Aunt Donna’s Top Travel Tips

Keep a journal! Learn to write about your experiences with detail and insight.  “We shopped for shoes today” is not as interesting as “The little old man who sold shoes on the sidewalk looked as if he had been living in the streets for decades.  His clothes were worn and wrinkled and he shuffled about […]

Read More

Great American Solar Eclipse

We did it!    On Monday my friends and I witnessed the complete and awesome total eclipse of the sun!   Just a few weeks ago, I was determined to drive north nearly 300 miles to Casper, Wyoming so I could watch the eclipse in the “path of totality”.   Most friends were busy and/or uninterested in […]

Read More

Decadence in the Dodecanese

Although dawn comes too early, I am still excited to stick my head up from below deck and see what the world offers today.  I feel the sun’s warmth and admire the soft pink sky.  The marina at Kos is waking up.  People shuffle about, pelicans are making a mess and skinny meowing cats are […]

Read More

September 11, 2001 – Greece

Sailing into Patmos, a quintessentially Greek island in the Dodecanese, a layer of stress easily melts away and we have not a care in the world. We tie up at the marina, and get ready to explore.  It is September 11, 2001. My friends and I rent scrappy little mopeds and head out of town […]

Read More

10 Ways to Know You’re in Florida

Most states and regions have sights, sounds and experiences that are unique to them, including Florida.  Here are 10 ways to know you’re in Florida: Bartenders serve beer named Florida Cracker. A house painted pink with white trim is not rare, and can actually look good. Hunker Down is not only an action one does […]

Read More

Half Way to Everest

I like oxygen. Whether it is simple easy breathing at sea level or sucking air while hiking a couple of miles higher, I like oxygen . On my “want-to-do” list for the last couple of years has been to successfully climb a 14er (a 14,000+ foot high mountain),  and I am delighted to have a […]

Read More

On Wilsons Prom

It is pretty magical to stand on top of a 200′  high hill which straddles Squeaky Beach and Norman Bay at the edge of the Southern Ocean – the great, infamous Southern Ocean, just off the southern coast of Australia, (you know, that country way down under). On Wilsons Prom While the island state of […]

Read More

Vivid Sydney

One iconic view of Sydney, Australia is of the harbour (Aussie spelling) which includes the Sydney skyline, Sydney Opera House, The Rocks, and the docks where the ships and ferries arrive and depart at all hours of the day.  It’s spectacular.  I once heard it is the largest natural harbour in the world, in part […]

Read More