We arrived in Spain on what has to be one of, if not the bumpiest flight I have ever been on, good thing I´m good at a joking laugh and feigning confidence...... because Venny was a mess. Despite the turbulence we arrived in good form and hopped a bus from the airport to our first stop, Malaga. Malaga Malaga is a mid-sized city on the southern coast of Spain, I had always heard good things about the city so I was looking forward to finding a room and getting out to see the sights. We did three nights in and around the town and there was quite a bit to see.... and on top of that a beach which is always a worthy distraction in itself. We actually celebrated Venny's birthday here at of all ... read more

Paris Paris Paris.... I had always resisted visiting Paris and it was never on my list of places to do as it seemed to be too overdone and overhyped and seemed like any other metropolitan city, just in another country. I´m glad to say that I was wrong and it ended up being a nice lil surprise for me. We arrived in Paris in typical Redmond style..... looking like deer in the headlights trying to figure out which was is up and which direction leads where with no hotel reservations, no map and an inkling of the French language (After a few countries you realise the futility of trying to learn another language in a week and a half and learn the basics and throw yourself at the mercy of pigeon language, body language and multi-lingual ... read more

Morocco huh, who put that on the itinerary.......... oh was it me?!?!?!? Morocco was bit of a doozy as far as travel destinations go. The country is alot less accessible than other places we have visited and it took more out of you to function within its borders, that being said it was not just a sit back and everyone can kinda understand english kinda place (Dont even try to learn Moroccan Arabic, which is different than standard Arabic and only understood in Morocco and parts of Algeria.... french gets you by though) and it was more difficult to maneuver than anywhere else we travelled so far...... as the title says, same planet different world. Morocco was a mix of ups and downs. For every good experience like the beautiful city like Essaouira, there was a ... read more

Zanzibar Island Zanzibar is a small island off the coast of Tanzania and of note because of its beaches and rich culture. The island has always served as an important shipping destination throughout time and has African, Arab and European architectural and cultural influences................ makes for an interesting mix. We left the mainland and took the 2 hour ferry ride to Zanzibar, upon arrival oddly enough we had to go through customs again even though the island is part of Tanzania. Later we would find out from the locals that they operate somewhat different from the mainland and actually want independence as they feel underserved by the mainland government..... later as we traveled the island I could see some of what they were talking about as the roads to major income producing areas of the ... read more

Bangkok We arrived in Thailand after a short flight from Saigon and played a brief bout of where to and how much with the usual mob of taxi drivers. We haggled for a while before finding out there is a bus for $1.50 apiece that drops us off right at the infamous Khaosan Road (Taxi drivers wanted $15+). Khaosan Road Khaosan Road is known as a "tourist ghetto" of sorts and has a host of bare bones rooms w/a bed, small T.V. and a bathroom down the hall. One of the places even showed me a maintenance room converted into a hotel room and told me not to leave the lights on when we were out because it might start a fire......... gotta love it. We looked at a bunch of places before going a ... read more