friendship – Page 2 – Destination NOW

At Least Ten Reasons to become a Portugal Global Volunteer

Are you considering becoming a Global Volunteer? Wondering which program is best for you? I’ve volunteered six times, in five different countries: St Lucia, Vietnam, the Cook Islands & Mexico, where I volunteered twice, and most recently Portugal. I’ve done blog posts about four of them, describing how each program was wonderful in its own way, and oh, so very rewarding.
Because I get sucked into all of the “top 10” lists, I decided to do one that will encourage you to consider spending two very worthwhile weeks in that fantastic part of the world known as Portugal.

Highly motivated, interesting students:
My assignment was English conversation at the Polytechnic Institute of Beja,My group, seven of the twenty four members of our class

where I spent evenings chatting with adults who already had an impressive grasp of English, but wanted the opportunity to practice and to improve their pronunciation.
Three of us taught together, breaking the students into smaller groups after the first forty five minutes of the two hour nightly class.
Other volunteers taught at the high school, middle schools and the prison. Some tutored restaurant owners and staff.
Interestingly, we each thought that WE had gotten the best assignment, which leads me to the next reason.

An Incredible team Leader:
Joe has been leading teams to Beja, Portugal for many years, and his extensive experience really shows. He quickly sized up the 10 of us and figured out which volunteer best matched which assignment. He’d give Match.com a run for their money, if he ever decided to get into the dating business!
Joe knows all Beja’s historical sights, the most fun restaurants, the best excursions for the weekend, the cultural events, where you can get your laundry inexpensively done…everything you need to know to thoroughly enjoy your non-volunteering hours.Our leader, Joe, in the black tee shirt, left front

Interaction with the Community:
When I say that Joe knows everybody in Beja, I’m not exaggerating. One night, we enjoyed dinner with Beja’s mayor and councilwoman. And yes, those are gifts the councilwoman is holding.

What was in the bag? Lots of local goodies, including my favorite–chocolate from the shop down the street.

Lasting friendships:
Laurie, Jeanne and I met when we volunteered in St. Lucia in 2012.
Although Jeanne and I volunteered together in Mexico in 2017, this was the first time since that first meeting that I had had the pleasure of spending time with Laurie. Having her as my “partner” at the University made it even more fun!
The best part? I now have SEVEN new volunteers who I would be thrilled to see on a future assignment.

Shared Experiences:
It almost felt like I was back in college. Because we pretty much took over the first floor of the Hotel Bejense, I knew just about everyone in every room on that floor. There was always someone to play with, just like back in the dorm. Want to have a chat over a cup of tea? No problem. Just walk down the hall, to the breakfast room and along the way, you are sure to bump into a buddy or two.
The hotel also had a cozy lounge, in which we gathered every night to share our experiences, before heading off to dinner. As you can see, experiences weren’t the ONLY things we were sharing! Our fee for Global Volunteers covers our housing, food, transportation to the work site but not wine. Again, no problem. We took turns purchasing wine, cheese and other snacks to make our evening meetings more enjoyable.

Serpa Cheese Festival:
Okay, so there is no guarantee that a future program will take place during the Cheese Festival. We just happened to luck out. (That cheese in the photo above was purchased at the festival by one of the volunteers.)
There were LOTS of free samples of cheese AND wine AND chocolate!
Not only that, but we got to experience “Cante Alentejano”. Okay, so I will never make my fortune as a videographer, but this 33 second clip will give you an idea of this very stylized art form.

Evora:
Global Volunteers are free to travel during the weekends. Because public transportation is reliable, comfortable and inexpensive, we took the bus on Sunday to the beautiful city of Evora, spending the day enjoying all that it had to offer, like the Roman Temple,

the Chapel of Bones.

and even more music!
Beja:

There is so much to say about this lovely place that I devoted an entire blog post just to Beja. Click here if you want a closer look at this delightful town. It is so worth visiting.

