2023 was like any other year a year of a mixed bag. For us personally we had some great travel and added a variety of new countries and experiences to what we have done. For the World its still a very challenging time. Since 2020 there have been many world wide issues and disasters that have occurred so it makes travel more complicated for sure. There have been multiple Earthquakes, strong storms, wildfires and other natural disasters that have devastated areas of our world. There have been manmade disasters in the War in Ukraine and the new Israeli-Palestinian conflict amongst other conflicts such as unrest and war in African countries…

Travel can have a lot of great benefits and one includes getting you away and trying something different. That can greatly help someone’s mental health. As of late unfortunately there have been many different meltdowns in the travel world that can effect people’s mental health in a negative way along with all the other stress in life. Mental Health issues are a pandemic in itself in the US today. I personally know many people that struggle with Anxiety, depression, panic attacks and more due to a wide variety of things. The Covid-19 Pandemic increased the issues around Mental Health around the World. While there is so much need for care…

As we are now in the holiday season people start to get stressed with finishing things up at work, making sure all the shopping is done, possibly traveling through busy airports and so much more. Aside from just slowing down and making sure you reflect on the reason for the season and take time to spend time with family and do the things most important to you, you can also find ways to try to lift people’s sprits right now. We were talking with some friends we met on our Baltic Cruise and they mentioned that they keep cash on hand and give out small tips to the people who…

Donna and I take a decent amount of cruises as we find they are some of the most economical ways to travel to a bunch of countries and destinations in one trip. We have visited many countries through our times on cruise ships. If you have ever been on deck while you sail into a new harbor or are sailing out of a the harbor a small boat will come up to the ship and drop someone off to the ship. This is the harbor pilot. He knows the waters around the port and the way to steer the ship clear of obstacles. Its not an easy job as there…

Travel is not much different than regular life as you will have moments of great joy and fulfillment and then times where nothing goes right and you feel helpless. This year is an example from a travel perspective of one that has been filled with ups and downs. We have had some great trips to different places that we learned a lot about different cities and cultures but we have also been stranded multiple times including during the big Texas freeze where we worried about our cats and home and hearing stories of great suffering and damage going on as we were in Phoenix. We sat nervously in the hotel…