Finding Beauty in Simplicity

My breath fogs the air, mixing with the morning mist, as I climb out of the camper. The morning sun is peeking through the trees, causing flashes of light to reflect off the lake. Jim and the dogs are still asleep and I stand in wonder at the absolute silence surrounding me.

At moments like this I’m always struck by the beauty of the simple things in life, and astonished by our continuing ability to ignore it’s power. We spend our lives fighting a simple life of happiness as we strive for more, bigger, better. As I sit alone in the still of the morning, my mind wanders away from this scenic lake in Oregon to reminisce about some of my favorite memories, all of which had nothing to do with grand monuments or fancy lodging, and everything to do with meeting the locals, good food, and unexpected magic.

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Foto Friday

The Sphinx and pyramids of Cairo. Admittedly, not my favorite spot in Egypt, it was nonetheless an impressive sight. We were constantly in awe of the work done by human hands thousands of year prior. Egypt has seen some turmoil in recent years, but the country is safe and the people need tourist dollars. Go, now, and visit this iconic landmark for yourself.

Abu Simbel

OK, first, a disclaimer. In the interest of full disclosure I think I need to get one thing out in the open right away, I don’t like history. Wait, let me rephrase that, I LOVE being in historical places. I love wandering the same the same rock pathways that people have wandered for thousands of years. I love poking around ancient ruins and peering through doorways into past lives. I am endlessly fascinated by walking in the footsteps of history. What I don’t  always love is the facts of history. I’m not exactly sure how it happened. My dad was a history teacher at one point, my older brother still is, and yet start talking to me about the dates and extensive details and I feel myself immediately begin to fade off. I have spent hours and hours tramping about historical places all around the world, enthralled by where I am; just please don’t ask me to remember exactly what year it happened!

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Beaches

“Knee deep in the water somewhere, got the blue sky breeze blowing wind through my hair, only worry in the world is the tide going to reach my chair” – Zac Brown Band with Jimmy Buffet

It’s not news to anyone that we love the beach. Not only do we camp there regularly here in the Pacific Northwest, but we’ve made a point of visiting great beaches wherever we travel around the world. This week, in honor of our upcoming vacation to the beaches of Puerto Vallarta, we bring you some of our favorites from near and far.

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I Dreamed of Africa

Africa has always been a dream destination, one for the bucket list. Romanticized in such movies as Out of Africa and I Dreamed of Africa, a land of adventure and amazement. A decade ago, the tour company I work for, Grand European Tours, first started selling a trip to South Africa and lucky us, we were one of the first in the company to get to go on tour and check it out!

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Magic in the wetlands – Okavango Delta, Botswana

Over landing Africa is an amazing, and often challenging way to travel. Spending the time to drive the arduous route from Nairobi through Tanzania, following the lake in Malawi before veering SW into Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana. Continuing through arid Namibia and finally reaching South Africa you will travel thousands of miles on a trip that takes several months to do properly and, even then, you feel as though you missed a lot.

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