If we’re lucky—very lucky—there are a very few occasions in our entire lifetimes when, without warning, we become acutely aware of our surroundings and a voice inside our head tells us to stop and savor this special moment. The first of these moments in my life occurred on May 25th, 1946. It was the…
I’ve always found travel—especially international travel—to be stimulating, interesting, and almost addicting. But it’s too easy to relax, ignoring or forgetting what appear to be small details both in the planning and in the doing. Here’s a kind of check list I’ve compiled over the years. The first three are particularly important and can avoid…
We all know that the airlines have found any number of ways to squeeze an extra few bucks out of us. They lure us with what looks like a bargain, then nick us for checking a bag, for a seat with a few extra inches of legroom, and for any kind of snack or simple…
At noon today, I took Amtrak’s Cascades service from Portland up to Seattle, about a three-and-a-half hour ride. And it’s a nice ride … the scenery isn’t spectacular, but it is nice, especially the last hour when the train runs along the shore of Puget Sound. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge is an interesting landmark…