Lisbon
It is also impossible to list all that Lisbon has to offer as one entry in a 10 item list. So, Lisbon ALSO has its own post. But here’s the best part: It is SO easy to get from Beja to Lisbon by bus. The bus station is just a short walk from the hotel. I was surprised that it was so inexpensive–just 14 Euros to ride in comfort with access to free wifi. Notice the stop in Evora.
Venture Outside of Your Comfort Zone:
Why not stretch your limits? Try something new and exciting? You may make new friends, accumulate lots of memories and experience another culture in a way that is not possible when you are just passing through, visiting the usual tourist sites.

Beja, Week One

Our first week in Beja has concluded, and what a wonderful week it was!

I’ve been asked many times about the kind of person who does a Global Volunteer project, so here’s a brief description of the 10 fantastic people with whom I’ve had the pleasure of working, complete with a visual.

Cisco (front row) is the first Australian Global Volunteer I’ve ever encountered. (He could possibly be the first Australian in Global Volunteer’s history). We all LOVE this extremely creative and talented guy. A graphic art designer by training, he has done so many other things, it is hard to believe he is only 31 years old. I suspect his Beja students are most impressed by his disc jockey experience, but I love hearing about the awards he won while working on a Disney cruise ship. He is “bloody ripper”. (Yes, Cisco is teaching me to speak Aussie).

Also in the front row is our fearless leader, Joe. It feels like EVERYBODY in Beja knows Joe. Coming here for ten years, leading two teams per year (February and September), Joe knows all of the assignments, and has done an amazing job matching us up so everyone is happy.

Joe has sampled just about every eating establishment in the area, so we are enjoying a wide variety of delicious cuisines.

Weekends are usually free time, however Joe very graciously organized a guided tour of Beja on Saturday morning, followed by an excursion to the Serpa cheese festival in the afternoon. Sunday we spent the day visiting the historic town of Evora.

My dear friend Jeanne is in row 2. Jeanne has decades of middle school experience, so she was paired with Heidi ( back row), who is a first time volunteer. Any trip with Jeanne is guaranteed to be fun. Her positive outlook on life is the gift that keeps on giving.

Next to Jeanne is Cindy, from Connecticut. She is a retired Spanish teacher, who has spent last week working in a variety of schools with Dale (last row, Heidi’s husband). Cindy has done a number of GV trips, and is returning to Queretaro, Mexico this October. For those of you who wonder if you could volunteer as a single woman, Cindy is your role model.

Laurie is between Cindy and me. Jeanne, Laurie and I all met Continue reading Beja, Week One

Sicilian Celebration

Mike and I stopped giving each other “stuff” years ago. We already have more than enough future yard sale items. No more birthday, anniversary, Valentine’s, Christmas or Groundhog’s Day presents for us. Instead, we mark life’s milestones by making memories, mostly through traveling. Refusing to succumb to the tyranny of the calendar, we are free to celebrate whatever we want, whenever we want. If we happen to be traveling during an anniversary or birthday month, well then, that’s just a bonus. THIS year is one of those bonus years.

We will be in Sicily during May, our anniversary month, hoisting our glasses to toast 41 years of wedded bliss. Okay, full disclosure. Those years haven’t ALL been blissful (my sisters would add ” especially for poor Mike” ) but on the whole, it’s been pretty darn great!

We will be embarking on an OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel) trip with our good friends, Shirley and Owen. Two years ago we spent two weeks wandering through Tuscany and the Amalfi coast with OAT’s sister company, Grand Circle. They had never been on an organized tour before, but had such a wonderful time, it was not difficult to persuade them to come along again. What’s especially exciting is that Shirley’s grandfather hails from a small village two hours from Palermo. She and Owen plan to make their way to the village on one of our “free” days.

This is what our OAT itinerary looks like. As you can see, we are covering quite a lot of ground.

We will be staying for three nights in four of the cities: Palermo, Mazara, Ragusa and Catania, with a single night in Piazza Armerina. At the end of the OAT tour, the four of us will head to Malta. From Catania, we will fly to Valetta and will use that as our base during our five days in Malta.

As usual, I’ve been learning the history of the places we’ll be visiting, and I have to tell you, theose poor inhabitants of Sicily did not have an easy time of it. Here’s the Cliff’s Note version: There was a lot of fighting and conquering going on–with Greeks, Romans, Carthaginians, Arabs, Normans, and Spaniards taking turns raping, pillaging, plundering and selling inhabitants into slavery. Sicily isn’t at the bottom of “the boot” for nothing. It sure got kicked around a lot!

Augustus, Hannibal, Constantine, Archimedes, and several Williams, Charles and Fredericks all had starring roles in Sicily’s narrative. (Don’t you just hate it when the rulers all have the same name and you need to remember their numbers? At least for the Williams there was William the Bad and William the Good.) Throw in a couple of popes, an emperor or two, some knights plus a couple of earthquakes and an active volcano and you are guaranteed some interesting stories with even better ruins.

What fascinates me more than the political history is the mythology. Unlike the kings, whose moms sorely lacked imagination when it came time to name their offspring, the mythological figures have double names: Zeus and Jupiter, Ulysses and Odysseus, Venus and Aphrodite. So confusing to an already confused American, but that’s what happens when Greek and Roman cultures share the same territory.

For now, that’s all you need to know about Sicily’s history. More will be forthcoming, and there’s always the possibility of a pop quiz or two.

Preview of coming attractions:

Lots of cathedrals, temples, palaces, amphitheaters plus a dancing satyr
Eye popping mosaics, fit for an emperor, like maybe Marcus Aurelius?
an educational encounter with a member of the Mafia
a cooking class (hope we do better than the last time we tried this!)
“Come with me to the kasbah, where we will make ” whatever they make there. (If you got that reference, you are probably as old as I am!)
wine tasting at a Marsala vineyard
a day in the life of a Sicilian dairy farm family
a visit to Mt Etna to watch the volcano do its thing

Please join us for some armchair traveling. I’ll be posting whenever wi-fi and my energy levels allow. But I have to warn you, I plan to be toasting those 41 years a whole LOT! Expect typos.

Oh yeah, about that photo at the top of this post. It’s actually Sorrento, from our 2015 trip. I just wanted a little visual to start us all off.

Welcome to “Flex-ico”

On our first day at UTEQ, Julio, our coordinator greeted us with “Welcome to Flexico”. We were way ahead of him. We had already demonstrated our ability to ‘go with the flow’ on the day before. You see, although the National Holiday (February 5) fell on a Sunday, Mexico, like the USA, celebrated it on Monday. We were all ready, willing and eager to work on Monday morning, but we had to cool our jets and practice patience, because school was closed.

Some were under the impression that we were commemorating the 100th anniversary of the 2-15-1917 signing of Mexico’s constitution, but WE knew the holiday was REALLY to rejoice in the Patriot’s unprecedented overtime win on Super Bowl Sunday.

Either way, we ALL were celebrating an historic event!

Pam arranged for a Super Bowl party in La Llave, the hotel’s restaurant. We gathered there to watch TV, stuff ourselves with Mexican AND American snacks and hoist more than a few beers and margaritas.

My sisters and cousins would have definitely approved of Susan’s attire!

What to do with our unexpected free day? Pam and the University very thoughtfully arranged transportation for us to visit San Miguel de Allende, which is about an hour and a half from Queretaro. We spent a very pleasant day in this lovely colonial town, wandering through the narrow streets, poking into little shops and galleries. Check out the staircase in this pottery shop.

Kristy was fascinated by the exquisite carved doors, so Monday’s quest was to find a photo book either of the doors of San Miguel or of all of Mexico. Despite chalking up some pretty impressive numbers on Fitbits, we ultimately had to resort to Amazon.com to get what Kristy wanted.

Something tells me that she might be making her OWN book. She sure took a lot of door photos.

Here is proof of Kristy’s door obsession. She took this photo of me, sitting outside, trying to unobtrusively polish off a granola bar. Doesn’t look like I succeeded with the unobtrusive part.
Although San Miguel was lovely, I don’t understand why anyone would prefer it over either Queretaro or Guanajuato. We had originally planned to spend the weekend in San Miguel, but after Monday, decided that one day was sufficient, so we cancelled our hotel reservations for the following weekend. Still, to do the city justice, here are a few more photos.

Sally was determined that we all experience the heavenly delight of jicama tacos, so we embarked on yet another quest to find the one restaurant that makes this exotic dish. A very kind young Mexican man overheard us struggling to find the restaurant, stopped what he was doing, then in perfect English gave us directions. Unfortunately I didn’t take a photo of the restaurant’s name, but did get a shot of the beautiful mural on the back wall. So, if you happen to be in San Miguel, and you spot this mural, be sure to order those tacos!

Art is everywhere, so although the uneven sidewalks make it prudent to watch where you are going, it is important to occasionally stop and look up at the top of buildings.

I’ve decided that this violinist is none other than St Michael the Archangel. After all, we ARE in San Miguel. I especially liked it because it reminded me of my very own violin maker. I’m not commenting on the angel part, but his name IS Michael.

As with most colonial towns in Mexico, churches and religious art are everywhere.

Look at the indigent person, so very grateful that the Spanish padre arrived to take his gold and save his soul.

I’ll end with a little contemporary humor from our lunch spot, a panoramic view of the city and a group shot, just in case the featured photo doesn’t post.

Viking Homelands Ocean Cruise

Okay, so initially we were planning to celebrate our 40th anniversary in April by traveling to Bhutan, Nepal and Tibet, but as my favorite philosopher once said, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.”

Mike wasn’t able to make that trip, so instead, we will be celebrating with a Viking Ocean Cruise to the Baltic states. We start in Stockholm and before we end in Bergen, we will have popped into all of the Scandinavian countries, St. Petersburg, Tallinn, Gdansk and Warnemunde. The Viking brochure provided this visual. In addition to celebrating both a birthday and an anniversary, this trip will be special because our friends, Tony and Helen (from Oregon) and Jeanne (from New York), will also be on the cruise.

We have been receiving Viking’s river cruise catalogues for many years, but had never traveled with them. Then, in 2015 they began offering ocean cruises and one had exactly the itinerary we wanted. We had been thinking that we should save cruising for when we were older and not able to do the more strenuous activities like hiking and biking, but after that week of Tibet’s squat toilets, I was more than ready for a little luxury.

All of the cabins have balconies, so the cruise price varies by size of cabin, amenities, initial boarding time, and priority for tour, spa, and specialty restaurant reservations. None of the above was all that important to us, so we went for a lower cost cabin. It just so happens that we prefer a lower deck, toward the center of the ship anyway, because there is less rockin’ and rollin’ in rough seas, and that’s where the less expensive cabins are.

Viking offers one free tour in each port, plus for an additional fee, you can choose among many alternatives. Those alternatives can be a bit pricy so we decided to either opt for the free tour or venture out on our own.

We will be arriving in Stockholm two days before we board the ship. Because we made our own flight arrangements (yes, I am more than a little anal about flight arrangements) and chose not to purchase Viking’s pre-trip package, we will have to get ourselves from airport to hotel, and will be exploring Stockholm on our own. I bought the Kindle edition of Rick Steves’ Northern European Cruise Ports, so that we can access the maps and information from my iPhone. Just the information on Stockholm’s unregulated taxis was probably worth the price of the book!

Cruise Critic’s website had lots of helpful information about several of the ports. One poster gave such detailed information about the Norway ports we will be visiting that I printed out her review and will be taking it with us. Thanks to her, we will be riding the scenic train ride from Flam to Myrdal, then instead of taking the train back down the mountain, we will be renting bikes at the Myrdal cafe and riding to town. Her description of the road down was the deciding factor!

