Epic Global Adventures

After spending a week hiking in the mountains, 12 of us spent 2 nights in Venice! And after spending a week hiking in the mountains, 12 of us spent 2 nights in Venice! I was giddily anticipating this, because I had read that the tourist load was at 30% of “normal”, and of course we ALL read about how clean everything was after 18 months without tourists. The only other time I’ve been to Venice was in 1990, during a multi-month vagabonding through Europe. I was taking trains f

The Dolo-Mighty16 and our amazing guide, Karl Mather. I’ll probably cry, while I write this post, because I miss everyone SO fricking much. We all arrived with our respective spouses and/or friends, and from the first day, we knew the specialness of this group. By the end of our second day together, we were best friends. By the end of the week, we were forever-friends. All 16 of us, plus Karl! I knew I’d have fun with this new job, but I had no idea my heart would get so deep

Earlier, I wanted my posts to show you how the magnificence of the Dolomites transcends comprehension. I wanted to show you WHY the 16 of us signed up for this trip. Now, I’ll introduce you to our incredible 4* Hotel Adler in Villabassa, and the magnificent food we enjoyed all week … If our 8-hour hiking days were like scraping our knees, this four-star Tyrolean gem was like our mama sweeping us into her soothing and protective arms, kissing our tears away. Seriously—ANYONE c

Earlier this week, I found Heaven. Yesterday, I met God. Today, the Grim Reaper winked at me. We traversed one of the many Via Ferratas today (“iron path”)—2 of us chose NOT to do this from the start and walked an alternative route to our meeting place; 3 more of us (including me), left the “trail” when an exit presented itself 3/4 of the way through; the rest of the group bravely plodded on! For the rest of the day, I tried to figure out why my panic came up during THIS trav

I tried explaining today’s experience to a friend, and all I could come up with was this … I was in heaven on our previous hike, but today, I met god. Tonight at dinner, every single one of us talked about our fatigue for the very first time all week. This isn’t the kind of fatigue from just physical exertion—this is the kind that comes from emotional overload. We spent about 7 hours today in a perpetual state of awe. PERPETUAL. Around every corner, there was more awe. At one

My thought as we were descending today was, “If I don’t see another beautiful thing, if it just rains for the rest of the week, I’m ok.” What we experienced today SATURATED me with awe; words can’t describe what we saw, and photos look fake. Photo 2: The ruins of the bakery where Apfelstrudel was first created. View looking into Austria. 3: View of the “Three Chimneys” from our lunch spot. 4-9: Our lunch spot today, being on the summit, had 360° views of mountain peaks that s

Day 3 … Each day, the hikes ramp up a bit in intensity and scope. Today, we were on the trail for 8 hours, round-trip, reaching an elevation around 6500’. The beginning was very steep, wet (very foggy this morning), and gravel-ly—and many of us became concerned about making it through the rest of the hike. (Photos 1, 2) But after a bit, the steepness leveled off, the skies cleared, and for the duration of the day, it was 90% lovely, and 10% head-down-don’t-talk-to-me-I-can’t-

Day 2—This was our first day of hiking/walking, and our destination was Lago di Braies. 1. We walked through countryside 2. We walked through villages 3. Our first pit stop had swings:) 4. We walked through trees (I guess I didn’t take photos of the steep parts of our hike, because I was just focusing on trying to breathe! 😆) 5. The Dolo-Mighty 16 at Lago di Braies! 6-7. Beer and Aperol Spritzes are a regular thing now. 8. This friend group of 25-30 years, from ME and CT, re

I’ll let the photos do the talking! Day 1–en route to and arrival in Italy … 1. Masked up in Logan airport, ready to board our first international flight in TWO years! 2. Breakfast during our layover in Munich. 3. Flying over the Dolomites! 4. Driving from Venice to our mountain hotel in Villabassa—about a 3-hr drive. 5. Our first dinner together as a group. I couldn’t have lucked out more—fun, social and inclusive individuals make for a ✨spectacular✨ group experience! Home B

–H. Jackson Brown, Jr. This is my traveling mantra, but not something I like doing in my everyday life. When I travel, I naturally open myself up to wherever the experience takes me. But in my life at home, occasional surprises are great, but I prefer more predictability–probably because, for the last 23 years, I’ve had other humans depending on me. Well, hold my beer folks, because I’m back on the transient roller-coaster! We closed on the sale of our house yesterday, but it

