No Floating Market for You

As mentioned in previous posts, we take pride in planning our own travel, everything from flights and hotels to walking tours and excursions. We also recognize how fortunate we are to have taken some wonderful trips over the past few years. With travel, there is an occasional fuck up. We encountered that this past Sunday. […]

Three Wonderful Days in Singapore

After a couple of weeks of cold temperatures in Japan and Shanghai, it was a pleasure to land in Singapore on Tuesday night and immediately feel the warmth of 80-degree weather. Winter clothes were finally packed away for the remainder of our travels (or at least until we land in the US). We started Wednesday […]

Nihao from Shanghai!

After arriving at our Shanghai hotel, we ventured out to explore the Old City before joining our food tour. It turned out to be a fantastic four-restaurant experience with our local guide, Bill. Our first stop featured Shanghai’s famous soup dumplings—a delicious mix of crab, shrimp, pork, and vegetables. Next, while sitting on crates, we […]

Magical Japan

This past Monday we arrived in Kyoto, my favorite city in Japan. Upon arrival, we set out to explore the former imperial capital. Kyoto is the heart of traditional Japanese culture, home to countless Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, gardens, and historic geisha districts. On our way, we walked through Nishiki Market where I enjoyed one […]

Starting in Seattle

We arrived in Seattle late Tuesday night. Our original flight through Chicago was delayed, so we took the long way around by flying through Houston. The one upside is the AMEX Centurion Clubs at DCA and IAH are very nice. In Seattle, we stayed on our friends’ houseboat. David and Gabrielle have owned this floating […]

Hoodoo You Love

Wednesday morning in Moab we grabbed bagel sandwiches at Red Rock Bakery and then made the short drive back to Arches National Park. Our first hike was the Windows Trail, where we visited the North Window, South Window, and Turret Arch. We continued on the Windows Primitive Loop, which gives a great reverse view of […]

Trains, Birthday, and Castles

After our experience the previous weekend with unreserved seats on the train from Vienna to Salzburg, we decided to reserve seats for our Innsbruck to Munich ride. It was another weekend trip, and more importantly, it was Jane’s birthday, so we couldn’t risk an inconvenient train ride. Well, that was the plan at least. About […]

Ski Jumping to Alpine Views

We arrived in Innsbruck, Austria on Wednesday around 1:30 in the afternoon. It was a short walk from the train station to the AC Hotel. After dropping off our luggage, we set out to explore the town using a self-guided app that Jane had downloaded. The old town center has some beautiful buildings. Since it […]

Rock Me Amadeus

Salzburg translates to “salt fortress,” and it’s also known as the city of Mozart, as in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This dude rocks (more on that later). After a wonderful stay in Vienna (if you haven’t read Jane’s brilliant post, please do so), we took the 11:30 train from Vienna to Salzburg. Much to our surprise, the train […]

Vienna Waits for You

Forty-four years. That’s how long it has been since I last set foot in Vienna, the city that transformed me during my study abroad semester in spring 1981. This weekend, IES (Institute of European Studies) Vienna is celebrating its 75th anniversary, and three of my college girlfriends and I had planned to reunite here. Due […]

Time to Catch Up

It’s been nearly six months since I last posted to Traveling Walters. In that time, we’ve spent most of our days at home in beautiful Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, but that doesn’t mean we stayed put. We had a few great adventures outside of the First State. Back in April, Jane and I drove up to Springfield, […]

Getting the Boot in Curacao

Lela, Jane, and I just spent six wonderful days in Curacao. It was sort of a last minute trip. Lela’s fiancée Avery wasn’t able to join us as he already had plans to visit friends in Seattle and Los Angeles. I guess I should mention that Lela is now 75% of a doctor. Last Friday […]

Top Ten and Next Ten

It has been three weeks since we returned from our ten-week journey. We came back to celebrate the wedding of our niece, Codie, and her husband, Alex. It was a wonderful occasion filled with love, joy, and time well spent with family. We had so many incredible experiences on this trip. Here are our top […]

Mother City

Cape Town is called the Mother City because it was the site of the first European settlement in South Africa. We’ve just spent an amazing five days here—coincidentally, the longest we’ve stayed in any one location on this entire journey. Thursday: History and Culture After a delicious breakfast at our hotel, we visited the District […]

New Flower

It is Sunday evening in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and we are watching the Aston Villa vs. West Ham Premier League match. The Commanders vs. Eagles game starts at 11:00 pm tonight. Now that Dan Snyder no longer owns the Commanders, I’m rooting for them. Now back to travel. We arrived in Addis Ababa at 1:30 […]

Radha Radha

As we prepare to leave India tomorrow, it feels fitting to say Radha Radha. In Sanskrit, the word Radha signifies prosperity, success, perfection, and wealth. It is also commonly used as a greeting for both hello and goodbye. During our morning bike ride last week in Jaipur, locals greeted us multiple times with Radha Radha, […]

Midnight Train to Varanasi

After our cooking class on Wednesday night, we had a couple of hours to kill before boarding the bus to take us to the Jhansi Train Station. Our group spent the time chatting in the courtyard of the Hotel Ganpati and strolling through Orchha one last time. This is the first tour Jane and I […]

