I was debating what to put for this inaugural test travel blog seeing as I donrsquot leave for another three weeks. So instead of a rambling philosophical post about why wersquore traveling how it expands the mind yadda yadda yadda I thought Irsquod start with a look back at the travels Irsquove had in the past and compile a short list of memorable characters Irsquove met alo

It's two weeks before take off and there's much to be done beforehand I've had the whole light packing thing in the back of mind for a while so items are gradually being removed from the suitcase. I was quite satisfied with how much I decided not to bring. I kept thinking of how to make the most of each piece of clothing. One goal for this trip to make up for all the pictures that were not e

ldquoThis is beyond a jokerdquo I said sweat dripping down my face my tshirt already sodden. Since getting off the airport bus at the central station Angela and I had dragged our suitcases through the neonlit city centre of downtown Taipei wondering how the hell we would ever find the hotel. Twenty minutes later after lugging the unluggable luggage up and down an underpass I was ready

Kunming is located approximately in the middle of Yunnan province. It's a metropolis centered among the many popular tourist sites in the region so I guess it is belatedly that I managed to venture out to see more of Yunnan. I finally got around to it when my mom was visiting among the many options we decided to go northwest. The first leg of our trip was a 45minute flight to Lijiang.First

Hello all. The entry for Rich's birthday should have been July 29th not August 13th So sorry

The drive into Colorado Springs was plagued by lots and lots of road construction an occurrence we have encountered throughout the country. Funded primarily from federal stimulus money the road construction has clearly put many people back to work. Bummer that it's in the middle of the longest road trip of our lives thus far anyways. The two lane highways are merged into one lane where t

There is a buzz around China at the moment. No not that misfiring scooter thatrsquos just gone past but a more permanent buzz Shanghairsquos World Expo.The World Expo is showcase for the World. Each country has a pavillion the size of which being dictated by the size of itrsquos political ego showing titbits that aim to represent and flaunt each countryrsquos virtues. Itrsquos on

Semana passada um amigo chegou em casa com um pedacinho de papel na mo. Era promoo de um curso de dana latinoamericana muito Carlinhos de Jesus comum por aqui. Salsa Rumba Merengue e Cha cha cha tudo patrocinado por um casal posado no folheto numa daquelas fotos de coxo levantado embaixo da sainha de franja. Logo me perguntou se eram brasileiros mas ja tinha visto de longe tambm pe

Today our leaving day.It seems impossible that our trip is done and we are now packing to go home. At this point we're quite efficient in our morning packing for day trips but somehow planning for the trip home seems inefficient to our travels There is so much world to explore it would be a wonderful life to wander and discover Alas it is time to go home and share all our stories and experi

So we have spent the last week exploring the beaches at Ao Nang. Krabi and Ko Phi Phi. The first day we had in Krabi we did the four island trip which pretty much does what it says on the tin. There were 7 of us english people on the trip and quite a few little monkeys. We liked it so much Chris and I are going back to do it again A couple of days later we kayaked around Krabi. This started rea

Sorry for the lack of blogs but now i'll try to make up for it. We have been skiing for the first three days since my last entry and we haven't had lots to blog about. I'll breifly sum up those 3 days.On the first day we went to Cardrona which is one of the ski fields near queenstown. To be honest it was a bit of a disappointment because it is only good for snowboarders.For the next two days we

Well we made it to Idaho and there was no sign of Keanu Reeves before any of you ask... We stayed in the town of Bonners Ferry where we discovered they sell surprisingly cheap liquor. We crossed back into Canada last Wednesday and headed up via Creston to Kootenay Lake. We spent a very pleasant couple of hours at Lockhart Beach lying in the blazing sunshine before heading north again

Tuesday August 10thPuno Day 2 Uros Amantani IslandsBetween the high altitude and having dozed frequently before getting to Puno we both had a very bad night's sleep. We tried to sleep at 8pm or so but after tossing and turning and having strange mininightmares I got up at midnight and went for a walk. I had to bother the hotel security guy since the door was locked. I walked down the

Puno Day 3Wednesday August 11thI did actually get some more sleep at about 330am. I woke up a bit past 6am and found my wife was already up and taking photos of sheep. After the necessities we were served breakfast by Valentina. Breakfast consisted of crepes with a strawberry marmalade a hard boiled egg and coffee. Everything was very good. After eating and before leaving we paid Vale

After a week's hard work at the elephant sanctuary we had a day to rest in Chiang Mai before trekking. Neither Hannah nor I had been feeling very well on the last few days of the sanctuary so it was also a chance to recover pool reading and even managed to venture to Doi Suthep in the afternoon a temple high up on a hill took a tuktukBy the following day I was feeling much better but Hann

Very close to our hotel just a few blocks really is a wonderful community park a world away from the traffic and noise in the rest of the city. We have gone there both mornings that we have had free time cannot seem to get there early enough to see elderly men and women doing the slow graceful movements of tai chi but still get there in time to see other activities such as musicians playing

Woke up so excited to see Anna and Jon todayThey arrived at 930 in their chariot a Nissan Note to pick us up to take us into the English countrysideWill start on the monument to Anna straight away as she brought along my new credit card so glad to be back in the 20th century.On the way we pass Windsor Castle in the distance. Drove to country pub for lunch in Turville Village this is where

The cold temperatures seemed to be following us throughout Bolivia and they didn't sound to be any better in Chile. Brian and I felt bad but ended up canceling our trip to northern Chile. The thought of spending all that money airfare hotel and visas which were 135 per person to deal with more cold temps and unheated rooms just didn't make sense. Several family members had mentioned Rio Selva

Hey is anybody reading these blogs Where are your comments anywayAs we headed back to Anchorage from Seward we enjoyed one breathtaking vista after another for hours. There were steep kelly green mountains with snowfields near the tops and in the shady clefts. The sun came out for about five minutes at noon then there were clouds again. We set up at Aunt Jean's again threw in some laundry a

Caras Alegres means happy faces in Spanish and it is the name of the after school program that I have been working with this week. I am so thankful that I was able to get plugged in so quickly. It is located in a section of Xela called Las Rosas near a very poor barrio. There is a free school for these kids called Edelac on the premises that is sponsored by a nonprofit hiking company in Xela. H