Doug Gschwind

Welcome to my travel blog. Thus far, I have shared a few of my recent trips, some highlights below :

1) Japan, Sep 2014. With the allure of a very foreign culture to me, non-English speaking, Hiroshima, Tokyo, Shinkansen (bullet trains), Tsukiji fish market, and Sumo wrestling, it was time for a two week break from life and traveled to Japan for the second half of September. Wow, what an amazing place, just loved every minute I spent there exploring.
2) On assignment in Berkeley, CA (Sep 2008 - Apr 2009). I explored the San Francisco Bay area in some detail during the weekends I was there and not working, which was generally every other weekend. I got as far South as Carmel and Big Sur, and as far North as Point Reyes, Sonoma, Napa, St. Helena, and Calistoga.
3) New Zealand and Sydney Australia (Feb 2008)

If you haven't yet traveled very far or wide, as I hadn't prior to my trip to New Zealand in 2008, I highly recommend you just get out there and do it! It is amazing how it can change your perspective. Feel free to shoot me a question if you are thinking of visiting any of the places I have and would like any advice I might have to share.

Happy Travels,

Doug

Close Encounters of the Javelina Kind

North America » United States » Arizona » Tucson January 8th 2021

Doug Gschwind

Was a really nice weather day in Tucson, about 74 degrees this January day, and I took advantage and played nine holes at the url=https://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-information/golf-courses/details/tussp-jw-marriott-tucson-starr-pass-resort-and-spa/33581/Coyote 9 at the url=https://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-information/golf-courses/tussp-jw-marriott-tucson-starr-pass-resort-and-spa/Starr Pass Golf Club . I ended up not being paired with anyone as there were really no other groups playing that 9 in the afternoon as I was. As I was walking up the 8th fairway to find my ball for my third shot to the par 5, I discovered that there were not people working behind the green, but rather a group of Javelina or Collared Peccary, luxuriati... read more

Solmar Resort

North America » Mexico » Baja California Sur » Cabo San Lucas November 28th 2016

View from my room

Doug Gschwind

I chose to stay at the Solmar, which I thought was a fairly good value. Things were well appointed without being a hugely upscale experience financially. I would stay there again. I think their water is actually fairly well treated, but I still used bottle water the entire time I was there just in case and that worked out just fine. As part of the package I had, I was given free "American Breakfast" every day at one of their snack bars. Turned out to be a really nice breakfast every day with ham, scrambled eggs, some rice, some tortillas, and a very fresh fruit salad. They took some time with food presentation as well, and once I noticed that, figured out the food would be pretty good and was right about that. Solmar and Grand ... read more

Lands End

North America » Mexico » Baja California Sur » Cabo San Lucas November 28th 2016

Grand Solmar Resort

Doug Gschwind

On my last morning I decided to stroll the beach of Lands End, mostly to check out its West end. It is referred to as Lands End due to the fact that if you head directly South from it, you won't touch land again until you reach Antarctica.... read more

Hike Above Lands End

North America » Mexico » Baja California Sur » Cabo San Lucas November 27th 2016

The day's cruise ship

Doug Gschwind

I had a couple of hours before my sportfishing charter was to depart the marina, so decided to do the hike above Lands End to see what kind of views it offered. The hike up was worth it. I did however hike in my Keen sandals, and they were not quite the right footwear for the job but managed to get the hike in without any disasters. There are parts of the hike that are steep with rock and cactus, so falling down could prove painful. In think the round trip took me about 80 minutes. I did take my time on the way up and the way back. The path up is steep at the end, which means pretty tricky coming back down.... read more

Sportfishing Lite

North America » Mexico » Baja California Sur » Cabo San Lucas November 27th 2016

Mr. Peter

Doug Gschwind

I note this as sportfishing "lite" since the boat I chartered wasn't really set up to fish for Marlin. We were however set up to fish for Roosterfish and Dorado (i.e. Mahi-Mahi or Dolphinfish), although on this day we would be lead to believe that there were no Dorado in the immediate waters of Cabo San Lucas. I really just wanted to dabble in sportfishing, and I certainly didn't want to wake up at 5am and then be on the water for 8 hours, although I did like the idea of a shared boat. But, shared boats are 8 hour trips, so I opted to charter a 17' "Panga" with Mr. Peter. We departed the marina at 1pm and would be out for three hours or so. A "Panga"can accommodate three people on board, but there ... read more

Ecocat Cruise

North America » Mexico » Baja California Sur » Cabo San Lucas November 26th 2016

Sunset Cabo Style

Doug Gschwind

It was a fun day of snorkeling, so I decided to get on one of those "Booze Cruise" kind of things they have, and was shooting for a ride on Sun Rider . Sadly, Sun Rider was booked, so I was instead able to find a spot on the Ecocat , this enormous ( guessing it was 70') catamaran that offers a very similar service. Was a nice night for it, cool folks on board. Music on board, drinks were a flowin'.... read more

Snorkeling

North America » Mexico » Baja California Sur » Cabo San Lucas November 26th 2016

Santa Maria

Doug Gschwind

I did little research before arriving into Cabo San Lucas, but was looking for Eagle Diverswhen I got there. I ended up doing all my snorkeling with them and found their guide knowledgeable, safety conscious, fun, and picked up garbage from the sea floor if he found any. I visited three separate snorkeling areas on this day : Santa Maria bay, Chileno Bay, and a marked area about halfway between the Marina and El Arco. Santa Maria is a generally not too deep bay with little coral to be concerned of swimming into, although some does exist. It appears getting into the Santa Maria waters from the beach right there would be really easy. Chileno Bay is more known for its Brain Coral and I found them mostly be green in color. The last spot was ... read more

Cabo San Lucas : Exploring

North America » Mexico » Baja California Sur » Cabo San Lucas November 25th 2016

Sun Rider Sunset Cruise in progress

Doug Gschwind

This was my first day in Cabo, so the attached photos are just from the things I found interesting that day on my walk mostly around the Marina. Oh, I had never seen this before either : A Sea Lion riding the swim platform on a fishing boat while being fed and petted by a guy on the stern. ... read more

Explore the North Shore

North America » United States » Hawaii » Oahu December 1st 2015

Shark's Cove

Doug Gschwind

I had never visited the North Shore prior to this day, so rented a car in Waikiki and made the short drive to check out Shark's Cove, its highly touted Shave Ice (which did not disappoint), Pipeline, Turtle Bay Resort, and whatever else I could find along that stretch of road.... read more

USS Bowfin at Pearl Harbor

North America » United States » Hawaii » Oahu » Honolulu November 30th 2015

Standing the test of time

Doug Gschwind

I ran out of time the first time I made it to Pearl Harbor to check out the USS Bowfin , so made a trip back to Pearl Harbor this day to see it. While it is cool to see one of these remnants of World War II, it is a quick tour and was USD $12 on my visit. There is only one deck within the sub to view, so it won't take much time to check it out, from the torpedo tubes in the bow back to the torpedo tubes in the stern.... read more

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