- Africa, Belize, Central America, Independent travel, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, North America, Panama, Photography, Travel Blog, Wildlife
That Was 2022
When we retired at the end of 2019, full of wide eyed enthusiasm about seeing the world and feeling like the entire world was our oyster, we had a vision of what a year would look like. This was of course before we had any inkling that something very nasty was about to escape from China and have something of an impact on those plans. Resourceful as we were in ‘20 and ‘21 (we travelled as much as we could and more than most), 2022 has probably been the first year which really did match the dreams we had at the start. As a year which started in Costa Rica…
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Paradise Lost: Time To Move On
Michaela’s coming together with the floating log necessitates hiring a golf buggy to explore the island rather than going everywhere on foot, primarily because her oh-so-slow walk gives her a gait which brings both John Cleese and Jake The Peg to mind at the same time. She climbs steps as a toddler would, carefully assessing next move before lifting the first leg and then placing both feet on each step. Golf buggies are slightly odd too: at first the combination of a top heavy centre of gravity and uneven road surfaces with an ever changing camber makes us feel as if the thing will topple at any moment and we’re…
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Drug Barons, Michaela’s Knee And An Island Named Accountant: Days In Paradise
We have to admit that we’ve been a bit self-indulgent for the next seven days – well, it is Christmas after all. From now until 28th we’re on the ridiculously picturesque island of Contadora, out in the Pacific about 90 minutes on the little ferry boat from Panama City – a ferry boat which, with echoes of how Greek ferries used to be, crams as much goods and produce into its limited space as it does passengers. An early departure time means we’re down at Flamenco Marina before daylight and disembarked and checked in to our room-with-an-incredible-view on the island shortly after 10am. Before coming here we’d read that the…
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Exploring More Of Panama City
Once inside the Iglesia San Francisco de Asis in Plaza Bolivar, the lady behind the cluttered desk motions us towards a door at the side of the church and explains that the nativity scene within is a permanent display, not just for Christmas, and is one of four in Casco Viejo. It’s an extensive and impressive display, but passing through the next door we are cast into some sort of ethereal, pretend world. In this ante room there is, in working model form, an entire replica of an American town at Christmas time. Fairgrounds are alive, music ekes out from various venues, the Big Top issues sounds of a crowd….lights…
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Street Food, Food Wars & This Unfair World: Port Antonio To Falmouth
We always think there’s something exciting about it when foods with unfamiliar names appear on the menu, and for reasons we can’t quite grasp, it’s even more exciting when it’s breakfast. So to discover that the traditional Jamaican breakfast is ackee and saltfish with johnny cakes and bammy is just irresistible. A side dish of callaloo? Even better! Jamaican food is tasty, often hot and spicy and full of unusual ingredients – though they do like to surround the tasty dishes with a large amount of rather weighty, carb-heavy accompaniments. And by the way the stories are true, there’s certainly no scrimping on the amount of alcohol in the cocktails…
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Almost Jamaica Time
As a major football (soccer) fan, I’ve always avidly watched each and every World Cup since the first one I remember, the great days of 1966. In fact, through all my years of working, I would watch every match which fitted in to my work schedule and rued having to miss any at all – dreaming of the days when I retired and could gorge every single match. And guess what. Here it is, the first World Cup where I’ve had the opportunity to watch every moment, and I’m choosing to travel and so will miss nearly all of it! My first chance to make that particular wish come true…
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Sometimes It’s The Little Things…..
Travel may bring once-in-a-lifetime experiences, give us memories we will treasure for ever, but if you keep a journal, or, indeed, a blog, you also build up a collection of those funny little moments….. He appears out of nowhere as we walk across the sand dunes. “Guten tag. Wie geht es dir?”, he asks “Wir sind Englisch, nicht Deutsch”. “Oh you are from England. Where from? London, Manchester? Let me tell you one thing, this place is so much better with guide. A guide who knows.” “We don’t need a guide. Thank you. We are OK”, says Michaela. “OK. You need to know way to beach? I can show you”.…
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Things That Shape Our Lives
So how exactly do you end up like us, retired but always content to be away from home, still always looking for new places and new experiences. Well, there’s **MICHAELA’S STORY** and there’s **PHIL’S STORY** but there’s probably other factors too. You become reflective as you get older, it’s one of life’s great truths. A different perspective starts to descend, one which enables us to look more objectively at the moments and events which shaped our lives and forged our character. Some such moments seemed immaterial at the time yet had an impact which reverberated through the years; others were more blatantly influential. September 1975. My brother, seven years older…
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Dreadlock Holiday
Not the first time we’ve used a 10cc song title as the header for a blog post, let’s just hope it never has to be “Rubber Bullets” or, especially, “I’m Not In Love”. Isn’t planning the next trip just one of the absolute joys of being a traveller. It doesn’t pass us by just how lucky we are, in so many ways, as we open books entitled “Where To Go When” and “The Travel Book”, knowing that the world, almost in its entirety, is our proverbial oyster. Although using a snot-like seafood which needs lemon and tabasco just to be edible for such a positive metaphor is a bit of…
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Piazzas, Porticos & Pasta: Notes From Bologna
Bologna’s famous porticos are immediately evident even as we make our way from the railway station to our apartment close to the heart of the city – not surprising given just how far they extend through the city streets. Originally constructed from wood to provide additional display areas for shopkeepers, these attractive extensions now take on a variety of forms: sweeping brickwork arches, concrete and steel squares, segmented tunnels. Handily providing protection from both the summer sun and the winter rain, these porticos stretch improbably for nearly 25 miles around Bologna’s streets, giving it something of a unique look. Well certainly unusual even if not unique. Bologna enjoys a reputation…
