With a visit to the market yesterday evening - we were set for breakfast this morning. Cherimoya, Guanabana (soursop) and Granadilla (passion fruit) made for a delicious fruit based breakfast. The inside of a Granadilla looks like something from the guts of an alien - with black seeds surrounded by some goopy stuff encased in a white sack encased in the entire orange outside of the fruit. Never trust looks when it comes to fruit - sometimes you … [Read more...]
Up, Up into the Andes – Ecuador
After seeing the streets flooded with people last night - alcohol flowing like water, dancing, music and lots of action - we stumbled out of our hotel early this morning to eerily empty streets. However, remnants of last nights' craziness were clearly evident - including broken bottles, other shattered glass and nasty messiness left from those who had to much liquor and were unable to keep it in their stomachs. Saturday is the big party night … [Read more...]
Exploring Quito
A young English teacher found us wandering the streets of Quito this morning. He was properly dressed - in suit and tie while bopping to tunes with his large earphones. He saw us struggling with a paper map and stopped to give us a hand. Eventually we found our way to a travel agency - made arrangements for the "avenue of volcanoes" tour - the spine of the country south of Quito which boasts some of the tallest volcanoes on the planet including … [Read more...]
Stop in Quito Ecuador
I've been to South America quite a few times (focusing on Peru) but it has been too long since I was last here - so it was quite nice to finally touch down again on the continent very late this evening. It often feels like you are imposing and or are under acute suspicion when you enter some countries - stopping in front of grim faced immigration officials who give you suspicious glances. Not so here - the officials were laughing and joking … [Read more...]
Quick trip up to Vancouver
I had last visited Vancouver about 20 years ago - needless to say, I was long overdue for a visit to this cosmopolitan city. I remember all the cranes dotting the skyline last time I was here. While there are still plenty of cranes the skyline is now filled by many modern looking residential buildings. Like other Pacific Northwest cities, Vancouver does a good job of incorporating urban and rural. It is hard not to when you are surrounded by … [Read more...]
Exploring the outskirts of Seattle
July and August are great months to visit Seattle. The weather is generally mild to warm and there usually isn't much rain (as one knows, Seattle has a reputation for rain much of the year). We took my friends car which he kindly let us use for a few days and headed out of town. Our goal was the Snoquamish Falls - a massive drop off of water that one can view from several viewpoints. Lovely. Except we were so tired from jet lag we ended up … [Read more...]
The Power of Experiential Travel, Speech in Seattle
When my friend invited me to make a speech to some of his investment clients at a location in downtown Seattle about some of my travel adventures I jumped at the opportunity. With the challenge of creating a speech for his "mixer" I came up with one titled, "The Power of Experiential Travel" - in summary highlighting a number of my interesting adventures from around the world and finishing with some lessons learned from all these … [Read more...]
Experience the best of Britain with a central London tour
London is an amazing city to explore - there is no other city quite like it. Nothing captures the imaginations of tourists like the Tower of London, River Thames and the National Gallery. There is never any shortage of things to do in London and there are a variety of ways to discover the unique culture and heritage behind this great city. But if you truly want to explore London in style, you're in luck, because a number of different tours … [Read more...]
2013 Travel Writing Contest Winners & Honorable Mentions
Of all the past travel writing contests, this was the most difficult year to narrow down the entries to the top three winners. We initially selected 11 from over 100 entries. One entry stood out from the others and was the unanimous choice for our top spot. After discussion among the three judges - the three top entries are: Bring Adventure Back to Europe, by Richard Bangs Without An Address, You Can’t Go Home, … [Read more...]
Tips for staying safe abroad
Whilst most trips abroad pass without any problems when a problem arises and you are in a foreign country it can be very stressful and quite frightening. There are a few things that you can do to minimise the odds of finding yourself in such a predicament though – and here are a few of them. Try not to stand out Tourists are often considered easy pickings by crooks, pickpockets and fraudsters. Their lack of local knowledge, customs, money … [Read more...]
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