Travel & Leisure
Everyone Loves a Bargain
I’m a world traveler and I’m here to help. Grown adults from the U.S. and Canada can find themselves shaking in their boots, confused, frustrated, or even angry when it comes to bargaining for goods in foreign countries. It’s safe to say that most Anglos find it distasteful, yet bargaining is inherent in many cultures around the world. Native peopl...Read More
Claim Your Freedom this Independence Day!
Billy and I have been traveling the globe for almost three decades. Within those international trips we have noticed that humans intrinsically desire to be free. For the most part you and I enjoy our freedoms. We have control over our finances, we can drive a car whenever we choose to do so, and if you are reading this, chances are you have a backg...Read More
Switch the Route This Summer!
I’m hot. Not the kind of hot where people think I’m really cool. The kind where I stick my head out the door and I’m attacked by 93 degrees with matching humidity. Forty degrees hotter than it was a week ago. According to our President, there’s no such thing as climate change. It’s all a Chinese hoax, like transforming Lo Mein into healthy Kentucky...Read More
Gonna/Wanna Drive in a Foreign Country? Your 9 Best Tips!
Most people in the U.S. and Canada own their own cars. Wherever we want to go, whether it’s to the grocery store or the next town, we simply jump into our cars and start driving. There’s no second thought about traffic rules, which side of the road to drive on, the language of the land or whether the car is in working order. Generally, mass transpo...Read More
Arkansas (the Ozarks) & a Splash of Branson Music
Here’s a great little trip you can take, especially to see the fall foliage in the Ozark Mountains, but also good in late spring or during the summer. The Ozark Mountains in Arkansas beckon you. I wrote once about Mountain View, a mountain music and crafts center mecca but this area is also great to visit. Let me tell you a little about the Hot...Read More
6 Ways to Make the Most of Retirement
We spend most of our lives dreaming of the day when life won’t be dictated by alarm clocks & commute times. But what happens when you get there and you feel that you are missing something else? While traditional retirement planning covers financial essentials staying engaged and having a meaningful retirement is good for your health and happine...Read More
The Heart of Mexico – Love in a Cantina
Billy and I spend a lot of time together. After being retired almost three decades, we have worked out a nice rhythm of time apart and time working on joint projects and having fun. Here in Chapala, Mexico, Billy will sometimes go to a favorite cantina in the afternoons just a couple of blocks from our apartment. This cantina has a long history, an...Read More
A Visit to Western North Carolina – Asheville, The Biltmore and Lake Lure
Asheville and Western North Carolina have long been popular destinations for southeastern coastal dwellers. They travel there to get a taste of accessible mountains, cooler summers, seasonal foliage color and impressive natural and man-made attractions within a day’s drive. Some like it so much that they establish summer homes there for extended st...Read More
Top 5 Conversations Couples Have When Traveling
The Luggage Zipper Council of America– whose motto is: ‘Way More Is Way Better!’– has discovered the top 5 conversations every couple has when they go on vacation. The findings are published in their report entitled: ‘Women Are From Planet Matching Soft-Sided Luggage; Men Are From Planet Missing In Action When Packing.’ The first page of the report...Read More
Rocky Mountain National Park
I have been doing tours in Colorado for years but for some reason have never been to Rocky Mountain National Park. The park is only a 2-hour drive from Denver but it is to the north and we don’t usually go that direction. However, we have recently changed one of our tours to include this park and I was really excited to get a chance to vis...Read More