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 in February 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?  Also, the big herds migrate in the summer. I would miss that. Our travel agent, 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 Leora’s … Continue reading 11. Southern Africa – February 2004

For the next adventure we decided to hike in the Negev (Israeli’s desert), during a March visit to family in Tel-Aviv.  This time I hired a guide, Ido, for the seven-day camping safari, rather than go on an organized trip.  Ido arranged for the camels and for Tooshey, the camel guide/cook. 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 … Continue reading 10. Israeli Desert – March 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 9. Ecuador and Galapagos – Jan 2003

We had gone with ElderTreks to Peru and Nepal, and decided to book our next adventure to Finland’s Lapland, with them. Finland – Lapland The trip began with a short stop in Helsinki, continuing on to Rovaniemi, the gateway to Lapland. The group consisted of 15 travelers plus 2 guides.  Five of my fellow travelers arrived in Rovaniemi without their luggage – a good reason to travel with carry-on.  Their bags did catch up with them.  Rovaniemi, on the Arctic Circle is not charming.  It was burned down at the end of WWII by the Germans during their retreat.  With only a dozen houses surviving, … Continue reading 8. Finland – June 2002

I had enjoyed the Bolivia and Peru’s, 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. I would fly from Seattle 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.  Then came September 11th, a day, we remember with a shudder.  We had … Continue reading 7. Thailand & Nepal – October 2001

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 that specializes in active, … Continue reading 6. Bolivia/Peru – November 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). As I said in post number 3, New Zealand was my first multi-week post retirement trip in 2000.  What a perfect country to choose as the first adventure trip!  Except for the long flight, and the challenge of driving on the wrong side of the road, it was an easy place to visit.  Obviously English speaking … Continue reading 5. New Zealand – March 2000

A corporate restructuring allowed me to take early retirement in the summer of 1999.  I gave myself one year of travel to decide if I wanted to return to work.  My husband was still working but had a flexible schedule. 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 celebrate her 40th birthday.  The where and how long were pre-determined.  I booked our flight and began the first … Continue reading 4. Is It Time to Retire & Travel? 1999 to 2000

The Children years: Some people may manage to combine the “Children Years” with adventure.  I mostly managed mis-adventure. In 1969, when my son, Sean was born, the three of us went to Managua, Nicaragua to visit my in-laws, who were working and living there.  We took lots of day trips and saw much of the countryside, but mostly I spent the time taking care of a cranky 3-month-old who had just learned to turn over from his stomach to his back but couldn’t go the other way. When Sean was 9-month-old, Tom wanted visit his family in California.  We had 10 days off … Continue reading 3. Life before Travel – 1969 to 1999

My early years in Israel: 1944-56 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, and then again when they emigrated to the … Continue reading 2. Life before Travel – 1944 to 1969