tom wardell owner, wanderlust travel design, sacramento, ca

I have been extremely fortunate now to have visited close to 90 countries and with Alaska, all 50 states. I can honestly say I have not enjoyed a country or state more than the time spent in Juneau and the spectacular glacier country north and south of town. I have the UnCruise Cruise Company to thank for this amazing adventure on the 90 passenger S.S. Legacy. It helped we caught exceptional weather but between the sensational food, wonderful service and delightful fellow travelers this vacation would be a winner under almost any conditions. If you want to experience some of the best of what this amazing state has to offer, this is a great place to start. Please call me if you have questions about this trip and anything travel related.

Juneau And Its Environs: A 6+ minute montage of some photos taken on a recent land/water getaway to a most beautiful part of America. The "S. S. Legacy", the small inland passge boat we were on played subtle eclectic background music throughout the cruise, "Cats & Dogs" by The Head and the Heart accompanies the video. See this part of the world if you can, we totally enjoyed this experience...

https://tinyurl.com/ydzb29pd "M&M's" refers to our mostly sweet visit to Madrid & Morocco this past September. The photo montage at 5:33 is not my best effort but might be useful and even mildly entertaining, especially for those among you who may someday visit these areas. Nancy and I spent a few days in Madrid on our way to 2 weeks in Morocco. We heard the audio portion of this video emanating from a coffee shop in the La Latina area of Old Madrid. It's a good tune but the ...Continue reading

Ferry ride from Anacortes WA, to our B & B on Orcas Island in the San Juans...Tom does not articulate well on this video but you'll get the picture. Part of this adventure were the ferry rides among the islands. We saw porpoises but it is not uncommon to see whales! Beautiful scenery all along the way...

I really owe a mention to the owners of The Inn on Orcas Island-John & Jeremy, our gracious B & B hosts. And also to my at least as adventurous soulmate friends who might follow. We needed much more time on this 10-day road trip to the San Juan Islands in northern Washington State-but we'll be back...What appealed to both Nancy and I the most about this enchanted island and lodging was, how quiet it is. One forgets how wonderful it can be to hear nothing, except a light breeze, an occasional Canadian goose or the splash of a kayak paddle as we made our way across a flat water tidal basin. OK, sounds a bit odd I guess but I had not realized how much cacophony there is in my everyday world. If you need a breather, this part of the nation is well worth the flight/drive/ferry boat ride-whatever it takes...

Romania is probably not for everyone. It is a little rough around the edges & even a "high end" tour, especially outside of Bucharest would not be up to the standards of a lot of you. That said, our visit was a fascinating and highly enjoyable travel experience. Even our seasoned Romanian tour guides had difficulty explaining to us where the country is now. The historical perspectives, though often troubling were clear enough but the current economic, cultural and religiou...s connections were hard to follow... The most confounding thing about Romania, aside from the difficulty I had securing "unt", butter at meals, is the relationship between church and state and the apparent dominate role religion/religious leaders plays in a country that seems like it has as many churches as people-expensive churches. Going into this visit I was told to tell anyone who could understand me that I was "from California". Romanians like Americans and believe that California is the promised land. I didn't go into our tax structure here but they know about taxes so I didn't want to burst their bubble... Pacific Holidays put this travel agent tour together. I'm not sure the average tourist would have been comfortable with our pace but the goal was to see and experience as much as possible in the 2 weeks we were in country and we certainly did that. Our guides were exceptional and that makes such a difference when traveling in a part of the world most of us knew very little about. I would love to go back, rent a car and wing it. We all felt totally safe, day or night and the locals were consistently welcoming and kind. If you get a chance to visit this part of Eastern Europe, take it! Tom The "mix" that is the background for this 6 min. Romania video montage was heard wafting through the air from a pub just outside of Bran "Dracula's" Castle. Redundant but catchy...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOoVDso9vmc

Heading 10 time zones east next week. Some tips here that were new to me. FYI: https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org//mayo-clinic-q-and-a-p/

A couple of VERY useful tips here! https://www.nytimes.com//15/travel/language-tips-apps.html

Helps answer a few questions. I personally always purchase travel insurance but it is definitely worth checking your credit card/regular insurance coverages: https://www.smartertravel.com//travel-insurance-questions/

I simply have to highlight Casa de los Desperados for those of you who might follow-this is not your mother's B & B. Needing a place to layover on our way to the Grand Canyon, we chose "Casa" sight unseen. Reasonable by any standards with gourmet eats-the best breakfast I have had all year, 360 views to die for, 3 of the nicest dogs on earth, charming lodging with stunning decor and the two most professional owner's, Wayne and Michael, I have ever had the pleasure to be pampered by. If a visit to Palm Springs or road trip like ours is in on your horizon, seriously consider this one of a kind B & B...

Against My Better Judgement Why? Mainly because if it's 109 degrees in July in Sacramento, what are we going to find in tropical Mexico-Dante's Inferno or worse??? Add to that a very different vacation planned at least for me, so yes, I had reservations and not just at the hotel... Nancy put her heart and soul in to reuniting all of her daughters, sons-in-laws and 6 grandchildren ranging from 1-10. I haven't been on a "family vacation" since I was about 9. Not having had ...Continue reading

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