Until I was about twenty-six I was a political naif. Before that I had gone to plenty of protests against the Vietnam War, for fair housing, and in support of women’s liberation[1]. But I hadn’t tried to make any concrete changes, working through the local political process. This is another kind of cultural immersion story: … More Wading into dirty waters: Becoming a political activist
Two summers ago in 2017 I got frustrated. I was trying to edge my townhome community toward a more conscious ecological perspective on maintenance decisions, but I didn’t know enough to be really persuasive. I saw an ad via email for something called a Master Water Steward program, run jointly by the Freshwater Society , and … More A Water Immersion
My Aunt Dorothy was a role model for me from an early age. Growing up in the 50’s, she was an unusual American woman in many ways. She had served in WWII as a WAC ; she had lived in other countries (France and Japan); she knew how to use a ham radio to listen … More Getting the Travel Bug from Aunt Dot
This summer I agreed to go on a six day, five night canoe trip into the Quetico National Park in Ontario, CA, in early September. It is just across the border from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) in northern Minnesota, with a similar landscape of lakes, rivers, and islands, with portages connecting them … More Canoeing the northern wilderness at 72: it’s never too late for life lessons
I thought I made up this title, but, alas, it is a book, a gay hotel, and probably many other things I have never seen nor read. I used to call it Sodom and Gomorrah, but Babylon Bangkok has a better ring to it. Besides, there is a newish Netflix series—Babylon Berlin—that is very well … More Babylon Bangkok
Growing up in flyover country (Midwest USA), we commonly take a dim view of big coastal cities like New York. We call Minneapolis the MinneApple, which indicates our aspiration for the greatness of the Big Apple, but also our preference for “small town” life (Small Town). Midwesterners often do not want to visit New York … More Small Town in a Big City
When you travel, where do you like to lodge? Hotel, motel, Bed and Breakfast, or Airbnb/VRBO? Since they came into existence we have stayed in quite a few Airbnb’s. I also have 3 friends who run Airbnb’s; two in Minneapolis and one in Brooklyn. They can be much more profitable than a straight rental. I … More To (AirBn)B or Not to (AirBn)B- that is the question
(Matthew 23:27 King James Version) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. During 9-11, I was working at the Center for Victims of Torture. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had been started … More Whited sepulchres and other reasons to visit Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
One of the goals of my travel blog is to encourage people to plan their own travel more. The purpose is to engage more ahead of time with what you want to see, make it more likely to meet the locals, and to have some unexpected and, ideally, delightful surprises. It is usually much cheaper … More Kayaking the Sea of Cortez
Prologue: I am an avowed Francophile. All told, I have spent about nine months in various regions: in 1965, 1993, 2005, 2006, and 2015. French is the only second language I can speak conversationally. We have hosted four French foreign exchange students and my daughter spent five weeks living with a family in Aix en … More Road trip to Medieval France: Following the trail of the Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade
Other states, other lives, other souls 