Notes from Home: Those Post-Travel Blues

June 13, 2016Notes from Home

“It is a strange thing to come home. While yet on the journey, you cannot at all realize how strange it will be.” ~Selma Lagerlöf I remember the feeling as if it happened yesterday. We were home from vacation – a four-day cruise off the coast of California – and I was standing at the … Read More

Dalian, China: Not Quite Ready for Prime Time Touring

January 20, 2016China

Our cruise on the Crystal Symphony from Hong Kong to Beijing was packed with famous and fascinating places – a trip of a lifetime, as people often say. The final stop before disembarking in Beijing, however, was a bit of a mystery. Dalian, China – a financial center and seaport in northeastern Liaoning Province and … Read More

Notes from Home: Beginning

January 2, 2016Notes from Home

It was early September 1974 when my college friend Jan and I arrived in London for our semester study abroad program. It was my first trip beyond the United States – with the exception of Canada, but growing up in Minnesota, I never counted Canada as “foreign” – and my first flight across the Atlantic. We … Read More