Answering the question from readers, “Where should I travel?” Our top 13! Link to our world travel map…

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The Treasury in Petra, Jordan after a very long, hot walk. Click here for one of two posts.  This sight made us gasp with our hearts pounding wildly, less from the walk, more from sheer joy!

Frequently, we receive email inquiries from our readers asking for suggestions for the best places to visit in the world based on what we’ve seen to date. 

That’s a tough question to answer.  Its almost as complex as asking a person what they like to read, to eat and what they prefer for recreation.  Its all a matter of personal preference.

Zef, our houseman, held this monstrous insect Tom had fished out of the pool with the net.  Not only did living in Marloth Park include daily visits from big wildlife but also the smaller world of many insect such as this enormous rhino beetle.  For more details, please click here for one of our three months of posts.

Keeping in mind that our primary interests (although we’ve enjoyed many other aspects in the world which we’ll also include here) revolve around observing wildlife, vegetation and naturally created scenery which limits more than half of the popular “places to see” in the world.

With our goal to visit every continent, choosing countries/regions within that continent we strive on making decisions befitting our personal interests.  To date, we visited 49 countries as shown in our map on Travelers Point.  Please click here to see our map.

A container freighter ahead of us in line to enter the first set of locks, the Miraflores Locks as we entered the Panama Canal.  See here for one of the posts.

When reviewing our map its clear to see how we’ve yet to visit most of Asia (we’ll be visiting a few Asian countries soon), South America (upcoming in 2017) and Antarctica, upcoming in 2017 or 2018 (cruises yet to be posted).

Sure, we’ve found many big cities interesting, romantic and exciting: Paris, London, Sydney, Vancouver, Barcelona, Dubai, Venice, Marrakesh, Cairo, Dubrovnik (Croatia), Reykjavik, Cork (Ireland) and on and on…too many to list here.

This female lion as all animals in the wild in the Masai Mara, Kenya, is constantly on the lookout for the next meal to feed her cubs.  It was a memorable, life changing experience we’ll always treasure.  See here for more details.

Our readers continue to ask for our favorites and for many of our regular readers you may already be familiar with our preferences. For our less frequent visitors, here are a few suggestions that not only include remote areas of particular interest but also cities/areas we found especially exciting:

1. Marloth Park, South Africa:  Abundant wildlife, friendly people, plenty to see and do, reasonably priced
2. Panama Canal cruise:  Making a transit through the canal is quite an experience.  The cruises include many stops to other interesting countries.
3.  Masai Mara, Kenya:  Photo safari one of the top experiences in our lives; pricey.
4.  Petra, Jordan: Visit the Treasury, one of the most amazing man made structures in the world, breathtaking.  Getting there can be pricey.
5.  The Middle East cruise:  (May not be safe at this time).  Traveling through the Red Sea, the Suez Canal (loved this) and the Gulf of Aden proved to be our most adventurous cruise to date.

After we traveled through the Suez Canal, we entered the dangerous waters of the Gulf of Aden, requiring “pirate drills” and special forces onboard with the “packages” including armory to protect the ship and passengers.  Very exciting.  See the post here.

6.  Venice, Italy:  Amazing, must-see for those who don’t mind “tourist” attractions with huge crowds, long queues, and bumping elbows. 
7.  Mykonos, Greece:  (Sardinia is reputed to be even more exquisite). Mykonos has gorgeous scenery, interesting shopping, great restaurants with many delightful hilly walks.  Expensive.
8. Placencia, Belize (a peninsula):  Our first stay outside the US with a bad start for during the first week in a less desirable house – moved to fabulous property – remote, had an exquisite stay; great people, reasonably priced.  Quiet life with a week or two of sites to see. There are many islands in Belize such as Ambergris Caye that tourists often choose over Placencia.  We prefer more remote locations.  Not recommended for those with precarious health issues when its a rough four hour drive or an infrequent flight on a small plane at a local airport to a hospital in Belize City (city is rough and best to avoid for extended periods). 

As our ship made its way to the port of Venice, our mouths were agape in surprise a the feast before our eyes.  Click here for one of two posts.

9.  Sydney, Australia:  One of the most beautiful cities in the world; expensive, good local transportation, fabulous shopping, hotels and restaurants, lots to see, far to travel from many parts of the world.
10.  New Zealand:  This country has so much to offer one could easily stay busy and in awe for many months touring both the North and South Islands, especially if you enjoy road trips.  For us, staying close to New Plymouth and the alpaca farm has totally fulfilled us, although we plan to do some touring in the near future.  Reasonably priced.


