The Fun of Travel

09/10/2024

First evening on the Silver Shadow, my home for the next 3 weeks, and I had a few minutes on stage to let guests know about my upcoming presentations. As we sailed down the Hudson River and out of New York City, the NYC night sky was spectacular, and Lady Liberty was on hand to say goodbye. 👋

04/09/2024

Welcome evening onboard the MS Westerdam. I will be here for the next 17 days making my way from Vancouver to Tokyo (with a few stops in between), delivering fun educational programs on the history and culture of the places we’re visiting. Love this gig!!

03/03/2023

Early this morning, our ship anchored a few miles from the very remote Tabuaeran atoll, a crescent-shaped island in the South Pacific, hundreds of miles from anywhere. This island with an estimated population of ~2,500 is part of the nation of Kiribati (pronounced Kiribass in the Gilbertese language), and is probably as close as you can get to life in the South Pacific 100 years ago. No electricity and no running water, the people here survive on subsistence farming, and supply ships that visit 2 to 3 times a year. This morning we were welcomed by an incredible show from nature end huge schools of dolphins cavorting in the waves.  Later today, I hope to go ashore to meet some of the residents.  the last photo is an aerial map of the island, credit to NASA.

25/08/2022

Our adventure in Campbell River BC begins! Thank you Sweet Meadows Market , Driftwood by the Sea Inn and RV Resort, Bradley’s Bistro

09/08/2022

Our final day of our excellent Pacific Northwest road trip https://buff.ly/3Qlyjz5 Thank you Black Ball Ferry Line .pa

Day 11 — Today was the last day of our road trip, and it involved us catching two ferries! We had made a reservation on the ferry that leaves Coupeville (on Whidbey Island) for Port Townsend at 11:45 AM, so we needed to be there latest by 11:15 AM. Since our hotel was only about 25 minutes from th...

08/08/2022

Day 10 of our excellent Pacific Northwest road trip https://buff.ly/3BMRsWC Thank you K & R Farms, Washington State Parks & Recreation Commission, .anacortes

Day 10 — As we headed north from Oak Harbor this morning, we made a couple of stops. One, to get a photo of the great “Welcome to Oak Harbor” sign on the north edge of the city. Whidbey island is home to a naval air base for the United States Army, and what you see here are two of their mothba...

08/08/2022

Day 9 of our excellent Pacific Northwest road trip https://buff.ly/3vE9NBo Thank you 3 Sisters Market, Whidbey Farm and Market, South Whidbey Tilth Farmers Market, Price Sculpture Forest, South Whidbey Commons, Whidbey Island Distillery Front Street Grill

Day 9 – Our home on Whidbey Island is at the Auld Holland Inn in Oak Harbor, which is towards the northern end of the island. So today we spent most of our time exploring towards the south, in the towns of Coupeville, Langley, and the surrounding areas. We also managed to fit in a farmers market a...

08/08/2022

Day 8 of our excellent Pacific Northwest road trip https://buff.ly/3SqC9ZA Thank you Edmonds Historical Museum, Boeing Future of Flight

Day 8 – after our big city excitement yesterday, today was a little bit of a slow start, but we still managed to get some good fun in before we made our way to Whidbey Island. By mid morning, we were packed up and ready to start heading north. Our first stop was the small city of Edmonds which is ...

05/08/2022

Day 7 of our excellent Pacific Northwest road trip https://buff.ly/3PZUDif Thank you Eric at Eat Seattle, Museum of Pop Culture,

Day 7 – we have been to Seattle many times before, so for this one full day in Seattle, we wanted to go back to some of our favourite spots, but also explore some of the things we have not done in the past. Everyone talks about the fantastic views from the top of the Space Needle, and they’re ri...

05/08/2022

Day 6 of our excellent Pacific Northwest road trip https://buff.ly/3OVmYVt Thank you , Visit Bainbridge Island, Eleven Winery, .Gourmet

Day 6 – we managed to get a lot of exploring done today on our way from Port Townsend to Seattle. But we certainly picked a VERY hot day to spend so much time in the car. It went up to 33°C. For my American friends that is 91°F.

05/08/2022

Day 5 of our excellent Pacific Northwest road trip https://buff.ly/3oQuaaL Thank you Washington State Parks & Recreation Commission,

Day 5 – We left our cute little apartment in Sequim this morning and loaded up the car once again, this time heading to Port Townsend. Our first stop was historic Fort Worden State Park. Fort Worden was an active army base from 1902 to 1953. In 1957 it became a juvenile detention facility! In 1973...

04/08/2022

Day 4 of our excellent Pacific Northwest road trip https://buff.ly/3SBlMKb Thank you U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Jose's Famous Salsa, B & B Family Farm

Day 4 – Sequim may be in the Pacific Northwest, but it definitely wasn’t raining. Because it’s in the rainshadow of Olympic Mountain range, it gets very little rain, and that makes it perfect for growing lavender. In the late 20th-century this area was actually known for dairy farms, but slowl...

04/08/2022

Day 3 of our Pacific Northwest road trip https://buff.ly/3BAiG2R Thank you The Lodges of Olympic National Park and Forest, Turnip the Beet, Olympic National Park

Day 3 – this morning, we loaded up the car and left our lovely studio apartment in Forks to continue our road trip. Our first stop was the Sol Duc Hot Springs. It took us about an hour to get there, in plenty of time to get entry passes for the 10 AM swimming slot. This is a well-kept and well-man...

04/08/2022

Day 2 of our Pacific Northwest road trip https://buff.ly/3oRLhJp Thank you Olympic National Park, Forks Timber Museum, Forever Twilight in Forks, Sasquatch The Legend.com

Day 2 – Last Night we arrived at our little loft studio that we rented through Airbnb. What an absolutely delightful little place. It’s a self-contained studio apartment with everything that you could possibly need for a couple of nights. Nickole was our invisible host, but always within cyber d...

03/08/2022

Day 1 of our Pacific Northwest road trip https://buff.ly/3BVeIlJ Thank you Black Ball Ferry Line, New Day Eatery

Day 1 – Our day began bright and early, because we needed to load up the car and be at the ferry terminal no later than 9 AM. Not wanting to be late, we got there at 8:45 AM, got through the ticket booth in minutes, and then sat and waited, and waited, and waited. The US custom officials started w...

03/08/2022

We are Merge and Al. We are a 50-something professional couple who live mainly in Victoria (Canada), but we love to travel around the world! We’ve learned, first-hand, that travel is an incredible educator. It teaches you tolerance and respect for others; it opens your mind to different perspectives; and it makes you grateful for what you already have. We’ve created ourwebsite as a way to journal our adventures and, if appropriate, to help others who might be contemplating similar trips. We hope you’ll join us virtually, and that we’ll inspire you to get out there and explore the world!

03/08/2022