Blogs from New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada, North America

“There ain’t no journey that don’t change you some.” - David Mitchell And what a journey we had! We’ve been home for several days now, and I’m rested enough to do my wrap-up blog. We covered a lot of ground over our month long trip, had lots of great experiences, drank lots (beer, wine, spritzes), ate lots (grilled fish, pasta, pizza, gelato), and walked about a million steps, up hills and down hills, up stairs and down stairs 😂. If you‘re thinking of visiting Croatia (which I highly recommend), be prepared for lots and lots of stairs! We travelled in a wide variety of transport on this trip (plane, train, subway, bus, mini van, and a variety of boats), which was lots of fun. We took numerous ferries in Croatia and they were a great way ... read more

I heard an airplane passing overhead. I wished I was on it. - Charles Bukowski And tomorrow, we will be on it! We are so happy to be travelling again, on our long-delayed trip to Croatia. We booked our Croatia trip early in 2020, only to have it cancelled shortly after because, of course, Covid. We are finally able to go, and the timing turned out just perfectly because we are now are able to meet my brother Ross and sister in law Beth in Italy, where they will be travelling, when our Croatia trip finishes. We start our travels in England, visiting Susan's cousin. We'll be staying in Eastbourne, on the south coast, and we'll also have a night in London. The area around Eastbourne looks really lovely and we are looking forward to doing ... read more

The gladdest moment in human life, me thinks, is a departure into unknown lands- Sir Richard Burton I've used the above quote before, but it seems particularly appropriate for this trip. We are beyond excited to finally be travelling again! We are flying to Amsterdam tomorrow, where we will spend four nights. Our B&B is located in central Amsterdam, and we expect to walk to pretty much everything. We've got some activities booked, and hope to have some time where we can just wander around and soak up the atmosphere, since we've never been to Amsterdam before. I'm re-reading Anne Frank's "Diary of a Young Girl", since we will be visiting the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. After Amsterdam we fly to Nairobi where we spend a couple of nights before starting our Kenyan safari. We ... read more

"A good start is half the work" - Irish Proverb We are very excited to be travelling again, this time to Ireland! Our flight to Dublin (via Toronto) leaves mid-day tomorrow, so no crazy early morning required. This trip is shorter than our usual ones, just 12 days from start to finish, but still time to see a variety of the country, and, we are sure, to have many pints of Guinness! We will start our trip in Dublin - and yes, we have our timed entry to the Guinness Storehouse :), and then head out on a 3 day tour of southwest Ireland. Then it's back to Dublin for a few days, followed by several days in Belfast. Like many North Americans, I have Irish ancestry. I grew up with my maternal grandmother telling us ... read more

There is no moment of delight in any pilgrimage like the beginning of it. - Charles Dudley Warner We are very excited to be travelling again, this time to Morocco and Paris! We booked this trip many months ago, and it is hard to believe we are finally (almost) on our way. Our flight leaves Vancouver tomorrow (at the civilized hour of 10 am), and we have a bit of a milk run getting to Casablanca (via Calgary, Halifax, and Paris). As most of you know, Susan works part time for WestJet, and we got a super cheap fare to and from Paris (confirmed not standby), so it was worth it to have a few stops along the way. Ah, Casablanca ... it immediately reminds me of the movie of the same name. My absolute favourite ... read more