Bryan and Miranda
Bryan
Bryan and Miranda
The Travel Blog of Bryan and MirandaBefore meeting Miranda, I was a litigation lawyer who had always loved to travel. As a child, my parents included me on their many trips. It was my idea to see the 1965 New York World's Fair, and in 1968 to travel across North America from Montreal to Seattle. In 1980 I spent a summer exploring America with a Greyhound "Thank You Canada" pass. Americans were grateful to Canada for rescuing hostages being held captive by Iran. (I don't think I paid for a drink on my entire trip and yes, I still feel Americans are the kindest, most generous people in the world.) A couple of years later I bought a Eurail Pass and spent the summer traveling around Europe. I also visited Egypt and Israel.
Miranda was a journalist by profession who shared my love of travel. She had ventured extensively around Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America, studying at Cambridge and Durham (UK). My future wife also went on several luxurious cruises.
Eventually I left Law and found honest work. I met Miranda when I was in seminary and we have kept a travel log since 1985. It is a joint effort — she does most of the writing and I give advice. Since our travel journal has many, many entries, we used literary license, editing our Travel Blog down to 60 postings, combining and reworking material. For example, Cuba: we have gone to Cuba several different winters and visited Matanzas, Havana and Varadero on numerous occasions. All these travels have been telescoped into one entry, where we start off in Havana, travel through Matanzas, finally reaching Varadero.
Our goal was NOT to simply write a vacation blog or holiday blog exploring tourist attractions superficially. We wanted to go beyond the 'tourist culture' to what was at the heart and soul of a people. For this we needed to sojourn in the places we visited and find employment. Our blog is not so much about the places we have visited but rather the stories of the people we met on our travels. We debated whether or not to include excerpts of a 100 year old journal. (The Rev. Fox was a most interesting traveler.) Our decision was to include it and let our readers decide if it worthwhile.
Finally, being an Anglican minister I have always found the different relationships people have with God fascinating. Whether debating my Muslim students in Lahore or my Buddhist students at Thammasat University, it was always great fun and allowed me to see God from different perspectives ... to peek behind the supernatural curtain as it were.
Due to "identity theft" and privacy concerns we have changed some of the names of the people and other aspects of our Travel Blog. Therefore, please do not make comments correcting certain details! If you find your name changed and don't mind having your real name posted, please e-mail us.
Thank you Travel Blog for this great service!
Miranda and Bryan Porter
"A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving."~ Lao Tzu "The World is a Book, and those who do not Travel read only a Page" ~ St.Augustine. "I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move." ~ Robert Louis Stevenson +