Antarctica trip could not have been more different from Bhutan, but just as spectacular. This is why I am always tongue tied when I am asked to name my favorite country or trip.  They are all so different. I chose to go to Antarctica with Galapagos Travels.  They had done such a wonderful job arranging the Galapagos trip and I trusted them to set us up with a good cruise for Antarctica.  I also asked them for a pre-trip adventure, which was a side trip to Iguazu Falls from Buenos Aires.   80% of Iguazu Falls are on the Argentine side but the view … Continue reading 17. Antarctica – 2007

I am always asked if I have a favorite country that I visited. It is difficult to choose, but if I had to, Bhutan would be it. Bhutan was the most special trip for many reasons; the culture, the terrain and the architecture. In addition, we had three amazing experiences; climbing to Tiger’s Nest Monastery, crashing a “rainy day” private party and meeting the Queen. Read on. A year after the trip recounted in the prior post, we had another opportunity to visit our son and family in SE Asia.  This time his work had transferred him to Malaysia.  We also visited Thailand, Laos, … Continue reading 16. Bhutan – 2006

In 2005 my son, Stefan and his wife, Rachel decided that they would like to live for some time outside of the U.S. Stefan found a job at a Vietnamese company in Hanoi and Rachel found a job in the international school teaching English.  We now had a great excuse to go to SE Asia. The trip included time in Vietnam, Myanmar, and Cambodia. Vietnam: Stefan and Rachel decided to go “local” and rent a house in a neighborhood without ex-pats.  It was an odd mixture of beautiful charming buildings and others that looked like slum houses.  My son was very friendly with … Continue reading 15. S.E. Asia – 2005

This trip was a pilgrimage to visit L.M. Montgomery’s (LMM) home island and the setting of so many of her books. Knowing my love of the “Anne” books, my wonderful husband, Jerry planned the whole trip. A dream come true. I first read Anne of Green Gables (AGG) when I was 9 or 10, in Hebrew, living in Israel, while sick. My mom gave me the book, which in Hebrew was called “The Orphan”.  She read it in Poland (in Polish) when she was 10 years old in 1925. (It was first translated into Polish in 1918). I just loved this … Continue reading 14. Prince Edward Island – 2005

Visiting four Central European cities: Krakow, Prague, Budapest and Vienna may not be as exciting as the Inca Trail or Galapagos, but I had fabulous experiences there. These four cities have interesting histories and amazing architecture.  They have similarities, but also are different enough to make visiting all four very satisfying. Krakow, Poland Krakow is a small city with a lovely market square in the center of town.  There are shops and restaurants all around the square.  It is a lively place, full of street musicians and fun. The focus of the square is St. Mary’s Basilica, built in the 14th century. The church tower … Continue reading 13. Central Europe- 2005

I believe I was always meant to go to Egypt.  I received my undergraduate degree in Ancient Near Eastern Studies (Egypt, Palestine, Turkey etc.) from the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago.  I married an Egyptologist, who for a while worked at the Metropolitan Museum in NYC; put together the Temple of Dendur, which was brought to New York block by block when the High Dam threatened to flood it.  He also brought the Tut exhibit to the museum.  He made frequent trips to Egypt but I was barred from entering the country – I had been born in Israel and my U.S. … Continue reading 12. Egypt – 2005

Carmen Festival that Wasn’t or How to make Lemonade out of Lemons The Theme of this trips was: Not all travel plans work as expected.   Jerry & I saw an ad by the tour company, AESU for a tour called “Carmen in Seville,” offering Bizet’s opera in three locations including the bull ring (the scene in the final act of the actual opera).  We had never been to Spain, therefore we viewed this as a wonderful opportunity.  To make the trip even better, we added three nights in Barcelona at the end of the tour.   Snafu one:  Three weeks before the trip, the … Continue reading 11. Spain – 2004

South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe Seeing all the animals in Galapagos, whetted my appetite for wildlife viewing; Southern Africa was, therefore, my next special destination.  I planed the trip to avoid some of New York City’s winter.  However, I read that February is the “wet” month in southern Africa, would that be a problem?  In addition, to see the big herds and migrations I would have to go in the summer. However, Leora Rothschild of Rothschild Safaris assured me that in February, we would still see many animals, have great experiences, the rain would be intermittent and the weather warm.   At … Continue reading 10. Southern Africa – 2004

