All who wander are not lost!
This site describes the travel experience of myself and my traveling companion
and photographer... Paul (aka: my husband). We tend to avoid the snazzy
places... like to stay closer to the people. If you like staying in
the big American hotels to rub shoulders with other Americans, you won't like
our style of travel. Most of our trips are planned
via the internet. It is amazing how much cheaper it can be when you spend
the time to search out travel nuggets. A week in the beautiful country
side of Provence or Tuscany in a wonderfully renovated farm house for less than
$1,000 a week is possible. Sometimes we try avoid telling folks that don't know
us how much we paid for accommodations. Either they would think we were
disingenuous ( I always wanted to use that word) or staying in a flea trap.
Our penny saving approach does not necessarily apply to cruising or unusual
places such as Tanzania. Some cruises are more simply more expensive
because of the destination. Africa is not a place to wonder without local
knowledge.
Travelogues by most recent
dates
June, 2005 Mediterranean Cruise from
Malta to Nice - A great Tauck tour along the Italian coast aboard Le
Ponant, a 30 cabin motor/sailing vessel, with stops in Sicily,
Corsica, Amalfi, and other islands off of Italy. We added three nights in Villefranche sur
Mer... one of our
favorite Mediterranean villages to tour a few towns we missed on our last visit.
September, 2004 WWII Reunion - We returned
to Kovarska, Czech Republic for the 6oth anniversary of the air battle which
took place over this small village, then off for three days in Prague. We
then headed for our first adventure in southern Germany. We stayed in two
wonderful places with a day trip to Salzburg... a Bavarian Ski village outside
of Munich and a medieval walled city on the Romantic Road.
April, 2004 Tahiti - A two week cruise on a
70 cabin sailing ship around the Society Islands. Stops on Bora Bora,
Moorea, Raiatea, and Huahine.
December, 2003 Normandy, France - A long
weekend on the French coast with visits to Omaha Beech, the American Cemetery, D
day museums, and several quaint towns in the region.
September, 2003 Tanzania - An amazing 10 day
adventure on a Safari in East Africa. The people, animals, and scenery
were spectacular.
March, 2003 Ireland - A one week bus tour on
the emerald isle with a group of crazy friends. Lots of pubs, sights, and
laughs.
September, 2002 Return to Joigny - Retracing Pat's
fathers WWII experience in the Czech Republic and France. He was a
navigator on a B-17 raid of a German oil refinery when his plane was mortally
wounded at the Czech border, then crashed landed about 100 miles from Paris.
We visited the little Czech town were the fight took place and several of the
small villages in France were he landed, was hidden by the FFI, and eventually
escaped.
March, 2002 Collioure, France - A week in
this wonderful small village on the coast of France within a half hour drive of
Spain. We visited many of the sea side villages in both France and Spain.
Why this site
We have had so many wonderful experiences because we do not
always follow the tour groups. Not to say that tour groups are not fun...
just that they can be limiting. We have been on cruises and taken
advantage of shore excursions (mini tours) and they were wonderful. I
guess the real difference is getting to know the people and how they spend their
time. Be prepared to look and feel stupid at times... that can
become part of the experience. My husband sometimes has trouble with
English, yet he has been in countries like Croatia, Thailand, Uruguay, and Singapore on
his own... and made it home without major trauma. If a few brave souls
will dare to venture out on their own based on our experiences, we would be
pleased.
Most of the small pictures in this site are
thumbnails... they will expand if you click on them. Use the "back" button
to return. There are also "Links" to official web sites of many of the
cities we visited or places were we stayed. "Links" will be in yellow and
underlined. Use the back button to return to this site.
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thoughts, or suggestions to Comments@Patstravels.com.
Don't hesitate to contact me, if I can be of help. Just
write to Pat@Patstravels.com
