EL CAMINO de SANTIAGO Planning My living room was a morass of camping and hiking gear almost from the moment that my daughter, Lauren, agreed to go with me on this adventure; walking the French Way - 500 miles from St. Jean Pied de Port, France to Santiago, Spain. I thought, with this early start, things would automatically divide themselves into equipment and clothing to carry in my back pack and that which we would leave behind. Preparation for hiking the Camino was also an opportunity to eliminate unnecessary items from our hiking closet. I anticipated wrapping up this part of the preparation in a week or less and then I could enjoy with anticipation, the comfortable, light weight pack beaming at me as it stood against the wall waiting for the big day, the departure ... read more

INDONESIA - MY CUP RUNNETH OVER There is nothing quite like going on a dive trip and staying for a week or two. I usually plan at least two days of diving when I go to a new country, and as you can see…sometimes I do many more. This is my second trip to Lembeh Straits in Sulawesi, Philippines. It is a marvelous place. I like dive resorts, and dive live-aboards, where the emphasis is on diving. But I also like smaller dive shops so my hotels or hostels are in local neighborhoods and I get to see more of the culture and the people of the country. This trip, which started on December 5th and ended on February 9th was a good mix of diving and travel. I started by joining a friend from my ... read more

INDONESIA – CORNUCOPIA OF THE SEA I woke up to sunny weather and waited till after the dive boat left the dock at 7:30 a.m. before leaving my comfortable bed and searching out food and friends at NAD dive resort. I fought the temptation to grab my camera and run out and join the other divers doing the morning dives, but the first day of diving, although thrilling, had left me almost sick with exhaustion and a fierce headache. I decided to take the morning off, on day two, to rest and recuperate. Traveling from Santiago, Chile to Lembeh Straits in Indonesia had been a two day endurance test of flights and lay-overs. I went to breakfast. There were a few other guests who were relaxing, rather than diving. I ordered eggs and toast and ate ... read more

SANTIAGO, CHILE IMPRESSIONS I arrived in Santiago in the dark. The taxi was overpriced and that makes me cranky. I smoothed my own feathers, not liking the persona of the grumpy old woman tourist. I forced myself to chat amicably with the taxi driver, and when we arrived at the hotel I allowed the driver to carry my bags into the hotel, which I do myself, all the time. The driver stood in the lobby waiting for a tip and all I had was a fifteen dollar bill in local currency, forcing me to hand it to him. It left a really bad taste in my mouth. Not an auspicious beginning to my stay. I am ashamed to say I had no expectations for Chile. Santiago was simply the point of embarkation to my next dive ... read more

SEVEN DAYS AND SEVEN NIGHTS Machu Picchu, voted one of the 7 Wonders of the World Michael was a great help in planning this trip. He has already been to Chile and Peru and gave me ball park dates for this part of the trip. He suggested a couple of days in Lima because I am not big on municipal buildings and museums. I enjoyed my time there, just resting and relaxing, and squeezing in my Nazca trip. I settled on seven days for Machu Picchu, which as it turned out, included Aguas Calientes and Cusco. I totally enjoyed Cusco. It was small enough to get around on foot. I don’t demand too much of myself when I visit another country. I just look at what there is to see and how much I want to ... read more