Lately, I have been writing about heavy hitter subjects like remembering 9/11 and the pandemic and of course, the impact on my business and my personal life. These are very important topics and certainly deserve the attention and as the pandemic is still going on and life is still not back to normal like it was BC, Before Covid, it will continue to be a part of my discourse throughout my blogs and hopefully, sooner, rather than later, we won’ be talking about it anymore, but like anything else, it is something of which, we will need to always to be reminded, as human beings have short memories. When things are good and right now, they still are not, we tend to forget and that is when things happen, but they seem to be getting better. One of my favorite teachers, no, my favorite teachers, used to say, “everything is a mixed blessing” and I truly believe it as this tragedy of Covid has had many negatives, but also many positives, about which I have spoken over the past 9 months or so. 

I have spent the better part of the past 4 weeks writing about my travels and justifiably so. I am in the travel industry and will be starting my 15th year as the Wandering Puffin later this month.  I want to share my experiences to help excite people to travel again and many are or plan to do so shortly or hopefully in the future, sooner or later. I see my clients with their desire to move forward and being there for them is exciting, especially during this pandemic. Travel opens up the world. It educates people and it helps to shrink the differences about people. In my travels around the world and around the country, I have met many people from all different backgrounds, cultures, and even with differences, and having traveled around the world for most of my life, I find that people simply want to live their lives, be happy, and do the right thing. 
I am frustrated with many things going on revolving around the travel industry, but mostly the politics and misinformation that is out there from sources outside of the industry, that impact me, my business and my industry. I don’t like headlines that tend to scare people, simply to sell more advertising, but I am happy to work through the concerns and questions my clients have, so they can make educated decisions. The problem with headlines is that they are just that. No detail and intended to shock and scare. 
When the EU recommended that their member nations change their rules to allow or disallow citizens from America and other nations, my clients, those planning on going to Europe in the future, as soon as this month and into next year, started to freak out. I was there to explain the details and provide guidance and explain that for the most part, if they were vaccinated, they would be fine. Yes, some of the countries have re-instituted the need for a negative Covid test as well, which I am fine with and others nothing. Some, however, have opted to not even accept the CDC Covid Vaccine Card and so, like this country with 50 states and 50 different processes, the European Union’s 27 member nations each have their own way. Yes, they have that right and each is a sovereign nation. 
I am also an educator and believe in the science and did get my Covid vaccines as soon as I was able and when the booster is available, I will be in line. The science has been around for years, not less than 2 years. This is not the first SARS virus. When I go to Iceland, a negative Covid test is required and I will be ready to test and I hope the results will be good. I hope to get to London and back to Rome and again, I need to test and I will.  I don’t want to be political about this, but my life and my profession have been directly impacted by other’s decisions to not follow the science. I know I will get flack for saying that, but I have never shied away from speaking my mind. I understand those that perhaps, medically are told not to vaccinate, but those that are healthy should and it is playing out with those that have not. Not only is my industry being impacted, but those who fall ill to Covid cost me money in hospitalization. I would like to have sympathy and perhaps in the beginning I did when we first were hit with the virus when there were options, but now there are. Think beyond yourself and not only about yourself. Remember that every action or inaction has an impact beyond yourself and that is what has happened. I even got my flu shot recently.
As always, I am interested in your thoughts, comments, questions and adding to the discourse is always appreciated be in on the site itself or on Facebook, Twitter or wherever you read this. Thank you for your support of this small business and it is truly appreciated!!!

Awesome, and so it was planned, and then the move to New England. Well, being here, and while I could have flown back to Minnesota, other plans came into play including Iceland on that same day, so I knew, I would not get to see them. The tickets are in the hands of Matt, with whom you are familiar, as he is my admin, social media guru and many other accolades, most importantly friend. ​

The whirlwind tour of America and the Hard Rocks within that I could experience is done for now. I have met some amazing people and experienced many things along the way, arriving in New Hampshire 4 nights ago. I have also tried to have some good family time. I also starting my shopping, yes shopping for my adventure in Iceland in October, and beyond, and since there are outlets across the border in Maine, I ventured into the Columbia shop and bought some stuff, so I am prepared. I did not, due to my change in lifestyle and weight loss, have any winter type clothes as I donated most, if not all to the Goodwill before I left Minnesota some three weeks ago. 

As always, I am interested in your thoughts, comments, questions and adding to the discourse is always appreciated be in on the site itself or on Facebook, Twitter or wherever you read this. Thank you for your support of this small business and it is truly appreciated!!!

Wow, my travels last week connected me with friends, colleagues, and family. I traveled from Birmingham to Memphis, to Knoxville, on to Cincinnati and time in Pittsburgh. Saw a friend and client there and did a quick stop in Philadelphia and you know why, and then to New Jersey where I re-connected with clients who I had met in person, both in Iceland and Buenos Aires, but never in their home, but that has now happened. And finally, yesterday, made a quick train trip to Atlantic City round – trip and the drive to New York where I did two very important things, something I always do first upon arrival and that is to visit my maternal grandparent’s gravesite, a promise I made to myself years ago and continued this time around. Finally, I re-connected with one of my best friends in the world and enjoyed a few slices of New York pizza and just catching up with the family. 

and my experiences so far have been wonderful. After leaving Amarillo, I was headed to El Paso, a long enough drive, but one certainly worthwhile. Did I find aliens in Roswell, no, but the museum was interesting enough and then it was on to Carlsbad Caverns and what a magnificent experience. If I has gotten there earlier I would have walked down the 80 stories to the bottom, but instead, did the elevator down and that was the same as taking the elevator from the top of the Empire State Building to the ground floor. What you experience when you get down there is natural beauty with all the formations created by nature over millions of years and they do not disappoint. It is over a mile of walking on the paths and at every turn, amazing nature. For those who have never been to Carlsbad Caverns, it is a must. If that was not enough, before getting to El Paso, as I traveled back into Texas from New Mexico, there was Guadalupe National Park and then all the salt flats down to El Paso itself. When you are in the middle of nowhere, you truly appreciate what nature has to offer. ​

It is not just nature, but the people you meet and one of the reasons I was going to El Paso was to meet a colleague or is he a client. No, he is a friend and while I had never met him in person, I had mentioned that if there was a chance to get there I would and that would be the reason. I had been there in 1988, but not since, and meeting Isaac and subsequently, his family, was wonderful and so glad I made the trek. What made getting to El Paso even better is that while on my trek down there, a client called and said she was going to be in El Paso the same time as I was. We connected and so, I had two wonderful meetings that next day. Thank you, Minerva and, of course, thank you Isaac. The food in El Paso was also wonderful and it really is its own world, part of the US, but very Mexican. All good, not matter how you slice it. 

​​Wow, what a week just ended. I finished up working in the schools and hit the road. It was a bit crazy and also melancholy leaving the school district I had worked at for 15 years, as much as it was to leave on Saturday, after living 30 years in Minnesota. I am sure I will be back some time, but for now, I am on the road and will end up in New England in the short term, but time to see America from a perspective different than when I was in my 20’s.
On Saturday, I started my Wandering Puffin Hard Rockin’ tour of America and first went to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I wanted to count my visit and I am not a gambler, so it was a short stay, walking around to get a feel for the place and hitting the Rock Shop for some bling. Then I hit the road to drive through the heartland and ended up in Topeka, Kansas, where there is actually an Evil Knievel Museum, for the night, about 535 miles. That is a lot considering I had not been a road warrior here in the US for over 30 years, back in my 20’s, so it was a bit of challenge, but I handled it well. I also started doing Facebook Live reports every so often, so look for them as I share interesting facts and experiences along the way.