Intercontinental travel - yes

I retired at the end of 2000. I entered the new millenium a free man. I did a lot of professional travel over the last 15 years of my career, mostly to North America, but I cut down significantly on my travel from 1998 to my retirement. My ailing mother lived with me - I didn't really want to travel too much and my younger colleagues wanted to go in my place, so every one was happy. Unfortunately, my sainted mother passed way three months befor my retirement.

Up to 2004, I felt good just enjoying my freedom of the professional yoke, although a good yoke it was ! Lazyness reigned !

Since then I started travelling to Italy and France a couple of times every year, with France remaining my clear favorite. I love the French people and have problems ajusting to the Italian theatral manners, and often clear rudeness to foreigners. Probably they sometimes think the Rioman Empire is still in existence ...

Now it is time to list the intercontinental travels that I would like to undertake "before it is too late" - I mean before I am too old or before traveling becomes politically incorrect.

A rather expensive group trip to Western Canada is planned for this summer, including Vancouver, Victoria Island with Nanaimo ; Whistler, Kamloomps, Clearwater, Wells Gray Park, Valemount. Jasper National Park is included, as are Banff and Canmore. Various other National Parks are to be visited (Glacier, Revelstoke) as is the Okanagan valley and Harrison Hot Springs ... A dream trip, I couldn't have it planned better myself - right trhough southern British Columbia and a piece of Alberta, with most of the famous sights the Canadian Rockies have to offer.



Another trip would be to California, North and South - maybe next year, under a new president. (I swore to myself never to visit the States again under the Bush Regime. The next may even be worse but I haven't been to San Francisco for 10 - 12 years, and to the Los Angeles area for even longer).



I look forward to see more of the Pacific Coast (Monterrey, Carmel, Santa Barbara, maybe San Diego), Death Man valley, and the San Francisco Bay Area with Sausalito, Inverness and the wine country of Sonoma and Napa valleys, and I'd want to have a peek at Northern California (Mount Shasta). All this probably is a month's work or longer, and a very individual trip. The last time I made a month long trip in California was in 1992. I never rented a car, did everything by plane, train and bus and my watch remained on Begian time and that caused no problems whatsoever. A very nice and sweet memory indeed.

Another trip I would like to make is down Mexico way : the heartland of Mexico, then Guadalajara, Acapulco maybe, and - maybe - the deserts of Baja California, Durango, Chihuahua or Coahuila. Yucatan doesn't really attract me that much.



I have good friends in each of these three countries.

Shorter trips (timewise that is might be the Puget Sound area with Seattle, Tacoma and the Olympic peninsula, and of course the Big Apple, New York. New York, the cultural capital of the world. London and Paris, eat your hearts out ! How I have missed going to New York now and again. A city to my heart, a contrarian city !