i had barely unpacked from the Bali trip and was already trying to figure out where i was going to visit next. i always like to have a trip plan in the works, it gives me something fun to look forward to.

the more time i spent thinking about my next trip, the more i thought about going for longer than the usual 10-14 days. i’ve never been away for more than two weeks at a time, even summer camp as a kid was only two weeks. i am currently gainfully employed, i have vacation time saved, and the company i work for allows you to take three months off and still retain your job. if i’m going to take an extended vacation, i’m pretty sure this is the time to do it!

i came to the conclusion that i could take five weeks off. i really wish it could be more, but alas, even though you’re on vacation, rent & bills still need to be paid. ok, five weeks, where to go and when?

i opted for Argentina in September. there is something about South America i really like. i had a blast in Peru last year, and i really liked what little i saw of Argentina and Chile when i went on my cruise, so i opted for Argentina because i didn’t get to see a lot when i was there before, and i’ve always wanted to go back. spend some time and get to know the country. i picked September simply based when i could manage five weeks off and when the weather would be decent.

i had wanted to go in July, but since the seasons are reversed from ours, it would still be a little cool there, and potentially rainy. i decided September would be ok, as it’s still an affordable time to travel and the weather would be better. it’s always a drag when half your luggage is made up of parkas and boots.

destination picked, time-frame determined…..let the planning begin!

image courtesy of mai10.com.ar

of course there was much more to see in Bali besides the Botanic Garden, and i feel like i saw a lot during my short stay.

there were a lot of really beautiful temples; Taman Ayun, Tanah Lot, Besakih and Batukaru to name a few. Tahah Lot was pretty cool, as it is in the water and you can only walk out there when there is low tide. it makes for a lovely sunset picture for sure. Besakih was neat, but i kind of felt like i was swindled going in. most temples have an entrance fee, and some have you rent a sarong if your knees are showing, but this temple asked for an entrance fee, a guide fee, a donation and sarong rental fee. unless you were with a tour group you had to use their guide, which was odd. it was just weird, it was the only place i felt a bit taken advantage of.

i went to Air Panas Alam Angseri (hot springs), and although i didn’t partake in the springs, it made for a lovely mid-day walk. the Jatiluwih rice terraces were unlike anything i had seen before, and the cultural performances i went to, Barong Dance and Kecak Dance were really interesting. i did most of my souvenir shopping at the Sukawati Market, which was like a giant flea market, lots of stalls & things to purchase, but be ready to barter, nothing can be bought at asking price. my treat, i had some awesome sandals made at at store by my hotel. i love shoes. i seem to buy a pair (or two) on every trip.

i was there the week before the Balinese new year celebration and there were giant dolls (Ogoh-ogoh) being created throughout the various towns. it was pretty amazing to see these ginormous figures being built in every town wherever there was covered space.

so much to see in Bali. i was there for a week, but i think 10 days would have been a bit better. on my last day i heard about a great snorkeling spot, and i wish i had been able to check it out. oh well, it goes on the list of things to see on my next visit.

and then there was Bali. i had never been before, actually i had never even considered going there until HB said she thought i should check it out. well, we all know it doesn’t take much for me to book a trip, all i needed was the suggestion and i was in.

i had hoped to use miles for my airfare since it wasn’t a planned trip and i didn’t want to spend a lot. sadly using miles would have made the trip impossibly long with less than pleasant layovers. i decided that my time was worth the money and booked a flight on Cathay. the flight times worked out well, and my layovers weren’t too long, although i’m fairly certain if i had stayed in the Hong Kong airport any longer i would have frozen in the waiting area. the AC was out of control!

i usually plan a trip to death, but this time i decided to let fate take the reigns, and i didn’t book anything except the hotel and a car to get me there. i think it’s always nice after a long flight to just grab your bag from the carousel and find a person standing there with a little card with your name on it. the drivers name was Dewa and he was one of six drivers employed by the hotel. Dewa and i became fast friends, and he ended up taking on all of my sightseeing adventures.

since i only had one week in Bali, i decided i’d stay in one hotel and make day trips, instead of staying in 2-3 different places. i opted to stay at the La Taverna Hotel in Sanur. Sanur was the perfect place for me to call home for the week. it’s on the beach and there is a walkway that runs between the hotels & shops and the beach for miles. each evening i’d adventure out for a walk and find a new place for dinner.
i’m a vegetarian and i never once had a lack of food choice. one of my favorite lunches was at a place called the Porch Cafe on the main street of Sanur, they had a unique and most tasty veggie burger. La Taverna was very pleasant, and i’d stay there again if i went back. actually a fair amount of the people i met there were return guests. it’s a nice location, right on the beach. plus it has a restaurant and a pool, wi-fi in the common areas, and live music twice a week. the staff were incredibly gracious, and the grounds immaculate.

