Just hearing the name of this fabled archipelago brings up images of slanted houses, a melting pot culture, and the vibrant turquoise sea. Continue reading
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Foto Friday
They say the lion is the King of the Jungle. You only need spend a short time in Africa to realize they are absolutely correct. We’ve seen many of these majestic creatures during our time there, this handsome fellow was in the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania. (and we were close enough that this was NOT taken w/ a zoom!) Enjoy
The Difference Between the Life You Live and the Live you Choose
On our quest for a life less ordinary, we are always searching out those who inspire us, whether it be fellow travelers, authors, or even movies. We thrive on others who are CHOOSING their life, rather than following the path of least resistance.
Over the course of our journey we have received a great deal of support from friends and family, even when they didn’t understand our motivations.
We have just as often dealt with the cynicism of the majority. The naysayers who said we were crazy. The critics who “knew” all would end in tragedy. The negative voices who whispered phrases such as “this must be a mid-life crisis”. Continue reading
Foto Friday
Bryce Canyon, one of our favorite spots on earth! During our drive around the United States we spent several days here, hiking amongst the spires and enjoying the other-wordly rock formations.
Camping Heaven – Trout Creek Campground
Trout Creek campground is a special spot, in fact, I hesitate to even write about it because I don’t want to ruin one of Oregon’s hidden gems. In the end, however, it is simply too good not to share.
Part of the joy of Trout Creek is the scenery en-route to the campground. Anyone driving from Portland first experiences the majesty of Mt. Hood before crossing into the sagebrush strewn high desert that is Central Oregon. Continue reading
Dinner at the Ronald McDonald House
Saturday night we, once again, prepared dinner for the Ronald McDonald House of Portland. There are two such houses in town, and are a continuing inspiration to us.
The houses were created in 1982 by several organizations that realized that families whom had to travel to Portland so their sick children could get treatment at OHSU and Doernbecher Childrens Hospital had no comfortable and convenient place to stay. The west side house offers 17 room and the east side 16 rooms. Both are very comfortable with full kitchens, living rooms, and a semblance of a home, so, even while families spend much of their time at the hospital they have a place to spend their free time. Continue reading
Foto Friday
Today’s photo was taken on the sand dunes near Mui Ne, Vietnam. Mui Ne is a wonderful beach town with some gorgeous dunes and is the fish sauce making capital of Vietnam.
Fijian Fun
Our porter, an enormous man wearing a traditional sulu, pointed to the right and said “your room is that direction”. We headed off at our normal, harried, city pace and rounded two corners before we realized we’d left him, and our bags, in the dust. Not knowing where our room was, we backtracked to find him sauntering down the path with a smile on his face that indicated he was familiar with westerners needing to take a bit to adapt to the (very) slow pace of Fijian life.
Frazzled? Yes, we were. Continue reading
The Power of a Sundowner
Around the world, Sundown is a time of reverence. People pause for a moment in their day to pay homage to the power of mother nature and acknowledge the continuance of life, moving into the next day.
On thing we miss here at home is the USA is the practice of a sundowner, taking a few minutes to stop and enjoy the moment. We have made a commitment to re-introduce this into our daily habit and appreciate the passing of another day, the blessing of being alive, and the respect for the cycle of life.
We had many miraculous sundowners in the course of our life, and here we’ll share a few of our favorites whether the moment be in Zanzibar, off the coast of East Africa:
Featured on Briefcase to Backpack!
Not long ago, Jim & I were featured on the Career Break pages of Briefcase to Backpack, a site encouraging and teaching others how to take a successful and long-term career break. We were contacted by them after last years Meet, Plan, Go meetings when an encouraging numbers of newbies to extended travel were wondering just how it’s done!
The article turned out great. Check it out here: