After riding the rails up the edge of the Pacific, starting in Los Angeles, the Coast Starlight dropped me off in the verdant state of Oregon in May for three of my favorite things – hiking, winery visits, and spending time with friends (not necessarily in that order – the first two were greatly enhanced by the third!) Jeanne and Sally, friends I met in La Manzanilla, Mexico, were kind and generous hosts, sharing their homes and...

What do you do when you want to go to Venice, but the hotels are way out of your budget, and you’d really rather get to know the locals anyway, than stay in an anonymous hotel in a crazy tourist area? You try couch surfing! Couch surfing is more of a cultural exchange than a free place to stay. True, there is no charge (although it’s suggested that you bring your host a small gift, or cook them a meal). If you are not familiar with...

One of the advantages of long-term travel is that less than perfect weather doesn’t throw you into a frenzy of frustration – you have several days to hang around (6 in my case on the island of Korcula) so good weather is likely to find you at some point. You can relax and enjoy the moment, raindrops and all, and the bottle-green sea-glass color of the ocean makes a lovely contrast with the gray of the sky. If all of your photos were...

New Zealand abounds with opportunities for excursions – you could participate in a different one each day for weeks and not do them all: bungy jumping, jet skiing, horse back riding, boat cruising… …There are gondola rides, bike tours, paddle boarding, historic train trips,  hikes on glaciers and ice climbing, helicopter tours, aqua biking, river surfing and rafting, rock climbing, whale watching, fishing, zip lining, panning...

When you think about wine in New Zealand, mostly Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir come to mind. New Zealander’s do make other lovely wines, however I have to admit I love their SB’s and Pinots, and had fun exploring 3 of the wine regions on the South Island, including Canterbury/Waipara, Marlborough, and Central Otago. Heading north out of Christchurch on my way to Blenheim, a town in the heart of the Marlborough region, I first...