as i mentioned, i didn’t have anything planned for my trip, although i had a couple of places i wanted to see that were recommended by some friends. i let Dewa know what i wanted to check out while i was there, and then i asked him if he could plan the rest. i guess most people have everything all planned out in advance, because Dewa was pretty excited that he got to plan out my visit to Bali. i figure it worked to my advantage, because who knows what to see better than the people that live there right? one of the places i went to on his recommendation was the Botanic Garden.

although not so different than a US garden, it was one of the few places i went to without being in the middle of a crowd. it was quite large, and you drove through, almost like you would in a US national park. it was really lovely with it’s ponds, statues, hothouses and a variety of flowers. if you’re looking to get out of the hustle and bustle, be sure to stop by the garden.

after visiting the Galapagos Islands i made my way to Peru. Machu Picchu was the ultimate destination, but i saw a lot of really neat things along the way.

as i mentioned earlier, i booked this portion of the trip through Peru Gateway. i thought they did a good job putting everything together for me. all of the hotels i stayed at were fine, even the crazy hostel in Cusco that was under construction. i’m 98% sure that was where my credit card number was lifted as well, but i’ve determined that there was one bad apple in the bunch, and i won’t let that one taint what was up until then a great trip.

after the Galapagos i went to Ecuador and spent the afternoon and evening in Quito. i had a nice tour of the city and dinner in town, and the next morning i was off to Lima. from Lima i went on a day trip (a very long day trip) to see the Nazca Lines. these are drawings in the ground that you can only see from the air. there are a number of theories about what the drawings represent and when exactly they were made, and no matter what your belief, they are pretty incredible.

i then went to the town of Arequipa and learned about Maca and visited an old convent, Santa Catalina. from there i went to visit the Colca Canyon, which has an altitude of about 15k feet, and is the home to many a condor, some with up to a 9 foot wing span. on this portion of the trip i met a wonderful couple from Florida that i still keep in touch with. as a matter of fact i think they’re due for a visit next month!

after Colca Canyon where i did see some beautiful condor, llama and alpaca we made our way down the mountain and i was off to Cusco. Cusco was a mere 11k feet altitude, piece of cake. let’s talk about altitude sickness for a quick minute, as it’s a big worry to a lot of people before they travel, including myself.

i didn’t take any medicine for altitude, and i was fine. you learn very quickly at 15k feet you just can’t move as quickly as you’re used to…..so you take it slow, walk with a another person (in case you get dizzy), drink lots of water and rest a lot. although Colca Canyon was the highest spot i went to, i didn’t walk around as much as i did in Cusco, and i took it really slow, so it wasn’t as bad as it might have been. when i got to Cusco i went to the hostel and rested and acclimated for about 3 hours before my city tour. that was all i needed, as i made it through the tour without any problem. unlike a poor woman from NY that passed out mid church visit. rest, water, and take it slow…….that is my advice to avoid feeling ill.

back to Cusco. i loved this place, something about it really appealed to me. i was there for four nights, originally it was supposed to be three, but i extended my visit so i could see the Festival of the Saints. i did a day trip to Machu Picchu, which involved two bus rides and a train. it was a pretty trip to the area, and once there, in awe, pretty much sums it up. some people i know did the 4-day hike to Machu Picchu which actually sounded fun, but since i’m not a big hiker/camper i think the one day bus/train excursion and walk around worked out just fine!

in Cusco i enjoyed many a good meal, and spent a lot of time just exploring. i went to the schools, churches, and markets. the festival was pretty interesting as well. it took place not far from my hotel, so i was able to pop in and out throughout the day to see all of the activities. if i have the opportunity, i would go back to Cusco and spend more time there getting to know the place and people.

i ended my trip in Lima, and it was a bit of a shock to go back to “the big city” after being in smaller towns for so long. i was only there for 1 a day which was enough to learn some history, take some pictures, and do a little shopping. i bought some really great purple flats!

Peru. it was a wonderful trip, and going on my own was fine. i didn’t have any moments of feeling like i made the wrong decision, i didn’t feel unsafe, and i met a lot of really interesting and fun people along the way. that trip changed my way of travel thinking, and i won’t ever hesitate to travel alone again.

it had been a couple of years since the South Africa trip, so i thought i’d check in with my travel friends and see if there was interest in another big vacation. you guessed it, there was interest and we thought Machu Picchu would be a good place to explore.

i started making preliminary inquiries with a company called Peru Gateway to see what they could come up with for us. they were fine to work with and Maya helped me out tremendously. i shared the itinerary with my friends, and found out that sadly, no one was going to be able to make a big trip that year. what to do? i really wanted to get away, so i decided to go on the trip alone.

although i had traveled a fair amount by that time, i hadn’t done anything by myself before. my friend JF travels solo all the time and loves it, so i figured why not give it a go. so i finalized a tour through Gateway and started reading about the area. while i was reading up on Peru, i kept coming back to the Galapagos Islands. well, if i’m going as far as Peru, i should make the most of my time and go to the Galapagos as well right?!

