Looking for like minded travelers who are looking for adventures near and far on small group tours. Come adventuring with us. https://www.comeadventuring.com
"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever." -Jacques Yves Cousteau.
We have so many sea adventures planned for this year that I can hardly contain my excitement.
Mario and I have been to Australia several times and we will return again. if only to sit beside the sea. Here we are a few years ago on the Sunshine Coast.
The sea is calling to me yet again! This is Sangobeg Beach near Durness in the very far Northwest of Scotland. On a day like today however, I would first need to stop at Cocoa Mountain for one of their World Famous Hot Chocolates!
“Adventure is the bridge between dreams and reality. When we walk across that bridge, we can explore the unknown and uncover hidden wonders. With every step, we move closer to our ambitions, passions, and goals. Adventure gives us the courage to take risks and make bold decisions – decisions that help shape our destiny.” – Unknown.
I have started working on itineraries for our 2026 tours and have been inspired to create the best itineraries ever! Where will you go in 2026?
Greece continues to call to me! I took this photo on the last night of our Greece tour in 2022. We were staying near the airport along the coast of mainland Greece and I could look at the view for hours!
“The Waiting Place...for people just waiting. Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or the waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.
“Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for the wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.” Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss.
Will 2024 be your year for adventures or are you going to spend another year sitting around waiting?
Switzerland has some of the most amazing sunsets and sunrises including this one over Lake Geneva.
We must take adventures to know where we truly belong. ~ Anonymous.
We wish that 2024 is full of wonderful travel adventures! I took this picture the other day on the very swollen banks of the River Tay near Aberfeldy in the Perthshire Highlands of Scotland.
I love arches, doorways, doors, windows and entryways of all kinds. They signal an opportunity for change and new beginnings. So often we stand to the left or right and bang our head into the wall trying to create a new opening when all we had to do was move a few steps to the left or right and we could have easily walked through! It is sometimes far less painful if we just give ourselves a new perspective!
Mario took this great photo at Mount Grace Priory last year and we just drove by the sign for it today and made me think of this picture. It was built in the late 14th century near Northallerton in North Yorkshire and is the best preserved Carthusian Priory in Britain. We are spending the week before Christmas here in Yorkshire and having a wonderful time!
“Don’t ask for security, ask for adventure.” — Jim Rohn.
Just a few lovely ladies off on a Highland adventure!
"There's nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it's sent away." — Sarah Kay
Take me to the water and I am happy. I generally don't care what kind of water as it all seems to be therapeutic. We love taking people to the beaches of Scotland because they are always shocked. It always looks like we should be somewhere tropical, but you are quickly disabused of this notion once you step foot from the car!
Isle of Vatersay, Outer Hebrides, Scotland.
“It’s bad manners to keep an adventure waiting.”
This is lovely Brodick Castle on the Isle of Arran in Scotland. A fortress has been on the site since at least the fifth century, when Gaelic invaders from Antrim expanded their kingdom of Dál Riata. Some parts of the castle date back to the 13th century with major additions in the 15th century. After many additions and alterations, it received a luxurious redesign in the 1800's and was the ancient seat of the Dukes of Hamilton, and was the home of the Duke and Duchess of Montrose until 1957.
“Adventure comes in all shapes and sizes. It can be dramatic or poetic, heart pounding or profound. It can be all of the above or something totally and completely unexpected.” —Michelle Segrest
So little is known about what is called the Polochar Standing Stone. It is about 4000 years old and resides just a few feet away from the Polochar Inn almost at the edge of the sea. Most similar stones stand on a hillside or other prominent location. Some think it is a mariner marker, but there is no safe landing spot near it. Of course, in 4000 years the coastline could have changed dramatically.
You can stand here at the very bottom of the Hebridean Isle of South Uist in Scotland and look across to the Isle of Barra. It is one of the most peaceful spots I have ever been. And although I talk to the stone whenever I am there, he is not quite ready to divulge his secrets.
