Category: Travel
With travel beginning to thaw, the industry is pulling out all the stops these days to try to get people to sign up for their rewards cards. With Delta’s 90k sign-up bonus, Capital One Venture’s 100k, and Amex’s 75k, it can be hard to decide which one to sign up for. After some research, I … Continue reading Points and Miles Traveling Part Two
This is the year of traveling for “free”, thanks to credit card points and mileages accumulated. We have 4 upcoming domestic trips, between the end of May and the end of October, all covered by points and miles (I’ve decided to hold off on international trips for as long as the US requires Covid testing … Continue reading Points and Miles Traveling
It’s been a year since I last ran. Suffering with burnout from running and non stop training for the last 8 years, I was toying with the idea of giving myself a break from running. Back in April of 2020, the California State Parks (including my training ground) closed due to the pandemic, and that … Continue reading Back To The Old Haunt
Going home! It’s been a while since we’ve traveled to a place where we’re happy to be going home. There’s nothing wrong with Morocco, but we think Turkey ruined it for us. Our trip to Turkey was absolutely one of the best (a close second after Botswana and Tanzania), and after having just been there … Continue reading Traveling Back To The US
Most important thing to take care of today was to get our Covid test, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to return home. A dizzying and confusing array of breads and pastries. Not sure if I was having breakfast or afternoon tea. We got to Meknés an hour later and found a crowd outside the testing … Continue reading Chefchaouen – The Blue City
First order of business today was to get our Covid test in order to get back to the US. Breakfast at the riad. Carbs on top of carbs, paradise for a carb lover. Unfortunately, I’m not one of them. After arriving at the public Covid testing site, we realized that the turn around time was … Continue reading Fez And A Bonus City
Yesterday was the 6-hour walking tour. Today is the 7-hour car trip from Marrakech to Fez. Before leaving Marrakech, we stopped by the Majorelle Garden, which was closed for the last 2 days. Normally a popular and crowded garden, we had the whole place to ourselves thanks to the fact that there are hardly any … Continue reading Marrakech to Fez
Our tour guide, Yousef, met us at the riad shortly after breakfast for our 6-hour walking tour. Before retirement, we always felt the need for a vacation after returning home from vacation, because the trips were always packed to the hilt so that we could see as much as possible. Since we’ve retired we’ve approached … Continue reading Marrakech – The 6-Hour Walking Marathon
After conking out for 11 hours last night, we woke up refreshed and ready to go. Breakfast at the hotel Casablanca is a modernized city, and wasn’t exactly what we were looking for on this trip, so we were pretty happy to leave and move onto the next city, Marrakech, which is a 3-hour drive … Continue reading Marrakech – Day 1
We got off the flight completely jet lagged. Morocco is 8 hours ahead of California, and we didn’t get a chance to adjust while in NYC. With hardly any sleep on the plane, we landed in Casablanca bright and early in the morning ready to go to bed. Watching the sun rise over the Atlantic … Continue reading Casablanca
Our Morocco trip was booked back in late 2019 for April 2020. With the pandemic, the trip was postponed. Since this trip was booked pre-retirement, the duration of the trip was only for a week, which is short by today’s standards. Morocco is open to US travelers, albeit with restrictions. First, we had to test … Continue reading Pandemic Travel – Africa Edition
The first leg of our trip to Morocco involved flying domestically from the West Coast (LAX) to the East Coast (JFK), since Royal Air Maroc had cut out all direct flights to Morocco except for the JFK route. Domestic travel is nothing like international travel. The crowds! Everyone, minus the grandmother, is traveling! Had we … Continue reading LAX to JFK Flight
Joshua Tree National Park is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from us - a nice day trip for a hike. Of the 15 National Parks we’ve been to in 6 states, this one ranks smack dab in the middle of my favorite (#1&2 being Zion and Grand Teton). Judging by my list of favorite … Continue reading Joshua Tree National Park
Being in nature makes me happy, and National Parks are a great source of that happiness. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels that way, because the people you meet on hiking trails are in general the nicest and happiest bunch you’ll ever encounter. How can you not be happy when Mother Nature … Continue reading Death Valley National Park – Day 2
Once retired one has nothing but free time. Add a little dose of spontaneity, and you get last minute trips like our Death Valley National Park trip. Thanks to the internet, a quick research can help cobble up a trip in less than 12 hours. And thanks to credit card reward points, one can score … Continue reading Death Valley National Park – Day 1
I generally book flights directly from airlines, but when Kayak showed a lower fare through FlightHub (a travel agency based in Canada), back in November 2019, I went with them. I understood at the time that the airfare was non refundable, and I was willing to take the risk thinking what could possibly throw a … Continue reading FlightHub Experience
So it appears that I’m one of the few insane people flying into Covid territory that is known as California. Most people want to fly into Taiwan, not out these days, especially given that Chinese Lunar New Year is coming up in 3 weeks. As for me, I have a husband home alone whom I’d … Continue reading Flying Back to the US
The site we visited today is a mouthful - Double Dragon Waterfall Rainbow Suspension Bridge (雙龍瀑布七彩吊橋). The Double Dragon refers to the double waterfalls, and the rainbow suspension bridge is the longest in Taiwan. The town that it’s located in is named after the two waterfalls - 雙龍 in Nantou (南投) area, about an hour … Continue reading Double Dragon Waterfall Rainbow Suspension Bridge
My initial expectation of the Xitou Nature Area (溪頭自然區) was that it was going to be a walk in the park, so all I had with me was a small daypack with my sweatshirt, wallet, and passport. I donned my Vans and was ready for a stroll with the parents. Entry fee is 200NT ($7) … Continue reading An Unexpected Hike
I had wanted to visit Sun Moon Lake (日月潭）in Nantou (南投), but ended up in Xitou (溪頭) because dad kept raving about Le Midi, reportedly one of the prettiest hotels in Taiwan (trust me it is not). Luckily, there are hiking trails in the area so I was willing to change my plans. The drive … Continue reading Road Trip to Xitou 溪頭
