-
Lockdown in Portugal: The day I bleated at the Butcher
My 3 months of lockdown in Portugal was both challenging and rewarding. The most challenging was the language barrier. Hands down. Full stop. I’ve been traveling abroad as a solo traveler for nearly two decades and my monolingual limitations have never been a barrier. Until Covid-19 happened. I’ve pondered this a lot. Frankly, I had little else to do. I believe what made this experience more challenging was anxiety. Anxiety felt by me as a stranger in a strange land and by those I had to interact with an obvious foreigner during their own personal and collective crisis. Nowhere was this felt more keenly than when I had to make…
-
Solo Travel Tips: Let’s Start the Conversation
When not globe trekking , I travel around the U.S. & Canada in my red truck, “Bert” (named by my friends Steve & Karen and short for Big Red Truck), pulling my 18” T@B 400. Custom built by NüCamp RV in Sugarcreek, Ohio, my camper allows me to go off grid with solar panels and not rely on external water and electric. To honor our adventures, I named her Ameli@. Like most solo women travelers, I get a lot of questions related to safety and route planning. Recently fellow camper, Jenn Grover, started a series of videos about solo women and our experiences. In this first of several, she and…
-
A Stranger in a Strange Land: Lockdown in Portugal during Covid-19 Pandemic
“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” J.R.R Tokien, The Fellowship of the Ring Truer words have never been spoken. Yet, like Bilbo, I don’t see these words as a warning – they speak to adventure. Little did I know when I left Florida on March 1, 2020 to cruise for 2 weeks across the Atlantic that I would arrive in Europe with the world having turned upside down. During those 2 weeks, The World Health Association had declared COVID-19 as a global pandemic, most countries…
-
Solo cruising and crossing the Atlantic!
*NOTE: I wrote this blog while spending 2 weeks crossing the Atlantic. During that time, the world turned upside down with the COVID-19 pandemic and it wasn’t until we docked in Barcelona, that we knew how serious things had become. I decided to post it anyway and will proceed with how my plans have changed since arriving in Europe. Thanks for joining me This cruise kicks off an 8 month trip around Europe. We will be at sea for nearly 2 weeks before we end up in Barcelona, Spain. I get a lot of questions about solo travel, and cruising solo seems to be up on the list of things…
-
The Chef’s Table: Allure of the Seas
I tend to be a bit frugal. I don’t buy clothes, shoes, or just stuff. However, if I’m going to spurge, it will usually be food related. The Chef’s Table on Allure of the Seas is a special event. In my case, there were only 8 guests. We had our own chef and waiter. And each course was paired with a wine chosen to enhance the dish. At the time of this sailing, the cost was $99 USD. If I am going to pay that much for a meal, honey I want it to be slow and savored. This special treat met my expectations – 3 hours. Two of those…
