What’s worse than hiking with a bum knee? Not hiking. Not doing much of anything for that matter, other than obsessing about growing old. That’s the prospect I faced the day before the start of a recent week-long hiking trip in the Czech Republic. After two days of walking around Vienna, the starting point … Continued
The Strait of Magellan and the Beagle Channel look pretty much the same as they did when Ferdinand Magellan and Sir Charles Darwin sailed these waters hundreds of years ago. From the deck of the Stella Australis on the 3-day expedition cruise from Ushuaia, Argentina to Punta Arenas, Chile, I spent a lot of time … Continued
The kayak in front of us climbed up the face of a steep six foot swell and disappeared down the other side. My heart pounded, my stomach churned, and I couldn’t help but think of the movie, The Perfect Storm. Remember that fateful scene with the fishing boat, the Andrea Gail, trying to make it … Continued
The humpback whale shot into the air a few feet off the side of the boat, so close I could see the barnacles on his nose, drops of water roll off his skin, and the hint of a smile on his face. The breaching whale marked the end of our recent ten-day visit to Alaska, … Continued
The last thing we expected to see on the lonely two lane black top in the heart of SW Texas was a Prada store. Upon close inspection, we realized we were looking at an art installation, the first sign of the quirky avant garde art community in nearby Marfa. This was only the first of … Continued
What comes to mind when you think of Portugal? Cathedrals? Historic sites? Sixteenth Century explorers? Former colonies in Asia? Lethal jellyfish? How about some of the best hiking in the world. This past October, my wife Katherine and I hiked the Algarve, Costa Vicentina and Alentejo regions in SW Portugal. For the first four days … Continued
I feel a special affinity for the giant tortoises of the Galapagos. Like me, they are large and slow. Unlike me they are green, a hue I only achieve when I’ve had too much to eat or drink. They also live a very long time, well over 100 years on the average. Maybe that’s the … Continued