breathing — anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes– several times a night. Often this is accompanied by loud snoring. It isn’t generally considered a disability; it won’t get you a handicap parking spot in the airport parking lot, early boarding at the […]
- Tuesday, June 14 – Frankly, It’s a Sick Truck (0) (Trip Planning)Frank the Truck is unwell. The conclusions from the inspection were mixed, but worrisome
- Tuesday, June 7 – Frankly, It’s a Truck (0) (Trip Planning)If time is nature’s way of ensuring that not everything happens all at once, it doesn’t work! The development process doesn’t happen smoothly. Instead, …
- Tuesday, May 31 – A Very Short Update (0) (Updates)The fibromyalgia is kicking my tail really badly this week, so this is going to be very brief. There’s exciting stuff going on, but I’m going to have to tell you all about it next time, because if I try to push myself through writing a whole post today, something is going to break, and […]
- Tuesday, May 24 – Turtles and Gators and Snakes: Oh My! (0) (Updates)And what did we do with our Mother’s Day excursion? We went and petted snakes, of course! Isn’t that what most families do when they want a pleasant, relaxing day out? No? Well, maybe we’re just bizarre, then. That’s just fine; we like our weirdness. We also like our snakes.
- Tuesday, May 17 – Racking Up the Miles (0) (Trip Planning)On Thursday and Friday, C and I went to look at trucks. The one from last week that he’d found interesting needed to be brought to the mechanic, so I picked him up early Thursday and we hurried north for 70-ish miles to collect the truck.
- Tuesday, May 10 – Putting It Together (0) (Trip Planning)Two trips are still in the planning stage: Colorado in June and Italy at an undefined time in summer. Basically, we’re pretty sure we will be in Amsterdam the first week of August because that’s when my friend there has an open schedule. Whether we do Italy before or after that is uncertain. I’m leaning […]
- Tuesday, May 3 – Things I Learned in Africa (0) (Trip Diaries)1) Every herd of zebra has to contain exactly one wildebeest. No less, and definitely no more. The zebra won’t drive off additional wildebeests, but the first wildebeest sure will. 2) Don’t drink the tap water. No, I really mean it. DON’T. Not even a drop. You will regret it. 3) Antelopes are a surprising […]
- Saturday, April 30 – Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway (0) (Tips and Tricks)A couple of weeks ago, I said that I was going to write a pair of posts: one about conserving energy when you travel and one about overcoming anxiety when you travel. Those are the two things that most often get in the way of my just running straight ahead and doing everything I want […]
- Tuesday, April 26 – Five Tips for Balancing Energy While You Travel (0) (Tips and Tricks)I just finished watching a video about a charter yacht’s crew, on their day off in Alaska. These are pretty healthy people — they’re young, slim, used to doing a tough physical job, and they probably don’t have anything like my fibromyalgia to get in their way, or they wouldn’t be able to do a […]
- Friday, April 22 – Figuring It(aly) Out (0) (Trip Planning)I’m starting to research the Italy trip. My son J and I are in general agreement that we want to prioritize the classic three cities of Rome, Florence and Venice. I’d also like to see Pompeii, which can be done as a side trip from Rome, but surprisingly (to me, anyway) J, the archaeologist, doesn’t […]
- Tuesday, April 19 – Things That Don’t Help (0) (Updates)This post is going to be partially a rant. I’m warning you now. I love travel, and I love writing about travel, and so I’m nearly always positive when I write these posts, simply because I’m talking about things that make me feel good. But every once in a while… As reported in the news […]
- Friday, April 15 – Going Sideways to Go Forwards (0) (Trip Planning)I told you last time that, even though there is definitely some frustration in the planning stages of a big trip when it feels like there’s a wall that I can’t get around, I have learned that I almost always just need to
- Tuesday, April 12 – Lime Soda (4) (Storytime, Trip Planning)C and I are still looking for his pickup, in which we’re planning to drive to Colorado in a couple months. So this week, we took his fictional weekend — it’s not the actual weekend because he works in a retail pharmacy and they need him on the weekends — and went to see a […]
- Friday, April 8 – St/rolling (0) (Storytime, Tips and Tricks)The day after Colleen’s mobility scooter arrived, we went for our first st/roll. I strolled, she rolled. It was wonderful — for the first time in over a decade, I had trouble keeping up with her!
- Tuesday, April 5 – It’s for You! (0) (Trip Planning)I got you a present! It’s a brand new camera, all for this blog. (Okay, it also happens to have a phone wrapped around it, and that part’s for me.)
