From years of International Travel we have learned key things to do before and during travel to make it more enjoyable. International Travel is often both exciting and stressful. Some of us find it fun to plan an excursion to a place we have never been, while others don’t have the time, inclination or knowledge of all the details to cover before leaving on their trip. Here is a checklist: Continue reading
As you may recall from other posts, our home base in Costa Rica was in Guanacaste, on the Pacific Coast. Based on Costa Rica Travel Agents and Accommodations available, we chose the Playa del Coco area, and stayed quite a long walk from town at Ocotal Beach Resort. We chose Ocotal because of the reputation of its dive operation.
It is located on a beautiful site overlooking the Pacific, and not far from town by taxi. 
Since we planned to dive and brought all of our dive gear, it was more convenient to rent one place for the whole time in Costa Rica. Then we did day trips or overnights to other areas, like San Jose, Arenal, and Tamarindo. 
Some people may think it is crazy to pay for 2 rooms, but it is much easier for us to choose our base, travel from there and only pack what we need. (See our separate post for More on Diving in Costa Rica.)
The Costa Rica Accommodations that we chose for this trip were booked through Continue reading
My good friend Laura suggested that everyone taking long driving trips with their spouse needs ideas on how to make the ride more pleasant and the travel time go by faster. I actually planned several things for our long driving trip to Florida, engaging my husband in some of the technical issues and gaining his buy-in for how we would pass the time. It generally doesn’t work unless he is bought in in advance, and it is even better if he has a role in the planning.
What we did on our drive from PA to FL:
1. We listened to some books. Although we could not physically check them out of the library since we were planning to be away for 10 weeks, since I have ‘Overdrive’ set up on my tablet, I can Continue reading
Diving is different, as you are diving in colder waters and around rock formations rather than coral. There are more very small colorful creatures, and more larger animals.
For exa
mple, I never saw so many octopus out during the day as I did during Costa Rica diving. When I look at our pictures, almost every day has photos of octopus.
The cute puffers are everywhere; they were Continue reading
Land Adventures in Costa Rica
Know that it rains more in the central part of the country, in the regions near the Arenal Volcano and the Monteverde Cloud Forest – 2 choice locations. We had wet weather in December around the Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica. You need a rain jacket. The fog will often restrict the view of the Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica. We lucked out and had the volcano come into view while it was erupting at sunset – yeah!
While the coast is warm, 80s & 90s degrees F, the Arenal and Monteverde are Continue reading
Did you know that right here in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, we are blessed with many historical and cultural sites? While I lived in the area for 15 years, and knew the George Nakashima House, Studio and Workshop is here in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, I did not visit until this summer. Both Tom and I loved the gorgeous peaceful, creative, exquisite property, showrooms, and galleries. We visited the 12 buildings open to the public.
The Nakashima Woodworker property and working studios were Continue reading
Tom and I love living in Bucks County, PA, with the natural beauty. The area is rife with art, cultural, and great food. We have great Adventures in Bucks County to share. The summers are just wonderful with many free outdoor events. We take advantage of outdoor and indoor concerts in the afternoons and evenings. Reasonably priced venues at $5-$20 for 
professional and Broadway-type productions are great cultural activities. There are at least 5 venues weekly within 10 miles of our home.
During the summer many venues offer free music from Continue reading
I am excited to say that we are planning to spend part of Winter 2016 in South America. Specifically we plan to partake in Ecuador and Galapagos travel adventures and in areas outside of Quito Ecuador both Land and Sea. Although Ecuador is a small country, it is ecologically diverse, from the Andes to the Amazon, to the Continue reading