Checking out our ship’s Roll Call on Cruise Critic allowed us to contact others interested in sharing a private tour in St. Petersburg. We also were able to sign up for a “Welcome Aboard” party offered by Viking crew members for Cruise Critic participants (and you become a Cruise Critic participant simply by signing on to their website). Don’t you just love the internet? I hope my upcoming posts will be as helpful to future travelers.

The Final Ingredient for a Happy Retirement

Okay, so far, we’ve talked about sufficient financial resources, good health and strong personal relationships as being three essential ingredients for a happy retirement. What’s left?

Drum roll, please…

According to Viktor Frankl, the key is finding meaning in life. Some lucky individuals find meaning in their work, and are able to make a living following their bliss. They aren’t interested in retiring. And why should they? How great is it to get paid for doing what you enjoy? They will continue to “work” for as long as they are able. But this post isn’t about them. It’s about the rest of us, primarily motivated by the bimonthly love notes that appeared in our bank account via direct deposit, for whom retirement is a welcome change from the 40 to 60 hours we spent toiling away.

If “finding meaning in life” sounds a bit too lofty, how about this? Let’s call the fourth critical ingredient “oomph” or “pizzazz” or whatever term you bestow on that special something that makes you want to jump out of bed in the morning.

Some embark on a second career, working fewer hours, but because they are doing what they thoroughly enjoy, it doesn’t FEEL like work. When he retired, my husband started making violins. Although he has sold a couple, and given away even more, the end product is not the point. A researcher who loves learning and sharing knowledge with like minded individuals, he’s focused on decoding Stradivari’s secrets and reproducing the sound and appearance of a master violin.

As for ME, my favorite things happen to dovetail nicely with ingredients 2 and 3. I’m now doing all of the things that I wanted to do during my work life, but rarely had enough time for: Exercise, book clubs, social events, travel, spending time with my family, Global Volunteer projects (The photo atop this post is from my time in the Cook Islands. Who could resist those beautiful children?), cooking — the list goes on and on.

My guess is that we all have different “oomph” factors. What’s important is to start thinking about what your special something is LONG before your last day at work. How you plan to structure your days during this wonderful stage of life’s journey is almost as important as financial planning. In fact, the two are directly linked. If you have expensive habits and desires, then you’d best be building a BIG nest egg. If you are a minimalist, however, then you don’t need as much.

So, there you have it. Simple to say, harder to execute–but SO worth the effort. Happy trails to all you current and future retirees.

Please feel free to share what is working for YOU!

“All You Need Is Love” The Beatles

“Love is all you need”. Turns out, those four British boys were definitely on to something.

This blog post is about that THIRD essential ingredient for a happy retirement — strong personal relationships. Nothing new or revolutionary about that. Erich Fromm’s book, “The Art of Loving” published more than 50 years ago, informed us that the key to a happy life is love and work. (We’ll address the “work” part in the next post)

Fast forward to 2016. Robert Waldinger’s excellent Ted Talk describes findings from a 75 year Harvard study on adult development. Guess what? Researchers discovered the most important factor in determining whether someone is happy is not fame or wealth, but the quality of their relationships. Not only were people with strong, positive relationships happier, but they were healthier–both physically and mentally.

During the 30+ years I was in the workforce, I was lucky enough to have jobs that paid me for establishing positive relationships with other people. (Which, of course, is very different from being paid to have relations with other people. Not that I’m judging…) So, when I retired, I was not only saying goodbye to my co-workers, but also to customers that, in most cases, had become friends. Unfortunately, most of them are long distance friends. And are still working.

Although I still think of my husband as my “boyfriend”, I don’t expect him to fill all of my companionship needs. Perhaps part of the reason we are still going strong after 4 decades together is we both understand our mutual need for other interests and for time apart. Our relationship is very much like a Venn Diagram–my interests – his interests, with a nice big intersection of OUR interests. Surprisingly, I have encountered people that find this a bit strange. So, when I read this Wall Street Journal article shortly after retiring, I was pleased to find that there are others out there like us. Why I find it gratifying to discover that we aren’t so different is probably a subject for a therapist, or at least a future post. But I digress. Which happens a lot.

