All in Travel / Adventure
“Somehow, I always knew that a visit to Asheville, North Carolina, meant a visit to Biltmore. Certain attractions are synonymous with their locations. It was a given, then, to carve out a day to go there while planning an autumn 2025 trip to the area…. Despite the grandeur and lavishness of Biltmore, a palpable vibe of humility reigned for me.”
“On September 26, 2024, the people of western North Carolina were ransacked by Hurricane Helene. The Category 4 storm left utter devastation in her wake… So, in June 2025, two buddies and I decided to take an autumn trip to the hill towns of Hot Springs, Marshall, and Asheville, NC.”
“We pulled up to the dock at Sao Miguel, one of the nine main islands in the volcanic archipelago in May, 2025. Its largest city, Ponta Delgada (pop’n 69,000), is the capital of the Azores, an autonomous region of Portugal. Our one full day there was busy! We went whale-watching on small boats with spotters on the island guiding the skippers…”
“People who know me know I love the various tastes of liquor, liqueur, wine, beer, doesn’t matter. Therefore, imagine my joy to discover that Madeira was on the itinerary during a 2025 springtime journey across the island groups of Macaronesia. But there is much more to Madeira than its famous wine.”
“Raise your hand if you think the Canary Islands were named after the bird. Yes? In fact, the famous yellow bird was named after the islands. Actually, it is said that the name stems back to… an expedition around 40 BCE led by Juba II, king of Mauritania. Juba II called the island group “Canaria” in recognition of the multitude of canes [Latin for “dogs”] of great size he discovered there. Now you know!”
“Patagonia is not a country, but a region at the tip of South America that includes terrain in both Chile and Argentina. It spans the continent from the southern Atlantic Ocean across the Straits of Magellan… Years of wishing to see Patagonia firsthand evolved into reality for two weeks in 2010, when I journeyed there with my hiking/adventure buddy, Margaret Idema.”
“Suddenly, it has been twenty years since our first adventure. My Travel Buddy and I have done some pretty cool stuff…”
“Cabo Verde lies in the Atlantic Ocean 320 nautical miles (370 miles) offshore from Senegal, the westernmost nation of mainland Africa. Despite its diminutive size and remote location, Cabo Verde has played some outsized roles in human history. For one, Cabo Verde was for centuries the first stop for slave ships leaving Africa bound for Brazil, the Caribbean, and the United States. That didn’t end until 1876.”
“I loved being on the water and seeing...nothing. No land. No whales migrating. Almost no pelagic birds. No other ships. Not even aircraft contrails in the sky! Remote places always make me happy. There’s power in the opportunity to remember the Earth as it was before all the buzz and whistle and chaos and confusion of modern life.”
“She’s more than 30 feet long, and has surely come to this beautiful lagoon midway down the west coast of the Baja California peninsula for dozens of winters. I am amazed how she seems simply to emerge, ghostlike at first, then as mottled slate-dark rising from below.”
“During two month-long visits to Prague, I always enjoyed encountering new and various designs in the ubiquitous cobblestone sidewalks of that beautiful city. I found myself enchanted by them on my first visit to the Czech Republic in 2008, and added to my photo collection on the second trip in 2010.”
“My first arrival in Prague in July 2008 was by train, a lucky happenstance. In that way, this exquisite bowl of a city was delivered to me from the rim of the flat plains surrounding it like Brigadoon appearing from the mists.” Thus began an essay written and posted in May 2011 at Design Destinations about a place which remains compelling to me still.
“Where you hang your hat—that’s home, to an adventurer. I love my real home, but when I’m away, it’s nice to know there’s a cozy place nearby ready to restore my weary body. Many times in years of wandering, home has consisted of a sleeping bag and inflatable pad in a backpacking tent… I love living in tents. But my perception of tent living was forever shifted when I joined the Great Walk of Africa in 2013.”
“From the moment I heard about it, the Great Walk of Africa was an adventure I knew I had to have. Imagine being on foot, boots on the ground, kicking up the same dust as the wild animals in Kenya. It instantly became a “must-do” item on my Life List (a term much more appealing to me than “bucket list”).
“In December, 2024, there came seven nights and six days spent crossing the Atlantic Ocean the old-fashioned way—on an ocean liner… our ship, the Queen Mary 2, glided steadily to our destination… which evoked the size and scope of our earth in a beautifully tangible way.”
“Imagine: an unobstructed 360-degree view of just ocean – no birds, no other ships, not even much chance of seeing marine animals. Just the water and the sky and the ship beneath you gliding on a fair day on its way from New York City to Southampton.”
“Japanese toilets nowadays, however, transcend the mundane nature of Western toilets by offering a somewhat bewildering array of techno-options. From what I could discern from the picture icons, there are various bottom-washing options, including the strength, direction, and warmth of the water stream…”
“Among the oldest pilgrimages in the world, the 88 Temple Pilgrimage threads its way through all four prefectures of Shikoku. It mostly traverses the coastline, veering occasionally into the interior regions. “The pilgrimage route is diverse,” says one source. “It winds through quiet picturesque villages, along striking coastlines, across bustling modern cities, and up ancient misty mountains.”.
“Our group of twelve Westerners pauses at the temple gate where the imposing Nio statues stand guard. We are new to the proper etiquette, so Tom, our guide, teaches us to bow upon entering the temple grounds. One of us rings the giant bell to announce our collective arrival…”
“At our hostel on the eve of our return… my three travel buddies and I discussed when to schedule our shuttle… Hmmm, I said. Why don’t we make it 7:15... Always leave time for a flat tire, whispered my inner voice… When the conversation persisted, I said it out loud: “It has served me a time or two to leave time for a flat tire.” Our shuttle picked us up at 7:15 a.m.”
