What’s this headache?

Window seat daytime view
View from the window seat at 38,000 feet

HANOI, VIETNAM – I’ll write about more flight adventures later, but I thought I would share with you (especially Dr. Flanagan) about travel and the “American” way of life. What do I mean? Let me tell you my tale:

We get on the plane for Taipei at midnight in Seattle. Getting to the airport, checking in for our flight, boarding the plane – that part was uneventful. But the Northwest has a terrible windstorm that night and we get the resulting ‘rock and roll’ for a few hours at the start of the flight.

They want to serve me food soon. I’m almost sick, but I am saying to myself, “I AM NOT ON A BOAT AND I WILL NOT BE SICK.” This means I have nothing in my stomach for hours.
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Don’t you miss your home?

Our former home in Stanwood, Washington
Our former home in Stanwood, Washington

As Melanie and I traveled around the U.K. over the last two and a half months, many people, after we tell them we’ve sold everything and are traveling the world, have said things like:

“That is so cool!”

“I wish I could do that.”

Most people have had quite positive reactions.

But occasionally someone will ask, “Don’t you miss your home?”
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Desperately seeking ‘real’ Scotch ale

UNITED KINGDOM – Back home in Washington state, one of my favorite beers has been “Scotch Ale” from Bellingham’s Boundary Bay Brewery. Another favorite (which seems to be no longer available) was Jenny’s Scotch Ale from the Skagit River Brewery in Mount Vernon. Both are quite sweet, with just enough hops to add body, but not so much that they cross over into “bitter beer” territory.

So when Melanie and I set out to visit Scotland, I looked forward to drinking a lot of similar brews. After all, where else would one expect to find real Scotch ale?
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Pounds, pence, meaty money and more

British coins from one pence to two pounds
British coins from one pence to two pounds

UNITED KINGDOM – We’ve been traveling around the United Kingdom for just over two months now, and I have to say…

Thank God for the metric system!

And thank God for decimal-denominated money.

Luckily for us, we haven’t had to deal with guineas, crowns, shillings, farthings or any other extinct denominations of British money. Continue reading “Pounds, pence, meaty money and more”