Anyway, I have spent the last four years figuring out how to exchange “work mates” for “play mates”, and I’m happy to share what I learned with you, my newly retired, soon to be retired, or hoping to one day be retired readers.

Here’s what’s been working for me:

Meet-Ups This on-line application allows you to select by geographic area and areas of interest. After you make your selections, you get notifications of gatherings of like minded individuals. You can get even more specific, narrowing it down by age or marital status. I’ve made friends via book club, biking, and boomer dining meet-ups–and there are lots of other options. Plus, if you are so inclined, you can start your own meet up group.
The Local Y It is indeed fun to go to the YMCA! But don’t just hang out on the treadmill. Join classes, and attend regularly. And don’t worry about being out of shape. There are no mean girls here! The women (and most of the class attendees ARE women) are friendly, welcoming and caring. In many ways, the Y “family” has been a wonderful substitute for my workplace “family”.
Volunteer I’ve made some incredible friends during my Global Volunteer Projects. See the world, make new friends, learn about another culture! Check out that wonderful organization!
If you prefer something local, AARP offers an on-line application designed to link retirees with nearby organizations in need of their skills, and aligned with their interests.
The Local Library Mine offers an array of programs, including book clubs and educational seminars.
Welcome Wagon Yes, I know, this is supposed to be for newcomers. BUT the local contact can be a great resource for area clubs and gatherings. It took me 32 years before I stumbled across our Neighbors and Newcomers Club, but I’m so glad I did!
Reconnections Maybe you have been too busy to stay in contact with friends from high school or college. Why not reach out? I attended my first college reunion five years ago, and am looking forward to the next one this spring. It was a wonderful trip down memory lane, an opportunity to reconnect with old friends and a chance to make new ones. Ditto for high school.
Travel Okay, so this probably isn’t going to help you with day to day connections, but we met some fantastic, fascinating people on our trips with Road Scholar, OAT, and Grand Circle. In 2016, our new Zealand friends will be visiting us and we will be taking a trip with friends we met in Peru and on a Global Volunteer experience.
Virtual Buddies I put this one last, because a computer relationship is no substitute for face to face, hand to hand connections. Still, email, facebook and blogging can be wonderful ways to complement your other relationships. I loved having pen pals back in the dark ages when I was a child. My Blog Buddies to me are the 21st century version of pen pals. The best part, however, was when I met a blog buddy when we both happened to be in San Francisco, visiting our kids. With luck, she and I will be able to synchronize travel again.

What about YOU? What has helped YOU make the social transition from workto retirement?

Just what exactly does a Lifestyle Manager DO?

On December 1, 2015 I started my fifth year as the CEO of Destination Now, a Lifestyle Management company. In honor of this milestone, I thought I’d create what in the business world might be known as an annual report. Except in THIS case, there are qualifiers: I didn’t do one for the past four years –so much for annual–I and don’t expect to do another one ever again. Plus it is REALLY, really short. You ready?

Mission statement: To make the most of every day, occasionally to enjoy both walking down memory lane, and peering into the future, but to stay fully focused on and present in the PRESENT.
Number of Employees: ONE (that would be me)
Customers: One MAIN customer (my loving husband), plus a very select group comprised of family and friends (who are willing to let a control freak take charge)
Revenue: Cash: $0.00;
In Kind: Caboodles of wine, dinners, memories and friendship (all tax free!)

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Okay, so that’s a long winded way to say that I’ve been retired for 4 years, and am having a fantastic time planning and executing fun, food, and travel for my husband, my family and friends. It’s just that occasionally, when asked the inevitable question “what do you do”, I feel compelled to get creative. Be honest–which version did YOU prefer?