"And after two days in civilization we realized we could never stay for long and started to plan our next adventure." —Bob Bitchin, Letters from the Lost Soul
Mario and I spend around 240 nights of each year away from home. When we have been gone for a couple of months the only thing we can think of is home! We can't wait to get there and just be home. That feeling never lasts! We are usually home for just a short time before we start planning our next adventure!
Mario took this amazing picture of the Ring of Brodgar on Mainland Orkney on one of our adventures. I love, love, love stone monuments and have been here numerous times, but I always find something new when I am there. I have been asked before if I get tired of visiting the same places over and over. I never do because we are often bringing people with us who are seeing it for the first time. That is all part of the adventure!
“I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world” – Mary Ann Radmacher
Mario and I have been to Australia 6 or 7 times and this quote perfectly sums up each visit. I knew that I would love Australia, I just didn't expect it to permeate my soul. Each time we go, we come back feeling so rested and at peace with the world. As with most places I visit and fall in love with, it is a feeling. And feelings are so hard to put into words.
Much of it has to do with the people and how warm and welcoming they are. Each time we go, we go a little further and explore some place we haven't been to yet, and then spend a little time in our favourite places.
I will always remember the first time I put my hand into the South Pacific Ocean when we were in New Zealand. The same ocean I had put my hand into numerous times, but now almost a world away. Of course in the South Pacific it is much easier to let the rest of the body follow as well.
And I will never forget seeing the moon come up for the first time in Australia. The same moon I had seen thousands of times and yet there was something so special about it. I felt so connected to the earth and my place upon it. I definitely will never be the same!
Mario took this picture at Fingal Head on the Tasman Sea coast in the far northeast of New South Wales.
“Adventure isn’t hanging off a rope on the side of a mountain or living among lions. Adventure is an attitude to experience everyday things.”—John Amatt
We are the kind of travelers who want to experience a trip, not just take it. We want to savor the local dish, sip the local wine and try the local liquor. We don't just want to see a place, we want to taste, touch, smell and hear everything that the locals do.
We are shocked by how many people who travel half way around the world only to stay at the Hilton, Sheraton on Marriott when there are so many other options available.
McDonald's is popular in just about every country and not just for the locals, but for the tremendous amount of tourists who flock there when they are hungry, when there are wonderful taste sensations just a few doors away!
Next time you travel, don't just take a trip. Let the trip take you!
This picture was taken high upon the hill overlooking Christchurch, New Zealand.
“Live in the sunshine, swim in the sea, drink the wild air.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Isle of Skye is one of the most breathtaking places on the planet. I often think I am biased as my family comes from there, but I hear it often from people who have no connections with the isle. It is the final resting place of my mother and my only sister as is only fitting as there was no place on Earth they would rather be!
They both taught me the love of homeland, travel, taking life by the horns and if there was an adventure to be had, to take it! My sister was responsible for the name of our original touring company, Scottish Dream Tours and I believe she would be so excited about the new venture as well. My thoughts often turn to them when I am off on a new adventure and I have to thank them for the inspiration and encouragement to do so!
Mario took this amazing picture on Skye with the rock formation known as the Old Man of Storr in the distance.
Adventuring I will go!
Who's ready for an amazing adventure! As I sit here in my wee house high upon the hill and watch the snow fall as it has done continuously for the past 24 hours, I don't think about how lovely it is and how beautiful the trees look in their winter finery.
No, what I think is, someone please get me out of here and take me on an adventure to someplace where it is warm and there is plenty of sunshine, sand and sea! Our you dreaming of an island adventure? Perhaps like a Greek Island Hopping Adventure? Well guess what? Adventures with Shannon and Mario has one planned for September of 2025. You can read all about it and our other tour offerings on our website. https://www.comeadventuring.com/
This is Mario's picture of the Portara of Naxos on the island of Naxos. The name literally means the door of Naxos and it is all that is left of the Temple of Apollo.
What is the greatest adventure you have ever been on? Mario and I have been on so many great adventures that it is hard to rank them in any order. Having just sold out our Norway tour for 2025 has brought back so many memories from our first trip to Norway. We took train excursions, boat excursions and even went up the side of the mountain on a motorized cart. No matter where we went we were in awe of the amazing scenery at every turn!
