Stories

Travel, food and wine, life, health, and the occasional sermon on perspective. Here is the latest – the rest, with other categories, is below.

The Latest

Urban Adventure Dublin

We had never been to Dublin and have been told by many of our friends that it was a must-visit. That, and Irish history has always been a bit of a blind spot for me that needed correcting.

Not that there is anything wrong with that

I have many gay friends. I always have. Gay friends are cool...because they are your friends, right? I guess I'm lucky. I was raised, by and large, to be non-judgmental. My parents didn't really bring up the whole race, creed, sex thing. I have never even thought...

Twenty Four Hours in Travel Hell

6:00am (10:00pm DT or Denver Time) We wake up in the Aklesia B&B in the Colosseum district of Rome to the sound of the iPhone alarm going off on the side of the bed.  Snooze?  Nah.  Gotta get up, shower and hit the Metro station.  I reach in to my backpack to find...

Photo Journal – Camino Portuguese

A look back at 2 months living and walking 800km on the Camino de Santiago from France through Spain.

At least there are no screaming kids kicking my seat

Because of a mix of Covid travel measures and early retirement plans that have been f****d, life as it relates to our living situation and plans for the future have become something we really don’t recognize.

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...

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...

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.

Wino Journal

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

At least there are no screaming kids kicking my seat

At least there are no screaming kids kicking my seat

Because of a mix of Covid travel measures and early retirement plans that have been f****d, life as it relates to our living situation and plans for the future have become something we really don’t recognize.

Adventure

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

Yet Another Useless Travel Blog – Zadar

Yet Another Useless Travel Blog – Zadar

We just ended our time living in Zadar, Croatia for 2 months, and as I sit down to write about it, I honestly can’t remember a single thing about it beyond vague memories and fleeting mental images. So here you go…

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The Ins and Outs of Oak

The Ins and Outs of Oak

Oak, to a winemaker, is like salt and pepper to the master chef. It’s not the main ingredient, but it matters more than you think. Used right, you get a product of exceptional flavor and quality. Used incorrectly and you are switching to beer. Of the top 100 wines in...

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The Theory Of The Witness Wine

The Theory Of The Witness Wine

When my mother told me I would have to use math when I grew up, this is exactly what I was hoping she meant. The Math: A normal wine bottle contains 750ml of wine, or a little over 25 ounces. Our extraordinary math skills tell us that is equal to five glasses of wine,...

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More Stories

Another Useless Travel Blog – Rovinj

Another Useless Travel Blog – Rovinj

Make no mistake, I would hang out in Rovinj any day, and for a quick weekend on the beach or week at a resort, it’s top notch. It’s a really cool town to wander through. The history is incredible, the food is more than okay, and there is no way to not have a good time.

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On Youth, Passports, and Consulates

On Youth, Passports, and Consulates

Yeah, we had to visit a consulate to check a passport, but more noteworthy part was the encounter with the other American tourists while waiting in the secure seating area outside the consulate functional area, namely two lovely and young American girls.

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Pilgrim Life – Are we conditioned to pick the easy path

Pilgrim Life – Are we conditioned to pick the easy path

I want to be a person that, for no reason at all, will sometimes take the harder path without there needing to be a benefit. I want to seek the longer path. But, what’s maybe more important is I want to consciously brake the conditioning that makes me always take the easier way, the path of least resistance, simply by default. I want to think about it. I want to at least consider taking the harder path sometimes without it feeling like I’m breaking some hard wired rule.

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Notes On Failure – As We Start Pilgriming

Notes On Failure – As We Start Pilgriming

I don’t want to fail at this. It’s funny, I think I have reached a place in my life, through experience as well as through elements of privilege (money and health, etc) where the outside world is not what challenges me any more. It’s all inside We’ve chosen our first...

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Cheers! Clink.