“It was a nice mid-winter day in July when my friend Steeve and I set out from Namibia’s capital city of Windhoek with our exceptional guide, Ian Brown. This meant the temperatures were nicely tolerable, instead of the extreme swelter of summer. The week ahead would take us around the southern half of the driest sub-Saharan country in Africa, where most areas get less than 2" of rain per year.”
“I treasure the way Thanksgiving is so unassuming. It is outward-facing. It is simple, and demands nothing in return. It offers space for quiet gratitude for the positive and good things of the world and its people. Thanksgiving is about so much more than gorging on a dressed-up meal and getting out the door to the Black Friday sales.”
“…I have always admired Queen Elizabeth II. Say what you want about the monarchy, the woman herself was truly special. Her reign of seventy-plus years included giving birth to four children while (oh by the way) serving an Empire. Time and world events pressed in constantly, but somehow she maintained steady, reliable composure in the face of innumerable governmental, personal and social conflicts. Impressive.”
“The idea of visiting Norway tantalized me for years. In May 2022, my ticket finally got punched to spend two weeks in Svalbard, and then two weeks hiking with a group of new friends on the Norwegian mainland. What better way to see such a beautiful place than to put your feet on the ground.”
I had never heard of the Lofoten Islands until I read this: “Take in the magnificent archipelago within the Arctic Circle, with its jagged peaks, sheltered bays of bright blue water, white sand beaches, and windswept grasslands.” A visit there was being pitched as “the grand finale” of an itinerary to Norway. Of course, I was immediately intrigued.
“It has been a year of unleashed wanderlust, after the restraints of the Covid era. I thank my good fortune plus the ability to spend my time as I see fit (even though I am not retired!) plus that all-important ingredient: gumption. These are what enable my adventures out into the world.”
“July 14, 2022: Please don’t do it. My fingers fumble on the mini-keyboard of my cell phone, trying to input the required information, but it is not going well. Sandeep is trying to help me. He’s a nice man, but he will have to close the jetway door in five minutes. I urge silently, please don’t do it, Sandeep. Please! Please!”
“For two years (thank you, Covid), reservations for a three-night stay in Norway’s second-largest city lingered, awaiting my eventual arrival. At last! The opportunity came and I grabbed it. I’ll just put it out there: I fell in love with Bergen.”
“Walruses! These giant, bushy-‘stached, improbable creatures with those enormous canine tusks erupting from within their fleshy mouths have always intrigued me. They especially captured my attention when Fridtjof Nansen wrote about various walrus encounters in Farthest North around the same time I learned I was joining a small group in the Arctic waters of Svalbard in June 2020.”
“After a frustrating stutter-start of two years (thank you, Covid), a group of twelve like-minded souls set off at last on a small ship in the far North. We shared the common goal of searching for polar bears living in their own authentic world on and near the tiny archipelago of Svalbard… It is amazing how such a tiny dot on the map could be so stunning. How easy it would be to get lost in its immensity.”
“Known for having more snow machines (snowmobiles) than automobiles, Svalbard’s capital town of Longyearbyen (pop. 2400 in 2019) is at the latitude of 78 degrees North, making it the northernmost community of greater than 1,000 inhabitants in the world…”
“We went to Nazaré at the suggestion of my longtime friend and master trip organizer, Linda. Our group of six had just completed our main objective and rode the bus two hours north of Lisbon to Nazaré for a couple of days of relaxation before leaving this delightful nation. I was wowed.”
“You know: Odeceixe. Portugal. No, I’d never heard of it, either, until my friend Linda made me walk there for the final leg of our four days on the Fishermen’s Trail… The cool thing about Odeceixe is the way its unusual name reminds me how much there is I do not know about this world.”
“Our primary goal in Portugal in April was to trek 76km (47miles) along the eastern edge of the Atlantic Ocean along the famous Fishermen’s Trail… The easy two hour ride south from Lisbon took us to the quiet seaside resort town of Porto Covo, where our walk began.”
“With my attention on the long walk we had ahead, I entered Lisboa, as the locals call it, a bit haphazardly… My delightful but too-brief introduction to this captivating city will surely draw me back someday. Situated on seven hills (as so many famous cities are), Lisboa is chock full of interesting history, beautiful sights, and welcoming people.”
“I am only one person. What difference can I make?” It’s a phrase that knocks around in my head every time I broach the idea of somehow combating the scourge of plastics. How could I possibly make any difference in the tsunami of plastic waste which is already in the world and increasing every minute?”
“Travel” implies movement, going from one place to another. I am always mindful of my good fortune to have the health and gumption and ability to go. It’s not quite the same as a holiday or vacation trip. To me, travel is about duration and distance, the farther and longer the better.”
“…like water, life moves in waves that are mostly akin to normal tides, coming and going the same regular way we move along our everyday baseline routines. Some of our life-waves are gigantic and crash hard… Then there are those that rise like a surfer’s dream, higher and higher to be ridden with joy and pleasure…”
“The contender arrives at the start of the event believing in the possibilities, and more often than not goes home without “winning.” The contender is a lost name, over time. Who ever remembers even those with the silver or bronze medals, much less no prize at all?”
“From low in the eastern sky, the waning crescent moon shone into my window at 3:18 this morning. After an hour, I decided to get up and have a good long visit with this moon. It beckoned me, first through the eastern window from my bed, and, once I yielded, through the south-facing glass slider door by the fishpond.”
