Our plans, decisions, and adventures
Though we could have selected any number of towns as our base to explore the eastern Algarve, a local recommended Faro to us as a still-open-and-active winter location. We arrived in Faro by Flixbus from Seville, Spain, where we had been visiting with family. It was a bit of a walk with our suitcases into... Continue Reading →
Algarve is the region at the south end of Portugal. Its over 200 kilometres of coastline offer up sandy beaches, rocky cliffs, white hillside towns and historic fishing villages. With decent year-round weather (warmer and drier in winter than other parts of Portugal and not too hot even in the hottest month of August) and... Continue Reading →
We were incredibly lucky to have secured a house sit in the village of Snells Beach taking care of a beautiful new home and its gardens, and a gentle border collie named Pip. Sunrise in Snells BeachLooking out over Snells Beach to Kawau Bay A windy day in the baySailing, sailing Our first views of... Continue Reading →
When we were booking flights out of Vancouver for our trip to New Zealand we found that almost all of the flights went via Hawai'i. Having never been to Hawai'i (possibly the only West Coast Canadians who haven't), this seemed like a perfect time to build in a stopover. We had grand plans for a... Continue Reading →
We made the decision to spend a week in Langkawi, an island north of Penang in Malaysia, when we were deprived of ocean beaches. After a week in beautiful seaside Koh Lanta, and several weeks in Chiang Mai where food is wonderful and cheap, Langkawi had a lot to live up to. We stayed at... Continue Reading →
When it was time to leave Chiang Mai, all 5 of us (our son, daughter-in-law and grandson) flew to Bangkok and then onto Krabi on the west coast of Thailand. We had pre-arranged a van to pick us up at the airport and take us to our hotel--a journey which included a short ferry ride.... Continue Reading →
We hadn’t planned to visit Costa Rica on this leg of our journey as we had toured the country about 13 years ago. But, we had about a week to spare between our Granada house sit and our planned return to Canada. When Ken found a great price to fly out of Liberia, Costa Rica, we decided to... Continue Reading →
We had the great fortune to have our family visit us in Nicaragua for 11 days: son Kyle, daughter-in-law Candice, and grandson Alex (4 1/2). Our challenge was to create an itinerary that allowed for some activity, included local culture, was suitable for a child, wasn't boring but also didn't try to pack too much... Continue Reading →
What a refreshing way to spend New Year's Day in tropically hot Pedasí. Our hosts allowed us to tag along with them and their friends to a waterfall where they like to hang out. A howler monkey hung out in the trees directly above us the whole time we were there, only moving to scratch... Continue Reading →
Beach fun We solved our beach challenges (see Atacames: Tourist beach town) in two ways: We hopped a 10-minute, 30-cent bus to a Súa, a sleepy fishing village with a lovely, quiet bay that is protected from the waves and perfect for swimming. There is a malecón wall at the top of the beach, and... Continue Reading →
Just left: Port Townsend, Washington, USA
Now: Birch Bay, Washington, USA
Up next: Maple Bay, British Columbia, Canada
Life: Phase Next 