Backpacks And A Wine Key

Wandering winos on a pilgrimage to nowhere searching for a glass that is more than half full.

Stories

Travel, food and wine, life, health, and the occasional sermon on perspective. Here is the latest – read the rest here.

The Latest

Pilgrim Journal – Not Every Day Is Fabulous

Everything is wonderful, inspiring, and fabulous…until you wake up on the wrong side of the world and it suddenly isn’t.

My new theory on the popularity of pro football

I have a new theory about professional football. I think the popularity of NFL football is now being completely supported by the gambling trends of weekly and yearly Fantasy Football leagues. It's a new theory, and I'm just developing it now, but it feel right....

Urban Food Adventure London

It’s been over 20 years since we strolled through London. First time was for touristy stuff, this time…pretty much just to eat. How priorities change over the years.

Airport executive clubs are the worst

I guess I just don't get it. Why is access to airport executive clubs so coveted, everyone think they are so great, and rush to them the second they arrive at the airport? You see them sneaking in with their black carry-on bags and laptop messengers, flashing their...

Pilgrim Journal – The Ritual Of Dirt Bag Laundry

This is the ritual of the nomad pilgrim. The daily sink laundry. Plus, more random thoughts and useless observations.

Pay by the pound – The only way to truly fix air travel

Let’s be blunt. Airlines should charge by the pound. Yeah, I said it. Pay by the pound is the only way to truly fix the airline industry. UPS does it. FedEx does it. DHL does it. They make money. Why not the airline industry? When it comes down to it, airline...

I hate digital photography

Regarding travel photography, seriously, what is the deal with the picture taking?  As we stood on the platform to catch our train to Rome some time ago, a platform that was amazingly small in a train station that was puny in a hill town that...

The Retirement Road Less Traveled

We were talking to a friend the other day. She wants to retire, quit work and do other things. We talk at length of the ins and outs of life changes, what we want, what she wants, what it took for us, decisions, challenges, ups and downs, hopes and dreams. Options. We...

Wino Journal

Stories, logs, and blogs on moving on from a life of work and routine.

Notes On The Feeling Of Freedom

Notes On The Feeling Of Freedom

When I was 18, I left the house to go to college. I took with me all I owned, a duffel bag full of clothes, a guitar, and my bed to set up in my first apartment. For the next few years I lived in the moment. Now I’m over 50, done working, and have spent the last year roaming the world. I’ve gone from having nothing to having everything, and then intentionally back to nothing again.

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Adventure

Stories, logs, and blogs on our pilgrim journeys as we grab our backpacks (and a wine key) and walk through Italy, Scotland, Spain, and the great wine regions of the world – including New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and Argentina, to name a few.

Urban Food Adventure London

Urban Food Adventure London

It’s been over 20 years since we strolled through London. First time was for touristy stuff, this time…pretty much just to eat. How priorities change over the years.

read more
Paris Café Culture

Paris Café Culture

A not-so wise man once said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop to look around for a while, you could miss it.” Nowhere is that advice more needed than here in America. Nowhere is that advice more honored than in Paris. Paris is a busy, bustling city of over...

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Finally a real wine rating system

Finally a real wine rating system

The thing I hate most about wine ratings is the thing that makes them what they are. Wine ratings are subjective. They are one person’s judgement of quality and don’t take into account what really matters – how much you drink, what you can afford, when to drink them,...

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Photography

Professional And Personal Photography On Travel, Adventure, Outdoors, Food, Wine, and Life.