- Friday, April 1 – Catching Up to Now (2) (Updates)Hi, everyone! Because I’ve been posting the Africa trip over our usual schedule, the last stuff you have from me was mostly written a month or so ago, with the exception of the little bit about my upcoming road trip. So I thought this time, I should catch you up on what’s going on since […]
- Tuesday, March 29 – Homecoming (0) (Trip Diaries, Trip Planning)This wasn’t the way I had hoped to come home. The plan had always been to return to Seattle by way of a few days in New York City. I grew up in New York, and my father and stepmother still live there. I meant to visit them for a few days, show off all […]
- Friday, March 25 – Shipping Out (0) (Trip Diaries)My visit to Amsterdam began with boats, and appropriately enough, it’s ending with boats. The city of Amsterdam, like its namesake in the New World (called New York since its takeover by the British), developed and thrived chiefly because it’s one of the great natural ports of the world. The Dutch made their fortune and […]
- Tuesday, March 22 – The Dutch in the Ancient World (0) (Trip Diaries)Today we took the train to Leiden, to explore the town and visit the Museum of Antiquities.
- Friday, March 18 – Being Eleven Again (0) (Trip Diaries)I mentioned in my last post that J and I were once eleven together…Today, the two of us went off to the Nemo Science Museum, to be eleven again and play with all the cool exhibits. It was a lot of fun.
- Tuesday, March 15 – On the Water (0) (Trip Diaries)Right now, as I write, I am touring Amsterdam on a boat. I am also living, for the week, on a boat. Different boat. Amsterdam is very big on boats. This happens when your entire city is below sea level and therefore most of it’s built on piles just to keep it out of the […]
- Friday, March 11 – Cut and Run (0) (Trip Diaries)After all the animals I’ve seen in the wild here in Africa, it felt distinctly strange to be going to a zoo… but I wanted to see what a Ugandan zoo was like
- Tuesday, March 8 – Impenetrable (2) (Trip Diaries)It sounds so much like a fairy tale, doesn’t it? First there’s a long climb, high into the steep and scary mountains. Then you hack your way with swords into a place called the Impenetrable Forest. And it’s all in order to meet a kind of gentle giants who live nowhere else in the world… […]
- Friday, March 4 – For a Woman (0) (Trip Diaries)The attempt to find tree-climbing lions yesterday was, alas, a complete bust. First of all, the heavens opened up and it poured. The lions — along with nearly all of the other wildlife, apart from one new species of antelope called a topi and a lone, sodden bull elephant — took shelter from the torrential […]
- Tuesday, March 1 – Trip Diary: Breaking the First Rule (0) (Trip Diaries)This post is going to be hard to write. I have to admit it. I broke the first rule, and it bit me, badly. What first rule, you wonder? Well, they do depend on who you ask. My mother’s first rule was always, “Never hit anything that’s harder than you are,” and a good and […]
- Friday, February 25 – On the Nile (0) (Trip Diaries)We hit the road at six thirty on our first full day at Murchison Falls. From the beginning of this trip, I’ve accepted that getting up early is the price of being there when the wildlife comes out and does spectacular things. Innocent pointed out on our way back to the Lodge in the late […]
- Tuesday, February 22 – The Rhinos, the Road, and the River (2) (Trip Diaries)We set out this morning at 7:30, leaving Entebbe for Murchison Falls. It’s a six or seven hour trip, but we split it up with a stop at midday. We also talked most of the way. It’s generally considered inadvisable to discuss politics or religion with somebody you barely know, but Innocent and I covered […]
- Friday, February 18 – Postcard from Uganda (0) (Postcards)In this special post I’ve put together some of the coolest photos from my two weeks in southern Africa, that somehow never made it into the write-ups.