I took this photo near Gudvangen on a Nærøyfjord boat excursion. The trip was spectacularly beautiful from beginning to end.
We are very busy this morning processing applications and Norway seems to be the clear favourite! This is a picture I took from just above Aurlandsvangen overlooking Aurandsfjord just a few miles away from Flåm.
Have you ever been on a trip where you knew there was no way it could measure up to the expectations? And then it blew them out of the water? The very first big trip I ever booked was to Greece. I was very young and it was my dream trip and always at the very top of my travel list. I scrimped and saved until I could finally go. I loved the history and I couldn't wait to explore. Just before the trip was to take place I was hospitalized with pneumonia.
I was devastated and it took me a few years to decide to go again. I scrimped and saved and then finally made all of the arrangements only to come down with pneumonia again! I have now had pneumonia 3 times in my life and I decided that it was a message and I had to give up my dream of going to Greece.
Fast forward several years and I am talking with Mario about travel dreams and he can't believe that I never tried to go to Greece again. I have been to numerous places since then, but never tried Greece again. So he says to me 'we are going to Greece'!
We booked and prepaid for everything in early 2020 for a trip that June, and then guess what? COVID hit! I told Mario 'see, now you know why I should never try to go to Greece'! Although not pneumonia, it still felt reminiscent of the time! We had credit for flights and all of our accommodations and sightseeing ventures, but I was still devastated once again! Three strikes and your out, so what was the point of trying again!
In 2021, Greece was the first European country to open back up for tourism. I decided to let destiny make a stand and we used all of our credits and I rebooked everything for June 2021. By this time, I had 45 years of anticipation built up and I knew I would like Greece, but I had no idea what was in store for us.
Mario and I arrived into Greece on the first day they had reopened for tourism and we were greeted like celebrities all throughout the airport. They knew we signaled that the end was in sight and tourism would get back to normal We were treated like this everywhere we went and we fell in love with not only the country, but the people as well.
I knew that 45 years of anticipation would probably end with some disappointments, but boy was I wrong! It surpassed all expectations and every dream came true! It was only on the 4th attempt that I finally made a life long dream come true, but come true it did!
Odeon of Herodes Atticus at the Acropolis in Athens.
Many, many years ago I was out exploring as I often do and I ran into a few big bus tour groups. I would talk to a few of the tourists asking a few questions and know immediately that it was not something I wanted to be part of. As a self proclaimed introvert, I thought a large tour group would be perfect because I could just hide away if I wanted to. Nope!
The more tour groups I ran into however, the more the idea of offering my own tours started to grow. With a lot of encouragement from my family, that is exactly what happened about 25 years ago. I knew nothing about being a tour guide, but I had been leading my family around on small group tours forever!
I talked to my sister in depth and asked her what she thought i should do? She told me I just needed to do everything I was doing for them. They loved having me come up with an itinerary and then make all the arrangements from accommodations to sightseeing. My sister said that if they all loved it so much, there had to be others our there who would love it just as much. And guess what? She was right!
One of our favourite places to explore is Tuscany where I took this photo from the top of Castello Di Poppiano about 12 miles SW of Florence.
“Don’t die without embracing the daring adventure your life was meant to be.” – Steve Pavlina
As I get older my thought processes change. Mortality sets in and I start to wonder, just how much time do I really have left? Having outlived 3 siblings makes that thought even more poignant. With each of those siblings, their greatest adventure was never realized! Although I still have a few adventures left in me, I am so pleased that I have spend so much of my adult life on one adventure or another.
Do you have the greatest adventure of your life planned or are you still waiting? Waiting for the time to be right? it never will be. Waiting to have enough money? You can't take it with you! My next oldest brother had amassed a huge amount of money to travel with when he retired. He passed away 2 weeks before retirement!
If you are always waiting for something before you start to travel, I can guarantee that you will still be waiting til the last day!
