Back in 2009, you followed Eric and I on our round the world trip, the M.P. After a few years in the U.S., we are back out on the road, again. This could have been called the M.P. 2, but it is a permanent journey, so it is now the L.P. or Life Plan!! Follow my new travel blog at www.ashworldtravel.com. Just like before, you can add your email address on the right side of the website. You will receive a confirmation email - just click on the link provided to confirm your subscription. Feel free to forward the blog along to any friends who are interested in travel as well!!! Thanks for your support in the past. I appreciate it!!... read more

Our Last Stay of the M.P. - Back to Basics on the Beach In the morning we moved locations, to the final stay of the M.P. I could not believe it had arrived. We moved to the Westin Nusa Dua, for our last stay on Starwood points. Nusa Dua contains a collection of four and five star resorts with incredible looking security. We had to pass through a checkpoint to enter the hotel complex. We passed another security checkpoint to enter the Westin. And, remarkably different from every other hotel we have stayed at; we needed to walk through a metal detector to enter the lobby. It did not make the arrival feel as relaxed and welcoming and, frankly, it did not make us interested in leaving much either. The area the hotel was in ... read more

After several months tramping through South America and Europe and committing numerous sins of gluttony, from the pasta, wine and cheese to the steak and Quilmes, I admit that I gorged over the past few months. The start of our stay in Bali began to rectify the problem, with smaller portions, less drinking, and massages. Ubud, in the center of Bali took it one step forward and allowed me to heal my body and repent for the damage done during the glutinous tour of the western world. Ubud is known for three things, rice terraces, massage, and yoga. Sign me up. Healing the Body First, massage. We made the most of the cheap and pretty decent massage and spa offerings in Ubud. I am too cheap to pay for massages in the US, at an average ... read more

A Temporary Settlement After just over one year on the road, a temporary settlement was in order. It was not merely the packing and unpacking it was more the planning. I was tired of the planning - always looking for some place to stay, especially now that we were in expensive Europe. Whereas in Asia it was nice to find a good deal, in Europe everything was just so expensive, even hostels. So, I wanted to stop moving, and stop planning. We arrived in the small town of La Iruela, in the Andalucian Mountains in Spain. As the tiny rental car chugged its way from Valencia, we headed into cold February weather. The closer we came to La Iruela, the more snow we saw on the ground. At first it was only on the hills ... read more

Ryan Air is not my favorite airline. It has its purpose. It is generally a cheap airline to fly if you live in Europe and can travel for a trip with less than 10 kilograms in a small suitcase. We wanted to travel from Italy to Spain, across France, by train. I am getting tired of flying, particularly short distances. I wanted to spend my time in Europe on a train. But, any combination of trains from major cities in Italy to Barcelona, with any combination of stopovers in one of the three countries was outrageously expensive, generally involving an overnight train (which I have no problem with) for at least $300. When it came time to finally book, however, the price had increased to $600. No way Jose. Our Ryan Air flight from Bologna cost ... read more

We left Rome to head to Tuscany, to continue my love affair with Tuscan cuisine - truffles and wild boar. I can’t help it. We boarded the train in Rome and after several connections on many regional trains, we arrived at the Siena train station. When we emerged I immediately felt it was a bit colder than I expected. As we made our way farther north from Rome it became colder and colder. Why did we not go to Sicily? To get to the historic center, we crossed under the main road, walked through a small shopping center, to find the bus to take us up into the walled city on the hill. We had to wait almost 30 minutes outside for the bus, and once it arrived, we were on the bus for less than ... read more