More free time has allowed me to become more self aware, and I have to acknowledge that I do better with goals and objectives. Before I retired, I took to cyberspace to see what I could learn from those that had trod that path ahead of me, and I benefitted greatly from their words of wisdom. So, over the coming weeks, as a way to ‘pay it forward’, I have set a goal to post more regularly, sharing what I have experienced/learned over the past 4 years, in the hope that doing so will help others more easily transition to this new life stage. As a bonus— we will ALL learn whether I can emulate the discipline shown by some of my favorite bloggers who post regularly.

“A Joy That’s Shared is a Joy Made Double”

Nothing would have made me happier than to have all my favorite people with me on this trip. Although I was unsuccessful in recruiting all of you (not from lack of trying), I DID manage to convince our good friends, Owen and Shirley to “double our joy”. For those of you that are making the journey with us via this blog (especially my sister, Sue, who refuses to fly), I’m so glad to have you riding along.
Now, back to our first full day in Tuscany. After Radicofani, we made our way to Giuseppi’s (Pepe’s) sheep farm. Unfortunately, according to Pepe the sheep had a “party” five months ago, which resulted in a lot of very pregnant sheep, so for a reason I have since forgotten (but was definitely connected to the party) the sheep were all in the barn. Too bad. It would no doubt have made for a lovely photo op. Instead, the photo at the top of this post just shows you the picturesque fields. Take a look at the lengths I go to so you don’t have cars or garbage cans cluttering up your view.

Back to the sheep that we didn’t see. They are Sardinian sheep, because that breed produces the milk that makes the VERY best pecorino cheese. In case you haven’t guessed, Pepe and his family are from Sardinia. Like Silvana, Pepe was highly amusing and quite informative.

Of course we had to sample some of that wonderful cheese. Eight different kinds. Washed down with wine, accompanied by prosciutto and salami and bread.

According to the official itinerary, we were done for the day, but Anna had a little surprise for us. We stopped at a cemetery for Americans killed during World War II, just in time for a brief lecture about the military campaign, the men buried there and the MIA. After taps, the flag was lowered. A very sobering experience, especially given the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It made me think about the differences: WWII was the pain and sacrifice was shared by all. The recent wars are so very different. A small percentage of our population is giving so much, while the rest of us go about our normal lives.

Normally I like to end on an upbeat note, but for this post all I can say is “Thanks for your service”.

Happy Birth Month to You!

Mike has a milestone birthday this year, and what better way to celebrate than with Italian food, wine and scenery? I couldn’t quite get the trip scheduled so that we would be in Italy on the actual date, but then we have never been good at following calendars.

In the past, I just used to declare that according to the Mayan calendar, the date was really—-and fill in the blank with whatever date we were celebrating.

But then I thought why not start for a new tradition? Instead of Birth Day, why not celebrate Birth Month? Think about it–you would have a full month to schedule that special event. The odds that you could find a day that would allow everyone to attend just increased 30 fold, except, of course, for those born in February. Sorry.

It is especially helpful for those of us that left the Homeland (Massachusetts) for the Hinterlands (New Jersey). My family has sorta gotten used to my inability to be calendar bound, although I DO usually get the month right. Anybody ready to join the Birth/Anniversary Month movement?

To celebrate Mike’s birth-month, we will be wandering through Tuscany, ending up in Sorrento. This will be our first trip with Grand Circle, a sister company of Overseas Adventure Travel. Although the group is a bit larger than we normally choose, we liked the itinerary, which has us plopped in two towns, each for one week. Another selling point was the number of optional trips, so we can stay with the group, or choose to strike out on our own, should we feel the need.

The best part? Our good friends, Shirley and Owen, will be on the tour.

We arrive in Rome, then head for a town I never knew existed, and whose name I am probably mispronouncing: Chianciano. It will be our base for a week, as we explore the other Tuscany towns shown on the map above.

Our second week will be in Sorrento, a great base for all of the incredible area attractions.

We already received a lovely welcome note from our guide, Anna (pronounced like Donna, without the D) Costes, full of helpful information. She very kindly responded to my questions about our day trip to Florence. We are off to a great start!

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