Condor Travel took care of my Galapagos excursion, and got me from Ecuador to the Galapagos and back again, so i could catch my flight to Lima. Condor was a good company to work with as well, and i would recommend them in a heartbeat for South America tour planning.

i spent three nights on the island of Santa Cruz and made two day trips out to different islands. i saw Isabella and Floreana. both boat rides were very choppy (thank goodness for a cushy seat) and not the most pleasant of trips (thank goodness i took Dramamine), but the islands were nice. tortoise, penguins, seals, shark, marine iguanas, and blue footed boobies were a few of the wildlife highlights.

i went to the Charles Darwin Center, the tortoise sanctuary, and just wandered around the island. if you’re a bird person, this is a place for you, so many different kinds to see. there is some diving there as well, but i didn’t check it out. some folks on my boat trip said it was very rough seas and low visibility, and they we disappointed in the dive experience. i’m glad i went, but no strong desire to go again. it’s not an inexpensive trip by any means, so be prepared. “welcome to the Galapagos, that will be $100 please.” that portion of the trip was more than the rest of the trip, which was 3-times as long.

once in awhile, i’m offered the opportunity to go on an international trip for work. the last one was to Beijing, China and previously it was Tokyo, Japan.

even though these were work related travels, they were both a blast! my colleagues in our regional offices took some time to show me around. i didn’t have a lot of time for sightseeing, so it was wonderful having someone show me some key points in each area.

Beijing has wonderful sights like the Summer Place, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, and Tiananmen Square. so much good food i can’t even begin to tell you. the best meal i had was with my friend and her husband in a little restaurant close to where he grew up. no idea the name of it, or where it was, but it was super tasty!

Tokyo offered up more group entertainment as there were a couple of us on that trip, and we traveled together. Motown for many a drink, Bic Camera & Akihabara for electronics shopping, street performances in the evening, and starting each day with Western breakfast + an extra bowl of corn flakes. people watching at the Ginz and Shinjuku, a tea ceremony in a stunning garden and watching a wedding ceremony from afar.

i’m really thankful i had the chance to see both places, and was able to spend some wonderful times with my friends from work!

i have mixed feelings about my trip to Italy. the trip itself was really nice, and i would love to go back and see more of the country. but, the reason for the trip was for my honeymoon, and the marriage didn’t last much past the honeymoon. but that is not Italy’s fault by any means, and looking back, the honeymoon really was the best part of the marriage, so let’s just focus on the trip itself!

my friend SB put together the itinerary for the trip, as she had been to all of these places, and had a wonderful time. i started off in San Gimignano and then drove to Portovenere and ended the trip in Venice.

San Gimignano was wonderful. i stayed at a family owned B&B and out my hotel window i had a view of the town, or rather the walls that surrounded the town and some of the pillars & steeples. it was a short walk to town, and one i did daily while there. i also took some day trips and went to Pisa, Lucca and Firenze. the to Portovenere, along the coast.

i loved being by the water and having the chance to see the Cinque Terra. i wasn’t there for very long, but exploring the town was a lot of fun and i had some of the best pesto i’ve ever had in my life there. they even had pesto vending machines, how awesome is that?!

the last stop was Venice. although everything on the trip was beautiful, i think i liked Venice the best. i loved the canals, the air of mystery of the city itself. the pink glass lamps, the gondolas, the atmosphere, it was all as i imagined it to be.

i was attempting to create these blog posts in chronological order, but i have failed. i was putting together my Shutterfly.com album page to go along with my blog, and i realized that i had completely forgotten about Roatan.

Roatan, Honduras was where i learned to scuba dive, got eaten by sand fleas, and drank a lot of $1 beers. it was a really fun trip, and if i had an overwhelming urge to scuba dive again, i might consider going back, as it was pretty economical once you got there.

in all honesty i didn’t have a strong desire to learn to scuba dive, but a friend from work is an avid diver, and made it sound like fun. since i live in Northern California, getting certified at home can be a very cold experience. you can take classes in a pool, but the final is held in Monterey Bay. cold water and low visibility doesn’t sound like fun to me.

my friend suggested i go with on a vacation to Roatan, and i could get dive certified while they enjoyed multiple dive excursions. worked for me. i took classes from Native Sons and was certified in three days and went on a few dives before it was time to go home. i didn’t do anything fancy like a cave dive, night dive or shipwreck dive, but i was pretty decent at the basics.