- Friday, February 18 – Transitions (0) (Trip Diaries)It’s hard to believe that Nadine, the fantastic agent from Safari Specialists who has been helping me put together the nucleus of this trip for the last two and a half years, isn’t involved anymore. Her job is finished — I’ve gone all the places she arranged for me to go; I have had a […]
- Tuesday, February 15 – Bushman’s Holiday (0) (Trip Diaries)This morning at seven, I was called to the gate to find two men and three horses waiting for me. Two of the horses were Appaloosas; one was a very pretty bay whom I was later told was a celebrity horse: he had been featured in a Taylor Swift video. I felt that the two […]
- Friday, February 11 – Soft Camp, Hard Landscape (0) (Trip Diaries)After the excitement of leopards and hyenas and dead lions, I said goodbye to my friends at Splash Camp and caught a bush plane for the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, in the middle of the Kalahari desert. I was supposed to be headed for a modest place called Camp Kalahari — about the luxury level of […]
- Tuesday, February 8 – Trip Diary: Red in Tooth and Claw (0) (Trip Diaries)Our South African friends left us this morning, going to another camp not far from Splash Camp‘s territory. In keeping with their tendency to make a game drive out of everything, we all piled into the safari vehicle for our usual 6am start. But this time, the departing guests brought all their luggage with them. […]
- Friday, February 4 – Trip Diary: How to Dodge a Hippo (0) (Trip Diaries)For the first time this trip, I have company on my game drives; fellow guests who came here for the same experience as me. I really like it. There’s certainly something that feels privileged about having the whole production to myself, but it’s lonely too. Both the Swiss couple and the South African couple (I […]
- Tuesday, February 1 – Trip Diary: Beastland (0) (Trip Diaries)Meals at Splash Camp are timed around the game drives: breakfast at 5:30am, brunch at 11:30am when you return from the morning drive, no lunch because why bother, when you just had brunch at 11:30? Instead, tea is at 4pm, which feeds you enough to keep you going until dinner around 8:30pm after the evening […]
- Friday, January 28 – Trip Diary: So This Is the Delta (2) (Trip Diaries)The difference between Old Drift and Splash Camp can best be defined in two examples. First, Old Drift has a phone in the room, with a five digit number to reach the office if you need anything at all, at any time of the day or night. Splash Camp has no phones at all, including […]
- Tuesday, January 25 – Trip Diary: Where Are All the Elephants? (0) (Trip Diaries)The Lookout Cafe is the centerpiece of Wild Horizons’ empire of Victoria Falls tourist attractions. It’s a restaurant, but that’s a little bit like saying that Broadway-caliber dinner theater is a restaurant. At the Lookout Cafe, lunch is respectable, but it’s really all about the view.
- Friday, January 21 – Trip Diary: Paying Calls (0) (Trip Diaries)The first visit we made today was to a nearby Zimbabwean village. But it began with a stop at the supermarket in town. Some village tours in this area compensate their hosts by way of a monetary payment to the village chief. That isn’t how Old Drift does it. Instead, they first help you buy […]
- Tuesday, January 18 – Trip Diary: Tenderness in Warthogs (2) (Trip Diaries)There’s a line in an old Robert Heinlein book, in which the main character muses about the perfections of female humans, and then adds, “No doubt a gentleman warthog feels the same way about a lady warthog. But if so, both of us are very sincere.”
- Friday, January 14 – Trip Diary: Crocodiles and Rhinos (0) (Trip Diaries)When I was very small, my father used to sing silly things to me, as many parents of small children do. One of his favorites was to sing the words “Heffalumps and Woozles,” from out of the Winnie the Pooh books, to the tune of “Politics and Poker,” from the Broadway musical “Fiorello!” I now understand the compulsion. All day today, I’ve been singing “Crocodiles and Rhinos” to myself, using the same tune.
- Wednesday, January 12 – Trip Diary: Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe (2) (Trip Diaries)The bags were right there when I got back to the airport. I’ve never had such an easy time dealing with an administrative issue. I didn’t even have to give my name — the guy at the luggage desk took one look at me, obviously thought, “Oh right, the white lady who’s picking up this […]
- Friday, January 7 – Seattle to Johannesburg (2) (Trip Diaries)It’s 5:30 in the morning, and I’m lying in bed feeling perfectly content as a baboon chatters outside my window. The birds have a great deal more to say
- Tuesday, January 4 – Last Steps (2) (Trip Planning)Tomorrow afternoon, I’ll be on my way to Africa. It’s really hard to believe, after two and a half years of planning, that it’s happening NOW. I’m packed! Somehow, I have managed to pack everything I need for seven weeks and four different climates in two small, soft-sides suitcases and a carry-on backpack. The climates […]
- Monday, December 27 – Hitting a Wall (0) (Trip Planning)Whoops! I’ve been racing around for the last two weeks, trying to get everything done in preparation for my Africa trip. Uganda visa forms (all my other countries, I can get a visa at the border, but Uganda needs an advance application), yellow fever vaccine (required for the Uganda visa), arranging sufficient medication with my […]
- Saturday, December 25 – Omicron (0) (Trip Planning)So, the new variant of Covid has not succeeded in completely derailing my trip… yet. Crossed fingers and toes, it doesn’t manage after I’ve begun. I had some very hard thinking to do when we started hearing about Omicron. I mean, a brand new, super-infectious form of Covid that wasn’t successfully defended by vaccines, and […]
- Wednesday, December 22 – Wheelin’ (0) (Storytime)When you see her in the evening in a bright green dress Walking fast down the hallway, you might never guess That the lady has a weakness she’s reluctant to confess, No, you might not notice when she’s dancing reels That she made it through the airport on a set of wheels And she still […]
- Saturday, December 18 – My Best Trip Ever (0) (Storytime)I became a travel fanatic when my parents took me to southern France, the year I was fifteen.I had liked travel before that, of course. Usually very much. We had gone to Disneyworld and Chautauqua and London, and even once the island of Guadeloupe. I enjoyed everyplace we went, but it didn’t really translate into […]