“The natural history of this archipelago is very remarkable: it seems to be a little world within itself.” ~Charles Darwin, Voyage of the Beagle Our zodiac had been bouncing along the Pacific at a steady clip for about ten minutes when suddenly groves of trees appeared in the open waters, lining both sides of a narrow … Read More
Getting to the Galápagos Islands is not the easiest of travel tasks. The Pacific Ocean archipelago lies about 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, with 19 islands and dozens of small islets spread across both sides of the equator. Visitors must first travel to Quito or Guayaquil and arrange a flight to one of … Read More
“Love the earth and sun and the animals.” ~Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass Early morning light was washing over the golden grassy landscape of Santiago Island, creating a soft and moody scene. Lava rock in wavy, striated sculptural formations lined the back side of the beach, with low-hanging branches spilling over onto the black sand. Our … Read More
Threatening-looking clouds were hovering overhead as we left our hotel for the historic city center of Quito. Herb and I were taking a tour of the old colonial city with a group of eight other travelers before our upcoming week in the Galápagos Islands. With rain jackets tucked safely inside our backpacks, we had come … Read More
Oh, Norway. Traveling above the Arctic Circle has been simmering on the back burner for quite some time. Herb and I were set to visit the Land of the Midnight Sun in June 2020, but happily cancelled our plans when our daughter announced that we would become grandparents in July. That June trip, of course, … Read More
“Don’t it always seem to go That you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.” Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi A few days ago, my yet-to-meet travel friend Bob wrote a beautiful piece of advice from his recent travels for a cruisecritic.com trip report. Bob and his wife Jeannie were nearing the end of … Read More
“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt Bucket lists are a curious thing. There are the splashy, someday places we dream about that often take a lifetime to reach. And then there are the little aspirations, … Read More
“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language And next year’s words await another voice.” ~T.S. Eliot, Little Gidding I’m not exactly certain how it all began, but one New Year’s Day in the early 2000s, our family decided to head out on a walk along the La Jolla coast. As we welcomed a … Read More
It has been six weeks since returning from France, and I’m still looking back with a bit of wonder at how well everything worked out. With parts of the world slowly beginning to open up and the plethora of ever-changing Covid protocols, it was a precarious time to venture beyond the borders of our home … Read More
“Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces Little darling, it seems like years since it’s been here Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo, here comes the sun And I say it’s all right.” ~George Harrison, Here Comes the Sun I left Paris wanting to write a thank-you note. A curious idea, perhaps. But after being … Read More