unless you are into scuba, i wouldn’t suggest just vacationing in Roatan, there isn’t a whole lot to do besides diving. the people are nice, food is great, beers are cheap and monkeys steal your belongings. when it rains the internet and phone lines go out, but who needs internet anyway?!

sand flea note……a mixture of suntan oil (oil, not lotion) and Deet, seem to keep them at bay.

while my friends and i were on the Turkey trip, we decided it would be fun if we could go on a big trip like that every other year. every year would be ideal, but the reality is you do need to save up money and vacation days.

the next time we all got together (we live in different states) we figured out the best time for all of us to travel, and determined our top three choices were South Africa, New Zealand and Thailand. one of us had been to New Zealand before and that was the most expensive, so we ruled that one out. Thailand, although really interesting just didn’t have the same appeal as South Africa, so we decided that would be our next adventure. one of had been to parts of South Africa before, but we thought that would be ok, as it wasn’t an extensive trip going where we wanted to on this trip.

i love a good planning session, so i volunteered to put a trip together. i didn’t do it all on my own, for the first time i used a travel agency. i found a terrific place online called Travel Butlers, and worked with a wonderful woman named Susan. i told her the sites of interest we’d like to see, the budget we had in mind and the time frame we had to work with. after a couple of rounds of revisions, we had an itinerary. easy as 1-2-3.

i shared it with the rest of the team and it all looked promising. i was using miles for the airline portion of the trip, and since i was traveling from a different state i went ahead and booked my airfare, just to be safe. it then turned out that two of the four couldn’t go on the trip, sadness struck, but we, the other two, decided to go ahead with the vacation. it wasn’t the same without them, but it was a great trip. with the exception of the last hotel, the last night of the trip, i’d go on the exact same trip all over again.

we flew into Cape Town and stayed there for three nights, and got acclimated. two night

s would have been enough for us, but it all worked out fine. the rental car was brought to us the day after we arrived, which was a nice service. this was the first time i had driven on the opposite side of the road, very exciting. i’m happy to report the car didn’t incur any damage, all mirrors and hubcaps remained intact. while in Cape Town we saw Table Mountain and we went for a shark cage dive. not quite Jaws, but it felt that way. we drove to Cape Point, and went to Boulders to see the penguins (my second penguin experience).

then started the drive along the Garden Route. we stayed in Franschhoek and checked out a few wineries, and then headed to Wilderness and saw the Cango Caves in Little Karoo. next stop was in Knysna at the Mitchell Brewery (if there is a local brewery a stop must be made), and we spent the night next in Plettenberg Bay. Monkey Land, Birds of Eden and Tsitsikamma National Park. one night near the Addo Elephant Park, and then off to safari.

we stayed at the Pumba Reserve, and it was fantastic. we could see, and hear, hippos from our deck, and occasionaly saw lions just wandering down the path by the guest rooms. the food was wonderful, the staff amazing, Brad our safari guide was the best. there were two drives a

day, once in the morning and once in the evening. you were in a vehicle with 2-6 people depending on the day and time. we saw, elephants, giraffes, lions, lion cubs, cheetah, zebras, white rhino and a lot of kudu and other elk like animals. it was truly an amazing experience to see those animals in their natural habitat and not a man-made cement environment with one grassy hill.

that was the last part of the trip, and i was sad to see it end. after the safari we spent one last night in Port Elizabeth (total let down after the safari), then got on a flight to Johannesburg and headed our separate ways back to the states. Johannesburg has the best gift shops i have ever seen btw. again, i’d do this same trip all over again, it was just a great time spent with a great friend.

that trip to London and France was the first of many trips i have made with my friends.

the second trip was to Turkey. my friends have a colleague originally from Turkey, and he and his family go every summer for a visit. he mentioned it would be fun if my friends went to Turkey while they were there, and he could show them around. enough said, a group was formed, and off to Istanbul we went.

we started and ended the trip in Istanbul, and we went to Cappadocia and Bodrum as well. We took a tour of Ephesus, went on a long hike and saw many old churches and homes built into hillsides. fairy chimneys, a hot air balloon ride, and a 3-night trip on the Aegean Sea. a very long bus ride, a lot of bartering, amazing tile work, the Aya Sophia, a Turkish bath and the Grand Bazaar. lazy mornings starting with strong coffee, cheese, cucumbers and tomatoes. afternoons spent enjoying Efes Pilsen with my friends.

this was a wonderful trip, and far too short, i think i could have easily stayed a month. i’m very thankful that i was extended the opportunity to go on this trip, and that we had a local with us to show us the world where he grew up. Istanbul, very different than the Bay Area.