The Harbour Bridge.  Wow!  It was extraordinary.  We look forward to returning to Sydney in 2017 for 40 days to fill a gap in our schedule.  For the link to this post, please click here.

11.  Dubrovnik, Croatia:  The must-see walled city may not require a long stay but a few days to a week could be highly gratifying.  Pricey.
12.  The countryside in France and the UK:  We’ve visited many small villages but will someday return for a more comprehensive tour. Expensive.
13.  Kauai, Hawaii:  Extraordinary island offering the “naturalist” a wide array of sightseeing opportunities, scenery and unique wildlife.  Expensive.



The walled city of Dubrovnik, Croatia.  For more photos of this breathtaking historic city, please click here.

We could go on and on.  We’ve provided a few links in the caption of today’s photos for our visits to these special places. If you’d like to see more photos, please search on the right side of our daily homepage and you’ll find a ‘SEARCH” box directly below the listed archive dates (for more past posts). 

If you’ll type in the name of any of the above cities/countries/locations, you’ll find a list of every post in which we’ve visited these areas.  If you have difficulty with this, please send an email and we’ll be happy to assist in finding the appropriate posts containing many photos.


Not wanted to awaken her/him, I kept my distance although I’d have loved to see more of the rarely seen Hawaiian Monk Sea at the beach at the Napali Coast, Kauai.  Click here for more details.

Actually, it would take writing a comprehensive travel book to describe the details of these experiences and more.  Instead of writing a tedious time consuming book, we’ve chosen to share  our story each day. 

For now, our goal is to assist our inquiring readers on areas they may find suitable for their needs and desires. We hope today’s story helps for those who are considering traveling if possessing some criteria similar to ours.

Have an interesting day whatever you choose to do!

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Photo from one year ago today, February 12, 2015:

A final view of Hanalei Bay before we exited an open house in Kauai.  For photos of the house we toured, please click here.

Sorrow in Paris reverberates throughout the world…No place in the world is safe…

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This modern sailboat has been anchored in the bay in front of us since yesterday afternoon. We suspected the crew decided to stay put for a few days in the inclement weather.

With no TV in Fiji, we’ve been watching and listening to the news online at a variety of outlets. The sorrowful loss of life as a result of the horrific terrorist attacks in France has brought the world to its knees in anguish and pain over the pointless deaths of innocent people.

This sorrow, as continually experienced by citizens throughout the world and in the US in 2001 and other periods in time, is only exacerbated by the reality that preventing future attacks seems to be an insurmountable undertaking as the toxicity of this faction escalates.

Although we choose not to use our site as a political or religious medium to express certain views, we can’t avoid expressing our heartfelt condolences and prayers for those who lost their lives, for healing those who were injured, and for the loved ones who bear the agony of such losses and sorrow.

What a beautiful sea as seen from our area!

Having been in Paris only 15 months ago, while there, past horrifying events in the city came to mind as we took the train to Versailles, dined in cafes,]popoo and lived for two weeks in a boutique hotel. No matter how mindful a local citizen or tourist maybe there’s no specific location safe from these attacks.

These types of risks are prevalent in most parts of the world as we easily witness from news reports from many countries. No country is exempt from the wrath of these groups and their indoctrinated often young people, who fall prey to the cult-like belief that death for themselves and others is better for this world than precious life.

How any God would espouse such destruction is beyond the comprehension of any of the majority of the world’s citizens. The promises made to these “destroyers of life and liberty” must be within a realm none of us can clearly understand.

Passing boats always catches our attention, as in this case of a private yacht.

Oh, we could philosophize on why this is possible but, we won’t go there today. Instead, per the intent of our ongoing journey, we think in terms of where we’ll travel in the future and in continuing with our intent to stay away from big cities when possible. 

As Tom always says, “The closer you get to tall buildings, the greater risk lies therein.” As travelers, we find it important as much as possible to live in more remote areas which in essence fulfills our personal goals in any case…stay clear of traffic, noise, and congestion.

But, for many, this is impossible when their lives dictate they work and live in vulnerable locations. Then again, no suburb or remote location is entirely safe. When we lived in Kenya for three months in the “suburb” of Diani Beach, our house was guarded 24 hours a day as well as being in a gated community of 18 homes, as well as being behind 8 foot, 2.4 meter, high iron gates and fences surrounding the property.

The clouds seldom disappear entirely. Over the past several days it’s been very hot, humid, and rainy although today, it’s a little cooler, although cloud-covered.

