Let me first say congratulations to the Boston Red Sox. The better team won and if I didn’t love the Dodgers, I would have rooted for the Red Sox. They are an impressive team.
So I survived the longest World Series Game in history. I even left with a smile on my face. It was the single most intense professional sports event I have ever experienced – On television or in person.
Books and travel, travel and bookstores, they go together like peanut butter & jelly, cracker and jacks and iced tea on a hot summer day. I have been an avid reader my whole life and since I started the blog I have learned to combine my reading life with my travel life. As part of every itinerary, I look for local bookstores when I visit a new city. Do you do that?
This passion for connecting my travel destinations and my readerly needs has gotten stronger and stronger now that I have so much more time to read. When my children were young and we were so busy with school and sports activities, I was lucky to read a book a month. But now, I can plan my reading life, explore more and even try to pair books with my upcoming destinations. And there’s more…
In just a few days, Alexandra, our oldest child, will be a bride walking down the aisle, thirty-four years to the day that I did. Did I know three and a half decades ago that our daughter would be getting married on the same day as we were? No, of course not.
Please welcome my newest Guest Adventurer, my friend and travel journalist Stacey Wittig. Here is her quick bio:”I can’t stop exploring the world (I blame it on my father’s Viking blood) and write about my adventures – many as a solo woman traveler. Life isn’t always rosy; I lost my firecracker reasoning skill to head injury in a horrific rollover accident that should have taken my life. Brain injury hasn’t stopped me from traveling, although sometimes it makes for amusing travel anecdotes.” Follow along at www.UnstoppableStacey.com
Someone recently asked me why I thought that multigenerational travel works for some, but not for others. After giving this some thought, I think the magic is in what you do. Is this an activity that is embraced by everyone? Or is this one person’s idea of a good time and everyone else has to go along with it?
The key to successful group travel, especially those with different age groups lies in the willingness of the group to communicate. To ensure that everyone is well represented and that members of the group are not railroaded into doing something that isn’t of interest to them.
There is never enough space in each post to share every favorite moment and travel photo. I try not to bombard you with too much copy or too many photos, therefore lots of photos are left behind! I wish I could include a photo album every time I publish! However the next best thing is to just tell a story with my never been published photos from my recent BIG summer family trip to Italy.
On social media I have actually noticed several bloggers and non-bloggers have taken extensive trips this past summer. When you travel to Europe, so very far away, it is nice to try to squeeze in as much as you can while you are there. Although the argument can be made that you move pretty quickly and don’t get to dive too deep into each city you visit.
We actually did a little bit of both. We stayed in one villa for a week in Italy in order to enjoy the countryside, slow down, relax and spend quality time with the family and then we usually spent several nights in each city after that. Craig and I left Italy and flew to Mallorca and then I flew to Berlin to take a Viking River Cruise from Berlin to Prague and lastly I stayed in Budapest, Hungary for four more nights. A BIG beautiful summer of travel. For today I am just sharing a little more of Italy.
Great news! Our princess is getting married! I haven’t written about this yet because I just didn’t know where to begin. It is such a thrilling new adventure. The Empty Nester life is different for everyone and truthfully I think that I am living the ultimate empty nester existence. We travel, we downsized, we can go out on a Tuesday if we feel like it and we got a dog!
When our youngest left the nest I had a really difficult time. I began writing about it and Adventures of Empty Nesters was created. Fast forward 4 ½ years later and this blog has become a fabulous and fulfilling career! I am still writing about our empty nest but have expanded to our life adventures and working with cutting edge travel and tourism brands. Our sojourns around the world hopefully inspire others to get out and find adventure too!
But I do have a real home life too! I still pick up dog poop, take out the trash (only when Craig isn’t home) do yard work, get the plumbing fixed, do the marketing, cook, all the regular things that wives and spouses do.
Adventures come in all sorts of sizes, shapes and packages – What would it feel like to meet one of the biggest rock stars in the world and then getting his signature tattooed on your arm? Who says that life isn’t exciting after the kids move away?
I heard this story from a travel writer friend and it was so fascinating that I asked her to share it with you. Thanks Lori.
Sure, you can look back on events in your life that were pivotal…
Marriage.
The birth of your children.
Perhaps a peak moment in your career.
At this time in our lives, most of us have experienced all the highlights, moments that when we reflect on them we get an instant smile on our face.
Sure I’ve had those moments too, but there is one day that will forever leave a mark on me. That one story that I can tell over and over again and it transforms me into a 7th grade girl with all the emotions of crushing on Donny Osmond.
The first U2 concert I went to was in Madison, Wisconsin in 1992 during the Zoo TV tour. I was transformed that night by the spectacle of this multi media show. I really liked U2’s music before, but seeing Bono work the audience that night was mind-blowing. I have long had a soft spot in my heart for lead singers (hello, my name is Lori, I’m 55 years old and I totally fangirl over Bono!).
Summer is coming to a close and it is fun to reflect upon some of our favorite things we like to do this time of year. Did you love it when your kids were young and there was no set schedule? But when that summer freedom was threatened by the upcoming Fall school year, there was almost a layer of sadness it was over. Do you remember that?
But now that our children are grown, this is not something that we even have to think about! However Craig and I do notice the comings and goings of the young families at our neighborhood elementary school. Watching them brings back great memories.
For me, Labor Day Weekend marks the transition in to Fall. Funny though, in Los Angeles the weather is still the same! No Fall sweater weather here, I have to travel to find it!
Before we even arrived at The Palio in Siena, I knew that it would be a vibrant, colorful spectacle, but it was way bigger than we imagined! The passion and emotion that runs through the crowd feels like a strong electric current. Not a seat or section of pavement was available and the famous Piazza del Campo was transformed into a carefully constructed racetrack with an audience of thousands of excited Italians, mostly from the walled city of Siena.
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