Jackets zipped, hoods up, cameras clenched in cold fingers, we stared at the waters as our boat chugged into the cold July wind blowing over Resurrection Bay. The boat captain had announced a pod of humpback whales ahead, and we weren't going to miss this. Whale watching wasn't high on the list when my family members and I started talking in January about visiting my nephew in Alaska. Sean, age 22, has been spending every summer for the past five years in Healy, Alaska, volunteering his … [Read more...] about From Glaciers to the Sea: An Alaskan Road Trip
Travel
Shopping AmericasMart in Atlanta
"You should go to the Atlanta gift show in January," a sales rep told me. "You'll find brands there you've never heard of". "I'm too busy with other things in January," I said. "I can't go." "You have to go the Atlanta market," a friend from church told me. "When I had a store, I did all my Christmas buying there." "It sounds good. But I don't think I can go this year." "Let's go the Atlanta market," my co-worker Jen said late last year. "I want to go." "Umm... ask Harlan." Jen … [Read more...] about Shopping AmericasMart in Atlanta
Angkor Wat: Cambodia Part II
Meeting a monkey for the first time was not a peaceful encounter. He was on his own turf; I was many latitude and longitude away from home, in a place called Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is an ancient temple complex located in the northern half of Cambodia. It was built nearly nine hundred years ago and is the kingdom's shining star and biggest tourist attraction. (Officially, Cambodia is a kingdom.) After my friend Ada and I had been in Phnom Penh with our friend Emily for four days, we purchased … [Read more...] about Angkor Wat: Cambodia Part II
A December Visit to the Far East: Cambodia Part I
Cambodia wasn't a place I expected to go to, certainly not before Christmas. But in October, my friend Ada messaged me. Would I be interested in visiting our friend Emily, who has been living in Cambodia since fall 2021? On December 2, my cousin Lorelle (who loves all things Japanese) sent me a message about a podcast, not knowing where I was. I replied to Lorelle as our airplane taxied to the runaway in Taipei, Taiwan. "By the way, I thought of you today. I'm on my way to Cambodia and … [Read more...] about A December Visit to the Far East: Cambodia Part I
The Day I Saw the Queen
"We can't visit the palace tomorrow. The queen is in town," said Nancy, looking at her computer. It was the summer of 2014, and I was visiting my friend Ruth in Scotland. On the last full day of my visit, Ruth and her mum Nancy were planning a day of sightseeing in Edinburgh, including the palace where Queen Elizabeth normally stayed during the occasional visits to the Scottish capital. "What's she doing? Maybe we can see her," joked Ruth. Nancy skimmed some websites. The queen would … [Read more...] about The Day I Saw the Queen