More Veggie, Less Travel

My life lately has been a lot more veggie than traveler!   School has kept me busy – learning techniques, concept development, menu design, readings, video lectures, quizzes, exams, and lots and lots of cooking!   I’ve done a ton of work in these first three months – knife skills, braising, stewing, puréeing, poaching, simmering, …

3 Seasons in 3 days

When my daughter Delaney asked me to go on a wilderness backpacking adventure with her, I said “yes” right away.  If you are a parent, you know that time with your children is precious and you take anything they have to give.  And I have always told my kids about my desire to not only spend time …

Incredible Alaska

Alaska was a trip John and I kept talking about, but I was a little intimidated with all the planning that would be required.  We knew we wanted to do it with the adventure van.  We knew we wanted to drive up and ferry back, and we also knew we wanted to try to make …

48 Hours in Vietnam

We had a little shy of 48 hours in Vietnam, and we truly just scratched the surface.  Vietnam has a population around 100 million, with an official language of Vietnamese and most people practicing no religion.  They originally declared independence from China, only to be split into two areas (north and south) with the south colonialized by …

Three Nights in Bangkok

Our solo adventure took us first to Bangkok, Thailand.  Thailand has a population of about 70 million, and Tai people migrated from mainland Southwest China to SouthEast Asia many centuries ago.  Thailand (Siam) was the only area in the Southeast to avoid colonization by foreign powers.  It has a monarchy, which is evident by the pictures of the …

Cambodia through the Eyes of a Native

We have spent the last several days in the Kingdom of Cambodia.  About 17 million people live here, mostly Buddhist, speaking Khmer but you do hear quite a bit of English.  Cambodia has fought hard over many years to be a neutral and independent country, surviving under French, Japanese and Vietnamese rule.  They have also suffered much; more …

All Things Malaysia

We have spent the last several days in Malaysia, a country of about 33MM people with an official language of Malay but many people speak English.  The official religion is Islam, but there are many people that practice Buddhism, Christianity, and Hinduism.   The country was inhabited by the Portuguese, Dutch, British, and Japanese before they became independent …

Let’s Go Abroad

Up to this point, of our travels since COVID have taken us exploring the US in our adventure van.  We have been able to visit all the National Parks in the lower 48 (except 1) and have hit 52 of the 63 parks. When we were asked by our friends Krishna and Chris if we would …