This is the ancient site of Magnesia on the Meander, located 12 miles from Ephesus sitting on a major road which cuts through the archaeological site. It is located in the Germencik district of Turkey's western Aydın province and was known as the “city of races” due to the plethora of sporting events organized here in antiquity. It is one of the most imposing and well-preserved ancient stadiums in Anatolia, seating 30,000 people and used until the 3rd century AD. It is a relatively unknown archaeological site and is beyond spectacular. On the day we were there, we were the only people there!
If you haven't already checked out our tour offerings for 2025, you can do that here: https://www.comeadventuring.com/our-tours We will start taking applications on Friday.
I took this picture of Prince's Street Garden Fountain in August. I love that it has Edinburgh Castle as the backdrop!
“For me, a place unvisited is like an unrequited love. A dull ache that—try as you might to think it away, to convince yourself that she really wasn’t the right country for you—just won’t leave you in peace.” — Eric Weiner
What is a country that you have visited that you just can't shake?
“Whereas the tourist generally hurries back home at the end of a few weeks or months, the traveler belonging no more to one place than to the next, moves slowly over periods of years, from one part of the earth to another. Indeed, he would have found it difficult to tell, among the many places he had lived, precisely where it was he had felt most at home.”
— Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky
This becomes more and more true with each passing year. I increasingly feel so at home in places I never expected to. Where oh where will feel like home next? I took this picture earlier in the year at Hobbiton in New Zealand.
“I travel because I’d rather look back at my life, saying ‘I can’t believe I did that’ instead of ‘if only I had’.” – Florine Bos
Once each year I try to do something so far outside of my comfort zone that it frightens me to my very core! Conducting a tour all on my own for the very first time was one of the most frightening thing I have ever done. Now look at me 25 years later!
I am not partial to black and white photography, but Mario is bringing me around. Especially when it is in one of my very favorite cities in the World and one of my favorite buildings, the Duoma of Milan.
We are Shannon McDonald Tate and Mario Torres and we have operated Scottish Dream Tours for almost 25 years. We were ready to retire, unfortunately the Covid years had other plans for us. The Covid years were rough, but what was even more devastating was that we had lost our dream. Even though 2023 was a rough year, there were two tours that stood out as very different from the others.
We have a tremendous amount of repeat business with Scottish Dream Tours, but both tours were full of almost all new people. We enjoyed these tours in ways we had not been enjoying other tours for a few years and decided to analyze them to see what was so different.
We finally decided it was because there were fresh new eyes taking in everything we were showing them with awe, excitement, and wonder. They took in every word we said and then looked for more. The appreciation level was off the charts, and we once again felt like we were doing exactly what we were meant to be doing. The next few tours made us realize that if we were going to enjoy doing tours again, a big change was necessary. That is how Adventures with Shannon and Mario came about.
The first company we started about 25 years ago was called Scottish Dream Tours because the intent was to only do tours of Scotland. When we started adding on Ireland and then Wales and then some of our favorite areas of England, the name still worked. When we added on Tuscany and Greece we changed the name to Scottish Dream Tours - Scotland and Beyond to cover these areas. Having added so many new places, we knew it was time for a major name change especially as our focus was no longer just Scotland. We were not yet prepared for how much of a change we would make.
We went through about 10 different name ideas and Adventures with Shannon and Mario stuck, but we were not sure how everything would go together or if we even wanted it to. It started basically as an idea which we kicked around for a long time. We would decide that we were going to start a new business with a new name, and then decide that we were done completely. We bounced back and forth so much that we didn't know if we were coming or going. We needed to make a commitment and we were having a very hard time committing.
Everything changed recently when we were in Southern France driving the route for a new tour we were doing. We always drive the route after the itinerary is set just to make sure the timings and logistics make sense. Along our drive we felt like we were on a big adventure and our excitement began to build. With every village we visited we got more and more excited imagining how excited our clients were going to be when they visited them. Our dream ever so slowly and gently started to come back to us, and it was then and there that we finally made the commitment! And now here we are ready to take on the world of touring once again!
I took this photo on the way to Milford Sound in New Zealand in March. Some of the most spectacular scenery in the World here!
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