Over the past 40 years, I've been suffering from a bug; the travel bug. A few trips to Toronto to visit family, a high school hockey exchange trip to Montreal. The only other travel I had was around the island of Newfoundland. Daytona Beach, Orlando Florida, Tampa and every theme park along the way. Busch Gardens, Universal Studios, Disney. I saw Hughie Lewis and the News playing a concert in Disn
ey. They had just released their album, Sports. "The heart of rock n roll is still beatin"! It still is!!! From there, my passion for travel grew and with it, the list of places and experiences that I have enjoyed have opened my eyes and made me appreciate everything so m much more. I've stayed at multiple brands of all inclusive and luxury resorts on both coasts of Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Jamaica. These included Iberostar, Barcelo, Hilton, Sandals, Melia, Grand Palladium, Occidental, and Amhsa Marina resorts. A long list of hotels too from 3-5 star!! I've been to the islands of Maui and Ohau of Hawaii, the Aloha State! Speaking of our neighbour, the United States, I have also visited many major cities on their three coasts. Broadway Theatre and back stage at Come From Away in New York; Duck Boats on on the Charles in Boston; A Segway Tour Around Washington, DC; Teeing it up in Myrtle Beach , South Carolina, Visiting the Golf Hall of Fame in St.Augustine, Sawgrass Mills Outlets and the gorgeous beaches of Fort Lauderdale; a Miami Heat NBA game in Miami; I've visited all. the theme parks in Orlando and Tampa, and further south from St. Petersburg to the beaches on the gulf side. Check out my fishing pics and our shark fight in my photos. I've stood on the corner of Holywood and Vine and visited the Holyrood Bowl in Los Angeles, Took in an Angels game in Anaheim; Had breakfast Saturday morning at Fisherman's Wharf and rode the streetcars of San Francisco; Left Santa Clarita in a VW Bug Convertible and drove 8 lanes with the top down to Orange County; California, and watched Friday Night Fireworks at an Astros game at Minute Made Park in Houston Texas with my son. Across the pond, I've been to Brussels in Belgium, ate French Fries (they were invented there!!); and did a chocolate tour. I'll never eat cheap chocolate again! I did a river cruise and visited a Christmas market in Strasbourg in northern France, the seat of the EU. I can still smell the mulled wine! I've been to the Royal Newfoundland Regiment Memorial at Beaumont Hamel and the various memorials through the Somme River Valley. Lasting testimonials to the horrors of the Great War. I've been to Paris many times. The City of Light is amazing. Toured many of the major sites, museums, attended a Burlesque Show, and ate some amazing food. I yearn to return. The wine region and city of Bordeaux, France touring vineyards, learning about, and tasting wine; London, never disappoints. "England swings!" A return there would be nice as well. Beatles Museum and the Fab Four' s original homes in Liverpool were pretty cool to see. Barcelona, Spain; Rome and Venice in Italy were embarkation ports for a few Mediterranean cruises. They were also bucket list cities so we toured each for a few days before boarding our ship. We've done that a few times in each. Virtual museums with history surrounding you. I mentioned the cruises! I've completed about 26 ocean cruises of various lengths with different cruise lines, different sized ships, to a wide array of destinations. The Eastern, Western, and Southern Caribbean; only a few islands remain that I haven't visited; Key West and the Bahamas; the Mexican Riviera to Cabo and the Mayan Riviera in Mexico; the Panama Canal (partial) but took the bus over to the Pacific side to Panama City and back to Colon; I've sailed from Southhampton, through the Strait of Gibraltar, entering the western Mediterranean, and disembarked Barcelona. I've sailed Barcelona along the French Riviera, with Livorno for Tuscany, and Pisa; Rome, and Naples, before sailing to Palma de Majorca, and back to Barcelona. My 88 year old father accompanied us. Man, did he love Spain. I've sailed from Venice, Italy down the Adriatic to Athens and Mykonos, Greece; Istanbul and Kusadasi for Ephesus in Turkey. Naples for Pizza, Rome for the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel, Florence, Monte Carlo, and disembarked once again in Barcelona. My last trip to the Mediterranean embarked from Rome and headed for the Aegean Sea and Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, and Katakolon, before stopping off at Naples and back to Civitavecchia for Roma. Croatia, Montenegro, and eastern Europe are still pn my radar!! In 2019, we left on Boxing Day to fly to Singapore in Southeast Asia. The farthest afield we had travelled yet to join the Diamond Princess for an 11 night cruise through Southeast Asia. Ports included were Bali, Indonesia (we crossed the equator twice!!), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Georgetown, Penang; Phuket, Thailand, Langkawi, Malaysia, and return to Singapore. Check out my photos. An amazing part of the world loaded with surprises, culture, history, scenery, great food, friendliest people, but hot!! God was it ever hot! Our last cruise before the pandemic was a 4 night Bahamas on Navigator of the Seas. A quick winter getaway in late February. We returned early March. Word was in the news that a severe virus had found its way in to the states but "they had it under control". A week later after our return, the United States and Canada closed the borders and lock downs were put in place and businesses closed. The pandemic killed over a million people in the USA alone. It went on a rampage for the better part of two years. Changes to safety protocols happened for the better and we learned to live in a Covid world. The travel and hospitality industry was hit very hard. Cruise ships were tied up as cruise travel was highly publicized with the events that had taken place on several ships with entire passenger manifest quarantined. Hotels, tour operators, restaurants, taxis all had to close their doors and figure out away forward. Entire economies of regions solely dependent on tourism crashed. People lost their jobs. It looked dire. As we came out of the Pandemic and adapted travel based on circumstances, folks slowly regained confidence. My first cruise after the pandemic was a 5 night on Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady's Mermaid Voyage. With reduced capacity, social distancing, and everyone vaccinated and tested, it was cruising 2.0. It was like having a ship to yourself. Brand new and a real departure from traditional cruising. Virgin has filled a niche that previously did not exist and their food is spectacular. Their ships are beautiful as well. Since then, we've sort of eased back in to the vacation and travel mode. Short cruises to the Bahamas and Caribbean since then. Last fall, we used a credit from a cancelled cruise during Covid and booked a 5 day and 7 day b2b on Celebrity's new Beyond. Beautiful ship, met Captain Kate McCue, and enjoyed another new experience.On this cruise, the ship was the destination!! Things still weren't the same but it was close and so.........
My wanderlust has returned with a river cruise this August touring along the Danube from Germany, through Slovakia, Austria, and Hungary. Bookings are on deposit for Royal Caribbean's Odyssey of the Seas in April 2024, Celebrity's new ship, Ascent in spring 2025, and back to the Mediterranean in fall 2025 for the Adriatic for Montenegro, Croatia, and a few Greek Isles that we haven't been on. On a smaller scale, I've organized and participated in group sports trips, arranging air travel, accommodations, sporting event tickets, fishing trips, NHL and NFL games, and golf packages in the Dominican, Mexico, South Carolina, and Florida. I've organized weekend adventures to Canadian cities to see sports and concerts. I haven't been completely around the earth yet. Close but there's a gap between the Indian Ocean, the Middle East, Holland, and Africa. Tons of other places on my bucket list; Norther n Europe and the Baltic's and yes including St. Petersburg, Russia! The war on Ukraine has seen all operators shut down their operations in Russia. South America, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, South Korea, Alaska, the South Pacific, and a few more rivers in Europe. Will I get to all? Probably not but, as long as I have "the bug", the health, and the resources to make it all happen, I'll just keep on dreaming and travelling!! Let me help you cross your bucket list destinations and adventures of your list. As you can see, there's a good chance I've been there!!