Entering the strip mall to grocery shop, armed guards inspected the vehicle, using a mirror on a pole with wheels to check underneath the car looking for bombs. We were frisked and our bags inspected as we entered the market and the Vodafone store.

While we lived in Kenya, the attack on a mall in Nairobi occurred. Although we were far from that location, we realized how vulnerable locals and travelers may be in any location. A month after we left Diani Beach, a restaurant where dined regularly was bombed. 

No place is safe. Even when we cruised through the Middle East, our ship was guarded by military vessels as we entered dangerous waters. Looking back, we’re happy to have had these experiences and are glad they are behind us now. That’s not to say, we’d never return to some of those areas but for now, we tread carefully in our future planning. 

Beautiful tree hanging over the inlet, we spotted when we visited the village of Vuodomo.

One could make themselves crazy with angst and worry about such risks. Instead, we think in terms of those who’ve suffered at the hands of these factions and can only attempt to do our best to be safe as we continue on.

In our home country, the US, these attacks continue in both larger and smaller cities and again, no place is exempt from these risks. 

We all have our thoughts and opinions as to how this should or could be contained, none of which we chose to share. In this PC world we live in today, many would disagree regardless of the stance we may take. We each have the privilege of our own opinions, sharing them as we see fit. 

Unless collectively, we take a stance to effect a global change, individually our opinions are just that. Change is possible. It always has been but those in control need to take the risks of forfeiting their “popularity” and rethink the world’s greater good. Therein, lies the answer. Who’s willing to do what’s necessary?

Photo from one year ago, November 15, 2014:

As the sun began to wane behind us in the mountains, we had a glimpse of a colorful sky. For more details, as we began planning for the upcoming flight to the Big Island where our family was coming for the holidays, please click here.

One week and counting…A year ago today, pirate drills commenced aboard our ship…Adventures of a lifetime…

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A pleasing display inside of a restaurant we frequent, Le Jardin.

Each morning as I begin to work on the post of the day, the first thing I do is look back to one year ago to the date, to see where we were at that time, saving a photo, copying the link to post, and rereading our story.

Of course, it frustrates me when I see errors but overall, it is as exciting to us now as it was at the time. Over the next several days we’ll share photos and stories from a year ago when we’ll have experienced the most stunning adventures of our lives on the cruise of a lifetime through the Middle East.

The post of one year ago depicts the concern and precautions that Royal Caribbean cruise line exercised as we were about to sail through the Gulf of Aden, some of the most dangerous waters in the world. At first, we read the letter with a bit of trepidation. Later, we felt safe and at ease. More will be posted in the next few days at the end of each day’s “year ago” section at the end of the daily posting.

Our ship had sailed from Barcelona, Spain to Dubai, UAE during which time we sailed through the Suez Canal, the Gulf of Aden, and the Red Sea. Sailing on we traveled through Egypt, the Gulf of Aqaba, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Jordan, Yemen, Oman, Iran, Somalia. As one can see by these locations, it wasn’t surprising that the ship took special precautions to ensure the safety of passengers. We stopped in many countries along the way.  Stories of the experiences we had in some of these countries will be mentioned at the bottom of each post over the next several days.

It is these types of experiences that make our travels exciting. It’s not the massive historical buildings that accomplish this for us. It’s the opportunities to be a part of experiences that shape who’ve we continue to become as we strive to stretch ourselves, emotionally, spiritually, intellectually, and at times, physically. 

More will follow over the next few days, including the most amazing adventure of our lives, up until that point, the visit to Petra, Jordan to see the Lost City and the Treasury.  Amazing. 

For those of you who have faithfully followed along with us from long ago (we started posting in March 2012), we apologize for the redundancy. For our newer readers of one year or less, this may all be new to you.

For us, it all rolls into one extraordinary ongoing experience, the journey of a lifetime, stepping outside the box to stretch ourselves outside of our comfort zone to attain new heights, beyond our wildest dreams.

Of course, over this last week in Marrakech, Morocco we’ll continue to venture out, taking photos to share with you each day over the upcoming seven days until we depart on May 15th to travel to Madeira, Portugal.

Yes, there are many days where our lives are mundane and uneventful, staying in, living a simple daily life.  But for us, beating each other at a game of Gin producing a tirade of whoops, hollers and an occasional rash of swear words is exciting in itself.  Tom has beaten me in three countries.  If I can maintain my current lead, I may finally win in Morocco!
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Photo from one year ago today, May 8, 2013:

After dinner on May 7, 2013, this letter was sitting on our bed when we returned to our cabin. Taking a photo of the letter, we posted it the next day and the pirate drills began. For details of that story, please click here.