Daily Journal
Dirty Laundry
Lodging at the BrewDog Aberdeen Kennels Laundry and Blog Writing Eats and Drinks at Fierce Taproom & Bistro 52 A visit to St. Andrews So, this’ll be a quick one. For anyone who’s traveled for extended lengths of time – and as lightly luggaged as possible…
Clan Gordon
Game PlanSo, we arrived back in the Seattle area on October 16, now settled into a recently built, and quite exceptional vacation rental in Issaquah. We’ll hunker down here until our return to Baja Sur – and the last of our 180 days of nomad life – on…
Family Time
So, if you’ll think back to our last Scotland post a few weeks ago, we’d survived a gale force windstorm in Inverness, then were skunked by a tribe of elusive bottlenose dolphins at Chanonry Point on the banks of the Moray Firth. Next stop: Gordon country! To be…
Another 45 Hours
So, our first pass through Firenze came and went via train. This time we arrived by rental car from Bologna and navigated the labyrinthian alleyways to a whole different section of town, three doorfronts from the Piazza de Santa Croce and across the narrow…
45 Hours in Florence
So, I began writing this post on a Frecciarossa 1000 high-speed train, leaving the Santa Maria Novella train station in Florence at 8:14am and arriving in Foggia at just after 1pm. Five hours of 300kph zipping along with 5 stops along the way. Today is actually a…
Rome Wasn’t Walked in a Day
So, before finishing up our Scotland blog posts with reports on Speyside, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh, let’s fill you in on our first two stops in Italy: Rome and Florence. This post will cover our quick 38 hours in what’s popularly known as the Eternal City (Urbs…
Blown Away by Inverness
So, before we get into the details of our soul-stimulating journey into the Scottish Highlands and the country’s northernmost city, Inverness, a quick revisit to Glasgow and an Oops, I forgot to mention of its vibrant urban mural scene. By last count, more than…
A Fortnight out with the Gaels
So, as I begin writing this post we’re on a train from Florence, Italy, to the neighboring Tuscan city of Siena, which we’ll call home for the next 10 days. It’s been quite a whirlwind the last two weeks and we’ve surely got some Nomad Life 180 catching up to do, yet…
The Long and Winding Road
So, an early flight from Dublin put us into London’s Luton airport just before 9am, and after a suggested – never should have listened to her – 1,000 yard trudge with our luggage uphill to the Sitz rental car center, we drove away in an electric blue Alfa…
Dublin Down
So, I may have bitten off more than I can chew. (And I can certainly chew my share, as evidenced by the images and specifics of the exceptional dining and drinking establishments we’ve encountered on our travels.) However, as regards the time required to travel…
Put a Cork In It
So, in case you missed the theme of that last post, let me reiterate: we absolutely LOVED Galway and would go back in a second. Just sayin’. But next was Cork. We arrived there via a pleasant stop for breakfast in Limerick. Their social media doesn’t hype it, but…
The Road Rose Up
So, driving in Ireland es no bueno. Or as they say in Irish Gaelic: B’fhéidir gur cheart do Nancy tiomáint. (Maybe Nancy should drive.) It comes down to three things. Maybe four. Okay, make it five. 1. We landed in a torrential downpour. We’re talking wipers on…
USA Sidebars
So, we fly tonight on a 6:45pm redeye to Dublin. It’s been 3 weeks since we left Seattle, and 2 months since we vamonos’d Baja Sur and began our nomad travels. Previous lengthy posts here explored our highlights in Charleston and Asheville, but to finish…
Blue Ridge Bohemia
So, Asheville . . . It took us a minute, but this quirky, eclectic, still Helene-suffering Appalachian town is growing on us. We arrived a week ago on Tuesday, driving from Charlotte (see sidebar), and have been running on all cylinders since. Knowing that our…
A 3-Day Whirlwind
So, it’s Saturday and we just returned from brunch at a way cool coffee bistro called The Daily that we discovered on our 6-miler on Friday. The Neuske’s BaconLT and a peaches and Greek yogurt bowl did not disappoint! And I love their Marzocco retro espresso…
24 Hours in Chucktown
So, after a slight delay in Seattle, our Alaska Airlines flight sailed smoothly towards “the Lowcountry”, made all the better by free cocktails on the plane (Jack & Coke Zeros me, red wine she) and three episodes of the new MAX thriller series Duster with Josh…
Website Updates and Countdown to Monday
So, let me first explain the featured photo above. The guy in the bright orange vest is Stan Lucas. I’ve known him since January of 1975, when I began my second quarter at the University of Washington. That’s his cabin in the background, a beautiful rustic…
Bittersweet Goodbyes and such
So, every few weeks or months Nancy and I like to hop in the car and spend a half day or so crawling around new and familiar haunts, most often sampling creative craft beers and savory eats, and sometimes – like this past Father’s Day weekend – pursuing…
Loving Kirkland
So, I experienced again last night the realization that I’m N-O-T an experienced webmaster. More likely somewhere between webcraft journeyman and proficient figure-outer. Which still leaves plenty of room for the occasional catastrophic blunder. (Sorry, Nancy, for…
Ready. Set. Go.
And just like that, our nomad life begins. Essentially, 180 days on the road, hanging our hats in homes and hotels and habitats not our own, and experiencing a whole lot of life in places unfamiliar to both of us. We couldn’t be more excited – and a tad bit…
Two Weeks till Our Wander Begins
So, I was chatting with my favorite youngest daughter Kylene a few weeks ago and she casually asked me how the plans are fleshing out for our upcoming half-year of nomad travel. And after a half-hour detailed update and our chat-with-you-soon goodbyes, it dawned on me…
Welcome to Nomad Life 180
So, this is how Nancy and I spent our New Year’s Eve, toasting our toes in sun-warmed sand on the San Sebastian beach in Todos Santos, Mexico. Actually, this was the first of five progressive stops with plenty of people, plenty of tasty treats, plenty of adult…