Passport Living – Travel for Life

Coming home… not the same.

When I first started travelling, coming home was a very exciting time. The whole ride home I’d be thinking about what I’d do different, as if a trip gave me a new lease on life, and I’d be anxious to make calls and see people. These days there’s a realization before even getting off the final plane (if not earlier) that real life is waiting and that basic responsibilities are lingering. That feeling is really depressing. I’m now never ready to come home. I’d prefer to travel just a few more weeks and I’m far less inclined to show off my pictures to anybody, outside of what we post on our website. I could travel, I believe, for months before I got tired of it.

Of course, the best trips are the hardest to let end. Other trips, those that at least end roughly, actually encourage us to come home, much as our trip to Italy did when we got stuck at a London airport an extra 24 hours due to a Florida Hurricane. While the airport was nice enough, sleeping on its benches got really old really fast. I was so frustrated that particular evening that I broke part of a tooth from grinding my teeth.

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San Francisco (Part II)

Today was a beautiful day in San Francisco. The weather was near perfect, though a little too cool on the Bay, especially after returning from Alcatraz. I’m not complaining as the people here are friendly and there’s food, coffee, and wine everywhere -have I mentioned this before?

Originally I wasn’t interested in seeing Alcatraz but it turned out to be incredibly interesting. Having seen Escape from Alcatraz nearly a dozen times, I was fascinated to see the cells where Frank Morris and his accomplices lived while planning their escapes. I was also amazed by how cold the island was while having such an amazing view of the Golden Gate bridge, the Bay bridge, the surrounding islands, and San Francisco itself. Though Alcatraz is showing signs of wear, it’s definitely on my personal recommendation list.

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Good morning, San Francisco

Greetings from San Francisco! It’s 8AM here in San Francisco, 11 AM back at home. We’ve had a long night’s sleep, welcome after having gotten up at 4:00 AM EST to get ready for our flight out of Tampa. No real bumps of any kind getting here and we were greeted with near perfect weather.Today we’re off to a decent start, fueled in part by the Starbucks that’s literally connected to our hotel. I’ve got my Grande Latte and I’m getting increasingly amped to see Alcatraz and Fisherman’s Warf. I’ve not been disappointed with San Francisco so far; there are restaurants, bars, coffee houses, and liquor stores everywhere and we’ve already tried out a few.

Since we have regular internet access, we’ll be able to write a lot more, which I’ll need to do later, as we’re headed out the door…

Trip # 2 (2007)

We’re off to San Francisco and are really excited! This is a part of California neither of us have ever visited and the weather is looking to be perfect. We plan to see as much as we can of the city within a week, but, for those of you who have been asking or suggesting, no, we’re not going anywhere else. Yes, Napa Valley would be amazing, but we don’t want to spend all our time here travelling between destinations; we’re sticking this time just to the city itself and Napa, Yosemite, and all the other wonderful ex-San Francisco destinations will have to wait for another trip.

We’re off now to the airport (at 5 AM) so we’ll write more soon!

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Prague/Berlin (Part I)

“Winter in Eastern Europe” was the rough theme for this trip. Another might have been “Weszt’s Birthday Vacation”. Personally I was just happy getting away for a week or so, although I hadn’t had near enough time to work on the two language goals I’d set for myself: Czech and German. Turns out I didn’t need but so much for either as nearly everyone we spoke with spoke some level of English. I did find this a little disappointing as I’d been studying, but certain situations required a skill level I’d not yet acquired and sometimes it’s simply better to go with what everybody knows best.

Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic, a country situated firmly in the center of Europe. Having shed its communist government in 1989, the Czech Republic is easing steadily into the European Union, though some tasks are yet incomplete, including switching to the Euro (they’re still using the Crown). If you are interested in the Middle Ages, the Cold War, World War II, coffee (kavu), or beer (pivo), Prague probably has something for you.

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