Changes... I retired at 55 so we could move away from the very hectic Washington DC area to our forever home in the Rocky Mountains. This was the best decision of out lives, but I'm not sure we could have physically done this if we put it off for another decade. There is nothing like moving to where you spent your holidays! Enjoy Norway and England with family and friends...I always enjoy following your blogs. I will be following the steps of my ancestors in Scotland and Sweden the last week of August and the first week of September...35 castles in 12 days. My wife is not joining me even though we share the same family tree from our 12th great grandparents and beyond. The schedule is just too hectic for her. She told me to take good pictures!
Happy anniversary!!! We are also out of the lock down. We only need to practice social distancing and use masks when that is not possible. We also had to cancel our international travels, and will be driving to California in August and Connecticut and Pennsylvania in October to see our families.
I think that this is the first time in world history... that everyone around the globe is doing the same thing! As for travel, I have planned a trip to Scotland in September, but the excitement has gone out of it as I am preparing to cancel if this virus thing continues.
Yes, It Is So So Strange. I feel for you. Having to cancel a long awaited trip is just so disappointing. I hope that we can all look forward to a not to distant future were we can once again start planning a trip.
And I've lost track of how many of your summers I've followed. Time flies. It doesn't sound like you are going to visit other countries on this visit. Have a great summer!
I like your summer plans! I will be walking the Via Francigena pilgrim trial the second half of September. Doubt our paths will cross as you are biking the heal, but if you are in Rome or the Amalfi Cost from 21 to 25 Sep, it would be great to get together for some spaghetti carbonara.
It would be Wonderful to Catch Up. Unfortuantly we are only passing through Rome Airport on the 9th and 19th September. We were on the Amalfi Coast in July 2005 and would love to be heading there again. Sad to say not this time. If you look at the photo of Di on our deck there is set of tiles on the wall showing Amalfi that Di insisted bringing back in our luggage and mounting here. Our hotel was on the point in the picture. It is a magic place. We both sound as though we are in for a great Italian experience.
And a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you! Perhaps our paths will cross in Italy...I'm planning to walk the Via Francigena from Tuscany to Rome the second half of September.
We've been watching a British detective series... Midsomer Murders, which takes place in Corsham and surrounding villages. So enjoy the English countryside!
Enjoying Norway... Having walked the Camino de Santiago last year, I plan to walk the St. Olavsleden this summer walking from the Swedish border to Trondheim. You mentioned that you were interested in the Camino and thought I would let you know that there is also one in Norway.
I love English pubs... yes, I depart for Barcelona, Spain on 4 Sep...13 days! I asked Linda where she wanted to travel next. She said Scotland and Ireland. This fits with my plan to walk Hadrian's wall just like you did. We will likely have one or two bases from which I will take the bus to where I ended the previous day so that she can have the rental car. I understand that there are bus routes services the length of the Wall several times per day. Perhaps you can confirm. Did you use any particular guide book to plan your walk?
Good Luck With The Walk. I will follow your progress as it is something that I would love to try. Planning for Hadrians Wall on my part was rather hap hazard I'm afraid to say and my plans, as always, changed quite a bit as we went along. We had 2 cars with us and we stayed in a cottage near the middle just out of Haltwhistle for 5 nights. We drove to the section that we wanted to walk and Di would pick us up at the end of that section and we would retrieve the other car. We then would start on the next section the next day. We did see the buses and there appeared to be plenty of bus stops. Talking to people they seemed pretty happy with the way this worked. I read most of my info by looking at the guided tours available on the internet. I can tell your a planner and I envy you this as it does take the stress out of where your going to lay your head in the evening.
We seem to like the same things... walking from pub to pub and small quaint English towns. Some day you will have to visit where Capt. Cook was killed on the Big Island of Hawaii...we were there last October.
Happy Face A 'perfect' happy face - you've got three weeks to get the smile turning up the other way! Good luck with Hadrian's wall and hope the knee behaves itself. Off to the super rugby final on Saturday so very excited about that. Let's hope the Hurricanes can do it this year for a change. Enjoy your time in England and we'll look forward to seeing you soon!
In 2012 I retired after 43 years in retail and am now living the dream of following the sun. For some years I have travelled to Norway to visit our son and his family and now I am retired and have more time at my disposal I can include other adventures. In 2012 I had a fantastic experience sailing from Croatia, through the Greek Islands to Turkey. In the coming years I hope to continue seeing more of the world. ... full info
Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
I hope you can also visit Norway and the UK next year...
Now is not the time to stop your traditional travels!