Category: Round the World

‘Back’ on the Cook Islands – Book Excerpt 3

There are two bus lines on Rarotonga, the main island in the Cook Islands. One bus goes clockwise on the main road around the island, and the other goes counter-clockwise. That’s it. It’s a convenient way into town and back. And the buses are just about a step or two above a typical school bus here in the States.

There’s one thing a lot of older vehicles have in common: technical reliability. Or lack thereof. Especially the brakes.

I was coming up on my stop right outside where I was staying, the Aro’a Beachside Inn, when I signaled for the bus to stop. There is no center exit on these buses, so you exit at the front left door. (Driving is on the left side of the road there, as the Islands are a protectorate of New Zealand, thus following New Zealand rules.) The driver opened the door, and I stepped down. One slight problem: The bus hadn’t come to a complete stop. It was more of a slow roll to a stop.

That is, it was a slow roll until I started down the second step.

The rest was a bit of a blur, as I felt my feet give out from under me as I fell straight back, landing on the edge of one of the steps with the center of my back.

Read more of The Ensuite Life available in paperback on Amazon, Kindle, and other e-readers.

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New Digs

With the publication of my book based on my round-the-world journey, I’ve moved all the blog posts from my previous blog, “My Own Amazing Race: 84 Days to Circle the Globe,” to this site. Below this post are the archives.

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Done

4 Continents, 9 Countries, 15 cities, 26600 miles, 84 days. I’ve just completed my own Amazing Race!

Only casualties:
1 Duffel Bag that made it, but barely
1 SIM Card because the fly-by-night company, Ace Telecom, seems as if it went out of business leaving me without service since mid-November
1 Pair of sunglasses
5 pairs of socks
1 pair of shoes

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Friendly Skies

Throughout the course of this trip, I have flown many airlines. The one constant is that none of them were US domestic airlines. Even the United flight I booked from Madrid back to the states was operated by Aer Lingus. Only the short commuter flight from DC to Philly was on United, but that was a 24 minute flight. Hardly much time to screw up.

Way back, I had blogged that Air Tran had already changed the time of my flight back to LA, pushing it later. Little did I know that when I called to verbally accept the change to the 5:16PM flight from Philly to Atlanta, that the moron on the phone had rebooked me on an even later flight by mistake, at 7:03PM, thus giving me a whopping 35 minutes to change planes in Atlanta, one of the nation’s busiest airports. I only realized this when I logged onto Air Tran’s site to check the flight information.

Now, I don’t think I’ve ever taken a flight from Philly that late in the day that actually left on time. And I don’t know how they accept 35 minutes between flights as an acceptable timeframe. But a call to Air Tran customer service (can we even call airlines support lines “customer service?”) resulted in nothing but frustration as I was told there were no seats on the flight I thought I was on and that should I miss the connecting flight, I would be placed on the “next available flight.” Of course we are talking about winter and the holidays. Something tells me the next available flight will not be the next flight.  Here’s hoping my 84 day trip doesn’t suddenly become an 86 day trip with an excursion to Atlanta. Gah! Domestic airlines are the absolute worst.

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European Top 5

As I’ve mentioned before, I love Europe. In general terms, it will always be my favorite destination. I thought I would rank my top 5 cities I’ve visited in Europe (since I’m in the ranking mood). It wasn’t easy because there are so many places I’ve loved visiting (Stockholm, London, etc.). But without further ado:

  1. Paris – nothing comes close. Still the best and still want to live here.
  2. Barcelona – it’s not Paris but dare I say it comes pretty close
  3. Salzburg, Austria – possibly the most beautiful place I’ve ever visited
  4. Florence, Italy – great art, great architecture, great food, great city
  5. York, England – I’ve always found the charm of England was outside London. I was totally charmed when I visited York and it still is my favorite town in England.
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Ranking the Stops (Non USA)

As I take a few days of R&R before I do Philly (and hopefully beyond), I’ve ranked the non-US legs of the trip. I can’t really come up with a definitive favorite so I’m dividing them in three groups: The Best, The Near Best, and the Least Favorites. Every stop was worth it to me, even if I wasn’t crazy about them. It was an opportunity to experience something brand new, a different culture and different way of life. Every experience makes you grow in some respect, so there are no regrets of anything on the itinerary.

The Best (in order of arrival):

  1. Rarotonga (Cook Islands) – what a way to start out a trip. This place was paradise. Having never been to the South Pacific, I don’t have anything to compare it to. But the bar was set high here.
  2. Sydney, Australia – I absolutely loved Australia and would love to return to see more of the vast country. But Sydney itself offers so much to do and see with people so friendly, you immediately feel at home.
  3. Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Israel – I’m listing them together since they are so close in geography, although different is spirit and vibe. But really, you shouldn’t see one without seeing the other. So much history, so much diversity. A small country with more to see and do than you can possibly do in one visit.
  4. Barcelona, Spain – Several times I had planned to visit this city on past European trips but never had enough time to do so. And I wondered whether I would make it this time or not because of the strikes. It was worth the wait.
The Near Best:
  1. Auckland, New Zealand – A wonderful, cosmopolitan city that is easy to get around and has so many friendly people. It’s not in the top category because I feel that the best of New Zealand is outside Auckland, once you’ve seen all the city has to offer. Should I get the chance to return, I would make a point to see as much of the country outside Auckland as possible.
  2. Chiang Mai, Thailand – This city in the north of Thailand is full of beautiful temples and friendly people. A great cultural experience without the overwhelming vastness of Bangkok.
  3. Hong Kong – One of the great business metropolises and a truly world-class city, especially when it comes to shopping. Despite its size, it’s very easy to get around. Spent seven days of the trip there and probably three days too long.
  4. Mykonos, Greece – This made up for all that was wrong with Athens.
  5. Madrid, Spain – a beautiful city with excellent museums, public parks and plazas, and art at every turn.  It’s in this list because it’s not Barcelona.
  6. Toledo, Spain – I’m including this because it was a day of the trip and not an organized tour that gives you a couple of hours here and there. A quaint Spanish town not far from Madrid that offers quite a bit of history and museums.
The Least Favorites:
  1. Bangkok, Thailand – One Night in Bangkok is enough. Maybe two nights. It’s not that there’s not plenty to do (depending on the level of debauchery you are into). It’s that the city is dirty, huge, and confusing to get to places. Thailand just has so much more to offer outside Bangkok, that spending too much time here isn’t worth it. That said, you will be hard-pressed to find friendlier people in such a large city.
  2. Athens, Greece – My least favorite of all the destinations. Dirty, trash and graffiti-ridden, and unfriendly, the best of this city lies in its ruins.
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