Although I was not worried about filling my time in retirement, it was important to me to have meaningful opportunities. I had very few criteria; I wanted to nourish my love of teaching, I wanted to incorporate as much travel as I could, and I wanted to find ways to give back through volunteer work….
Behind the Scenes Ship Tour
I have talked to many frequent cruisers who say the Behind the Scenes Tours are one of their highlights. Comparing the different ships and their facilities is as entertaining as the shows those same ships produce. Tours were suspended during covid and just recently reinstated so we took advantage of the opportunity while on our…
Greek Islands – Rhodes & Patmos
A cruise that includes Greek Islands is inevitably going to be popular. The sun drenched shores, white washed buildings with vibrant blue trim and the welcoming islanders ensure that whatever they have to offer will result in a great time. The more popular and common ports of Santorini and Mykonos deserve their own articles. For…
Port of Call – Limossal, Cypress
Cypress is an island country located south of Turkey. It is the third largest and third-most populous island in the Mediterranean. The traditional languages are Greek and Turkish to reflect its divided population. A very popular vacation destination, we docked at the port of Limassol twice on our back to back itinerary. Always fans of archaeological sites our…
Solo Cruising
Ken and I love to meet new people on cruises. Friends enrich the experience beyond the daily sites and activities and elevate it to another level. Our most recent cruise offered up a treasure trove of fascinating friendly people that shared excursions, dinners and more than a few drinks while at sea. We agreed to…
Biblical Israel
For the most diverse sightseeing options we chose a combination of historical sites for two of our days in Israel (see last weeks article) and for the other two we focused on the Biblical locations. Although these sites are spiritual pilgrimages for many travelers, we approached them with a more academic leaning. As a result…
Historical Israel
One of the benefits of doing a back to back cruise is the chance to revisit a port. When that port is in Israel, and there are two stops on each itinerary, you can really travel the country in depth. This is not that usual on a cruise itinerary so we were excited to take advantage of…
Pros and Cons of All Inclusive Resorts
When it’s time to get away from it all and just relax an all inclusive resort is the go to choice for many travelers. We haven’t tried it (I think I would be bored), but millions cannot be wrong, so I decided to get a more unbiased opinion. I reached out to our friend Joy…
Traversing the Suez Canal
Early in the morning we received an urgent message that our friends had secured a table at the rear of the ship for us to use as we travelled through the Suez Canal. Since it was an important part of our itinerary, and a bucket list item for all of us, their eagerness was understandable. We were…