Kama Sutra

We woke up Monday morning to no water at Alipura Royal Palace. The culprit? Monkeys had attacked the waterline overnight, rupturing it. While it was eventually repaired, I couldn’t manage a hot shower. After breakfast, we boarded a bus for a 90-minute ride to Khajuraho. Khajuraho is home to a remarkable collection of temples. The […]

Taj Mahal

It’s Sunday morning, and we’ve just departed Agra on a train bound for Jhansi. The train, originally scheduled to leave at 7:50 AM, was delayed by fog and didn’t leave the station until 9:15. Ahead of us is a three-hour journey. Fun Fact: According to Manu, our tour guide, 20 million people take 15,000 trains […]

Let’s Go For a Bike Ride

We woke up early Thursday morning at 5:30 AM for a 6:00 AM pickup to start our bicycle ride through the dark, quiet streets of Jaipur. Our first stop was to feed cows—a beautiful experience. We then cycled to the Palace of Winds, where we enjoyed taking photos without any distractions, as the streets were […]

Amber Palace

We departed Delhi at 6:30 AM on Tuesday to beat the city’s notoriously congested traffic. Our ride, a comfortable 21-seat bus, accommodated our group of 13 with plenty of space. The driver even has an assistant and they both sit in a glass-enclosed cockpit. Our first stop, 90 minutes into the drive, was at a […]

Random thoughts & observations

We are half-way through our ten week adventure and here are some random thoughts and observations (some are likely pretty obvious): Australia was great but New Zealand, specifically the South Island is amazing. It has to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. If you haven’t visited, it’s a MUST! When planning […]

Gold Coast & Brisbane

We arrived on the Gold Coast on Friday and checked into the Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort. Over our three days at the Sheraton, we spent most of our time lounging by the pool. On Friday night, we had dinner across the street at Yot Deck (we loved the name). The guy playing acoustic guitar and […]

Lela & Avery

Soon after waking up on Sunday morning at the Metropole in Katoomba, Australia, we received a FaceTime call from Lela. She had big news to share—she and Avery are engaged! We weren’t surprised since Avery had spoken to us about his plans during Thanksgiving and again a couple of weeks ago, asking for our blessing […]

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah

We just returned from a two-day adventure along the Great Ocean Road, capped off with a breathtaking and exhilarating helicopter ride on Christmas Day. The flight offered panoramic views of Australia’s most stunning coastal scenery, including the iconic 12 Apostles, Razorback, London Bridge, Loch Ard Gorge, Bakers Oven, The Sentinel, Port Campbell, Two Mile Bay, […]

Glowworms

We started the day by renting a car—Darryl’s first experience driving with the steering wheel on the opposite side and navigating on the left. Surprisingly, it was a smooth transition. The 2.5-hour drive took us through lush, green rolling pastures and mountains dotted with sheep, cows, and horses. Our first impression of New Zealand is […]

The Grove

Our walking tour of Auckland, led by Darcy from All About Tours, was incredibly informative. With a population of more than 1.5 million people, Auckland is New Zealand’s largest city and one of the most diverse, with 39% of its residents born overseas. Highlights of the Tour During the tour, we explored downtown Auckland, strolled […]

Start of Something Big

Kia ora (hello) from Auckland, New Zealand. This is the start of an incredible journey as we embark on a ten-week circumnavigation of the globe. Along the way, we’ll be exploring New Zealand, Australia, Bali, India, the Seychelles, and South Africa. A Little Background on This Adventure We’ve been discussing this trip for years, and […]

Dia De Los Muertos

We arrived in Mexico City on Thursday, October 31 which was Halloween as well as Diwali (not very popular in CDMX). Metropolitan Mexico City’s population is north of 22 million people, making it the fifth largest mega city in the world. After dropping our bags off at the Sheraton Mexico City Maria Isabel, we headed […]

3634 Miles

After three weeks on our road trip, we are home. We traveled 3,634 miles and we visited Asheville, Nashville, Memphis, Clarksdale, Natchez, New Orleans, Panama City, and Sarasota. This past weekend we had the pleasure of attending a family weeding in Sarasota. The entire weekend was wonderful and the wedding was a beautiful event. We […]

Country and Blues

We heard plenty of country music in Nashville but our preference are the blues, which we got plenty of in Memphis and Clarksdale, MS. Even though we were in Nashville, we did not attend a bachelorette party or hang with Vanderbilt fraternity boys. That said, we did spend time on Broadway and sampled many honky-tonks […]

Road Trip

After spending an amazing six weeks in Asia, we returned home … for ten days. We left this past Monday for our next adventure. We are currently on a 3-week road trip to Asheville, Nashville, Memphis, Clarksdale MS, New Orleans for the first weekend of Jazz Fest, and Sarasota for a wedding. We spent much […]

Remembering my Father

Today marks 40 years since my father lost his battle to cancer, that is two thirds of my life (crazy to think about it in those terms). Life moves on, but what I would give to have him around over the last four decades. When we were kids, my parents bought a 23 foot Terry […]