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Of course, to get to a place like this, some few kilometers from the South African border, it was quite the travel time. As I posted a few days ago, it was certainly the 31 hours of travel to Botswana, but then once settled into Gaborone, pronounced with an “H”, after all those flights, 4 in total and many connection hours, there was the drive time. At least, I had an overnight to relax before the day’s drive here. The drive here was easily another 6 or 7 hours, but the result was being in the middle of the bush in a very nice lodge and camp along a river, very dry right now, even though it is rainy season, but I have seen no rain and the vegetation shows it. Along the way, I saw cows, donkeys, and sheep along the roads, but then you cross into the game reserve and that is where you come upon the wildlife. Starting with a few elephants and impala and wildebeest. It brought me back to when I had done my first safari in Kenya and Tanzania. Of course, to get to a place like this, some few kilometers from the South African border, it was quite the travel time. As I posted a few days ago, it was certainly the 31 hours of travel to Botswana, but then once settled into Gaborone, pronounced with an “H”, after all those flights, 4 in total and many connection hours, there was the drive time. At least, I had an overnight to relax before the day’s drive here. The drive here was easily another 6 or 7 hours, but the result was being in the middle of the bush in a very nice lodge and camp along a river, very dry right now, even though it is rainy season, but I have seen no rain and the vegetation shows it. Along the way, I saw cows, donkeys, and sheep along the roads, but then you cross into the game reserve and that is where you come upon the wildlife. Starting with a few elephants and impala and wildebeest. It brought me back to when I had done my first safari in Kenya and Tanzania.
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 When I returned last week to New England, the 15th to be exact, the colors of fall were still amazing, especially as I flew into Logan Airport in Boston. Now, almost a week later, I have not been out much, but the temperatures have dropped around freezing here along the Atlantic coast and the colors are fading. It is the 3rd week of November, not unexpected, however. I settled in for a week of catch up after being in Europe once more, with my precious few days with Rosa in Albania and Italy and now, I must wait until February to see her in person again because of the EU rules. I have read up on this and there are loopholes, but I am not going to take a chance right now and ruin the opportunity to be with her again in Europe, in the long-term next year. For now, and this past week, it has been a matter of preparing client’s trips, and my next venture overseas, to another country new to my list, which stands at 80 after Albania, and that is Botswana, so not even getting over jetlag, really, here in New Hampshire, I am off again, this time to the continent of Africa, for about 2 weeks for a trade show and safari, to open up more options to consider for travel in the future for my valued clients and excited to share that experience going forward. In the meantime, and due to my very long flight schedule, will be in the same time zone as Rosa, when I have an enormous layover in Paris of some 10 hours, so at least I can have my time with her then. Honestly, I am very excited about this opportunity, but not looking forward to some 30 + hours of travel time each way. And, the people who arranged this, have me in economy all the way. It will certainly be a test. I was never good at sleeping on planes, and it has been a while since I flew economy on a long-haul flight. Also, it has been since 2017, so returning after so many years will be an amazing experience.
After three days and a mix of meetings, I left for, finally, after several years of trying and Covid blocking my way, to my 80th different country in the world, once which I truly believe is a hidden gem and one which has a rich, albeit unknown history. That country, tucked in the Balkans north of Greece and south of Kosovo and Montenegro, is Albania, and while most Americans don’t have a real clue about this fascinating country, as for 50 years, after WWII, it was under communist rule and so isolated from the outside world, like North Korea. As close as it was to Italy and Greece, nothing got in or out and the history of the time was tragic, and everyone spied on everyone even with the secret police. When Albania came out of Communism, it took awhile to transition to the western way of life and today, while still a way a way, looks forward facing and western facing and has many signs of being ready to share its treasures with the world. I was reminded of when I first went to Croatia some 20 years ago and said that it was, at the time, a hidden gem and then the likes of Conde Nast and Travel & Leisure said the same. For the record, I said it first.
Life, of course, keeps going and staying in the moment too long is not a good idea. I have a business to run and a personal life which continues to grow and move forward as I inch ever closer to moving my base across the pond, which right now is where I am as I write this week’s blog. I was only back in the Northeast for a few days, after arriving back from the Bay Area, so a very quick turnaround. When I returned from Europe a month ago, I only had one bag and a backpack full of stuff, meaning that most of clothes is resting peacefully in Italy. Having used up the clean clothing, it was necessary to get the wash done and re-packed to be here. Where is here, England to be specific and I have been here, now a week where I have been in meetings with potential partners with different countries from Greece, Italy, Georgia (the country, not the state) and many others at a meeting last week called Global European Marketplace. My goal was to connect and re-connect with partners to help enhance the experiences for my valued clients, which is what I did. |
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December 2025
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