For my next adventure I picked hiking in the Negev (Israeli’s desert), during a March visit to family in Tel-Aviv.  This time I hired a guide, Ido, rather than go on an organized trip, for the seven-day camping safari.  Ido arranged for the camels and with a camel guide/cook, Tooshey. It was an awesome adventure. Our starting point, at the edge of the Negev, was a Haan, a big one room tent, which in the old days, acted as a Bedouin guest house where travelers could stay with their animals.  The floor was covered with rush mats with lots of Bedouin mattresses for … Continue reading 9. Israeli Desert – 2003

After reading a book about Galapagos, and its importance in Darwin’s theory of evolution, I decided that it would be my next destination.  I booked with Galapagos Travel company (GT), which ran 11-day boat cruises (not just 7-day ones like most companies).  Then I added 3 nights in Quito.  GT arranged for a guide during our two full days in Quito. Ecuador -Quito: On our first day of sightseeing, we drove to the small towns north of Quito, each specializing in a craft. This was set up by the Spanish so that they could monitor the outflow of goods and tax them properly.  One … Continue reading 8. Ecuador and Galapagos – 2003

Thailand and Nepal: October 2001 I had enjoyed the Bolivia and Peru, adventure with Eldertreks, therefore, I decided to go to Nepal with them.  They had a tour starting October 12th,.  The timing would work well for us since we would be in Seattle for our annual Jane Austen Society conference, October 5th – 8th and then would fly from there to Bangkok and onto Nepal..   We booked this trip, and shortly afterwards, the Prince in Nepal killed his entire family and the political situation seemed a bit shaky.  However, we decided to hope for the best.  Then came September 11th,  a day, we remember with a … Continue reading 7. Thailand and Nepal – 2001

Bolivia/ Peru December, 2000 I came home from New Zealand full of zeal for my next trip.  Up until this time I had confined my travels mostly to the western world.  Now I was eager for more adventure and to learn about other cultures.  My niece Daphne suggested Peru and specifically the Inca Trail Trek to Machu Picchu.  Although I had been comfortable planning and traveling independently in Europe and New Zealand, I felt that I needed to go on a tour in order to visit Peru.  A bit of research brought me to Elder Treks’ trip to Bolivia and Peru. Elder Treks is a company … Continue reading 6. Bolivia/Peru – 2000

This post begins the “Special Trips” experiences. I am excited to share some of my wonderful adventures.  I will try my best to share the excitement and awe of travel without getting bogged down with every little event.  This means that I am eliminating parts of each trip (tough job). In addition, even though all my trips are special to me, I will only post about the extra special trips or portions of trips. Consequently, I am leaving out many marvelous trips and if you want to read about them, just let me know.  New Zealand: March, 2000 As I said in post … Continue reading 5. New Zealand- 2000

A corporate restructuring allowed me to take early retirement in the summer of 1999.  I gave myself one year to decide if I wanted to return to work.  My husband was still working but had a flexible schedule. Therefore, I used this year to travel as much as possible to see if retirement would suit me.  I was ready to start my year of travel, but where to go, for how long. Should I travel with a group or independently?   That July, just as my job was coming to an end, my sister-in-law Silvana, asked us to meet her in Hossegor, France (on the Atlantic Coast), for a week, to … Continue reading 4. Retirement and the Beginning of Travel Adventure

My early years in Israel: If Jane Austen had written a book called; “Nili’s Travel Adventures”, she might have borrowed from Northanger Abbey’s opening paragraph and said, “No one who had ever met Nili in her early years would have supposed that she was born to be a travel junkie.  Her situation in life, the character of her father and mother, her own personality and disposition, were all equally against it.” * My parents showed quite a bit of the adventurous spirit when they left Poland in the 1930s to settle in Israel, then again emigrated to the U.S. in the 1950s.  That … Continue reading 3. Life before Travel