Top 10 Airport Observations

Like many other millions of Americans, I spent part of my Thanksgiving holiday at one of our nation’s busiest airports.    My journey to gate A24 in Denver International Airport was easy breezy, due in part to traveling with just a small carry-on and also to only having 12 people in front of me in the […]

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Ottoman Turkish Bath

Every 20 feet heavily accented invitations are called out to me as I walk past each shop on the cobblestone pedestrian streets of Kusadasi, a small town on the western coast of Turkey.  “Lady in blue jacket, come in here.  We have the nicest ceramics,” calls one man.  Several others offer “free Wi-Fi for you”.  […]

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Byzantine This, Ottoman That

Thick sour cigarette smoke welcomed me at the Istanbul Ataturk Airport and it was umm….not welcome. Trying to escape the fumes, I ducked behind one offending smoker and instead met an invisible wall of bus and taxi exhaust. After traveling for nearly 24 hours, I simply wanted a fresh salad, a hot shower and a […]

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Boulder Ironman Finish

I couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear as I jogged across the finish line at the Inaugural Boulder Ironman http://www.ironman.com this summer. Earlier in the day, the Ironman staff and volunteers had laid bright red carpet along the 13th Street finish chute and had lined the runners’ path with metal crowd control stanchions. […]

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My 12 Hour Visa

Once upon a time there was city in Germany called Berlin, and it had been divided into two sections, East Berlin and West Berlin, thanks to the Soviets not wanting the East Germans to escape into a free and prosperous Western society. A 12’ tall concrete wall had been erected around West Berlin, effectively closing […]

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Best of Africa Video

Enjoy this short video highlighting a few best of Africa photographs I took during the 2014 summer in South Africa, Mozambique and Swaziland.   I used a Nikon D7000 and Nikon Coolpix P510. Note:  For best results, view this YouTube video full screen in high-definition.  (After starting the video, hover over lower right corner of video for […]

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An American Safari

During a recent Saturday morning bike ride, just out of the corner of my eye, I glimpsed a herd of llamas grazing. Other than their jaws chomping away on the dewy grass, the llamas hardly moved and I could have easily missed seeing them.   I looked back to see if my eyes had played a […]

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Freedom to Choose (Because I Can)

How much freedom to choose or independence do you need when you travel? Freedom to choose where to go and when to go? And independence to not follow a trip leader or do what “everyone else does”. For people traveling with an organized tour, freedom to choose is generally diminished since the trip leader will make […]

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Liebster Award Nominee

How lucky am I that www.TravelTalesAndStuff.com has recently been nominated for the Liebster Award by Mr. Ben Pastore of TripAccomplice.wordpress.com blog fame.  Thank you so much! As a fairly new blogger, I needed to peak at the Google data bank as well as Ben’s nomination post to learn what the heck the Liebster Award is….I’ll […]

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