After my shower, I looked in the mirror at my back, and was shocked at the giant red welts. I had just arrived from Ethiopia, and had been attacked by tse-tse flies yesterday. Under normal circumstances, I would be alarmed enough at what I was looking at, but I was even more freaked by the realization that I was about to set off on the Kili climb with some kind of allergic reaction.
There is a lot more to my dad outside of his travel biography, but I really don’t know that much about it. And, if you asked him about me, I am not sure he would be able to tell you very much.
One of my most favorite parts of my role at SunFunYou is that I do my best to ensure the adventures are right for each person – whatever that means.
I’ve never been to Yemen…and it has been devastating to watch the country fall apart, and its people become exposed to war and starvation. I have never been to Yemen, but from the comfort and safety of my home my spirit sinks with disappointment as I follow its developments.
And, because my mom traveled so often, she would feed our shared addiction with a continuous supply of books she had purchased at the airport and read on her latest flights. My bookshelves are full of these books from her, books she would hand to me after she finished them. We would talk about them with warmth, and without any fear of tripping each other’s sensitive emotional landmines.
I’ve never been bull riding, but I imagine it’s like tubing, especially when our captain is pulling the tube! I really miss tubing! I have a chronic tubing injury 🤣 so I can’t go anymore. It’s been years now of watching guests partake while I sit on the sidelines.
I love tasting, feeling, experiencing, learning about the places I go, learning the local history and culture. And food!
One of the wonderful results of traveling to places is the sense of affinity I now have with that city/state/country. After I’ve been there, whenever I see it in a newspaper or magazine, or hear it discussed in the news, I listen with more rapt attention than I would have before. And, when I am reading a novel, or watching a TV show or movie that is set in that locale, I am that much more tuned in and engaged.
For anyone who has ever used a navigation system, and driven (or walked) beyond where the map has coverage, you were probably prompted with a message warning you that, “You are not on a digitized road,” meaning that the detailed directions will cease, and you are on your own until you return back to civilization.
I love travel that challenges me physically. I am in no way a fitness fanatic, but there’s something exhilarating about proving to yourself that you can accomplish with your body what your mind set out to. Surf camp, yoga retreats, trekking excursions, I’ve done them all. I’m also a control freak and could never understand why so many of the adventures I signed up for were one-size-fits-all. Not everyone is one size!
I think so. Because to me, New Orleans is sexy.
After having no idea what was going on for hours, and getting up to board for every flight that was departing, only to be told “non”, I learned that apparently “the plane needs to be plugged in and charged, so we will be taking off at 11am”???
I think in this kind of situation where frustration feeds off frustration, and since I was by myself I was happy just to sit and wait. If I had been with someone else I am sure I would have been agitated. There were 6 other Americans also waiting, 2 men I didn’t meet, 2 women from Miami (Nancy and Arlina) and 2 women from outside Atlanta (Barbara and Suzy).
I love road trips. And boat trips. And train trips. And, not coincidentally, some of my favorite books involve those very trips…
And, we’ve started to have backgammon competitions on each of our Voyages, which are an absolute hoot! The first step is teaching everyone the Turkish rules, (captain’s boat, captain’s rules) and training the novices in the basics of the game. Then, we draw brackets and let the games begin. We’ve had some unlikely upsets, which is what brackets are all about, really. And, it’s a great way for people who may not know each other well to spend some quality time together.
This year my sister and I took her kids to England. And, we missed our mom a lot! But I know she was smiling down on us as we took the kids to see Paddington Station, and to have high tea with marmalade.
At first it was odd to me that I kept wanting to go on the same Voyage. I have travelled the world, and rarely visit the same place twice (except when I’m with my niece and nephew who want to always revisit the same summer house in Michiana – now I know why!). In my travels I always planned something new. That was actually one of my goals (in my matrix…yes…my traveling planning matrix). I felt it was almost a disservice to myself if I retread the same ground. But then…I met the Blue Voyage.