Small group travel, hosted by Ilse! Carpathian Mountains If you love winter and traveling off the beaten path, then this trip is your dream come true! Transylvania – the name alone conjures up images of craggy mountains, gothic castles, horse drawn carts and forests filled with hibernating bears. The reality is not that far off. Crisp winters add an extra dimension to this small corner of Europe, as snow blankets the pastures, farmsteads and woodlands. Spend a week exploring

HAPPY EARTH DAY 2021 Greenland IS the new frontier in Adventure Travel! And with more people discovering how amazing a place is, the more vulnerable it becomes to over-tourism. As you know, I’m all about sustainable, responsible, regenerative travel, so I was pleased as punch to read these words from the new director of Visit Greenland, Hjortur Smarason. It sounds like he has a great grasp on how to protect Greenland from over-tourism, so expect Greenland to become a fairly e

(If you haven’t read My Vietnam Experience Parts 1 and 2, please start there!) This post offers random snapshots of our brief time in Hai Phong, Vietnam … In the open-air eateries, these were the tables and chairs. At street vendors, they put these right out onto the sidewalks, causing you to have to walk around them–which meant stepping into the busy street. A couple of snaps of the food market; Ava in front of the Hai Phong Opera House; plein air shaving service. The Vietna

(If you haven’t read My Vietnam Experience Part 1, please start there!) The most fabulous experience I had in Vietnam was this … Ava needed a haircut. Badly. As we were walking back to the hotel, she spotted an upstairs salon that looked nice and said, “Let’s get me a haircut!” “Here? In Vietnam?” “Why not?” Why not, indeed. We saw the shoes at the bottom of the stairs, so we left ours there too, on the side of a very busy sidewalk, and walked up into the salon. After 15 minu

I took this photo at sunset on Ha Long Bay–no filter, no post-processing! When I visited my daughter, Ava, while she was studying in Bangkok (fall of 2019), we took a weekend to visit Ha Long Bay in Vietnam. Ha Long Bay has intrigued me for as long as I can remember, and I NEVER thought I would actually get there—or even have the chance to go. So as soon as I had booked my trip to Thailand, I booked our trip to Vietnam–since I was going to be in Southeast Asia, I HAD to make

BREAKING: Boeing 737 Max Has A New Issue and 16 Airlines Are Grounding It: “Boeing just sent this news release out, which stated: ‘Boeing has recommended to 16 customers that they address a potential electrical issue in a specific group of 737 MAX airplanes prior to further operations. The recommendation is being made to allow for verification that a sufficient ground path exists for a component of the electrical power system. We are working closely with the U.S. Federal Avia

(The following text is copied from my travel partner’s website; not my words.) DAY 1: Your Arctic expedition begins in Reykjavik, Iceland. Meet us at the airport to take our private charter flight from the Icelandic capital to Narsarsuaq, Greenland, where you’ll embark on your ship. A scenic village deep in the Tunulliarfik Fjord, Narsarsuaq is the gateway to South Greenland, surrounded by several Norse sites and hiking trails. Get ready for a great adventure ahead! DAYS 2-7:

US, Mexico, Canada Border Closure Extended Another Month: The land border closure between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico has been extended through the end of December and could last even longer as America continues to see increasing COVID-19 cases. By Alison Fox, Travel + Leisure Qantas Airlines Will Require Passengers to Get COVID-19 Vaccination Before Flying: While Qantas is the first airline so far to hint at COVID-19 vaccination requirements, it might not be the last. After

US, Mexico, Canada Border Closure Extended Another Month: The land border closure between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico has been extended through the end of December and could last even longer as America continues to see increasing COVID-19 cases. By Alison Fox, Travel + Leisure Qantas Airlines Will Require Passengers to Get COVID-19 Vaccination Before Flying: While Qantas is the first airline so far to hint at COVID-19 vaccination requirements, it might not be the last. After

*I don’t receive any compensation for these recommendations* For saving space in that tiny quart bag for liquids: Disposable/dissolving sheets of shampoo, conditioner, body/hand soap, laundry detergent, shaving cream; no more repacking used bars of soap! Or, if you still love your bars, have you tried shampoo and conditioner bars? For your favorite scent, deodorizer or bug spray, bring a refillable atomizer or an empty spray bottle and a selection of essential oils to dilute