( life / travel / health ) There are very few places a person can go, at the moment (April 6, 2021), without worrying about officials and their ridiculous health requirements. Of course, returning to your country will probably still require your participation in the charade.
See traveloffpath.com/countries-without-any-tr... read more
( life / travel / airlines ) "Welcome to FAFTA the acronym for 'Freedom Airway & Freedom Travel Alliance.' We are a Travel Freedom Membership site and our areas of focus are helping you find the best in freedom travel in the hospitality and tourism arenas, in addition to policy work within governments and providing educati... read more
( life / travel / airlines ) Legally, they apply ONLY to government property and employees. Here's an open letter to all airlines...
I thought I would educate you on the federal law you cite as justification for your mask policy.
"Are Executive Orders Law? The Short Answer: No, they are not in and of themselves law. Th... read more
( life / travel ) "More than 80 miles of the Great American Rail-Trail are in development right now across 10 states from Washington, D.C., to Washington state, adding roughly 50 miles to more than 2,000 miles of pre-existing trails across 12 states. The project, which bridges about 95 gaps between more than 14... read more
( life / travel / advice ) If you're looking to get away from it all, here is some hopefully useful information. If you're primarily English-speaking (maybe looking to move permanently), here's a list of countries (whose primary language is NOT English) ranked by English Proficiency Index for their English skills. The top 1... read more
( family / holmes / travel ) The headline is purposely misleading (a la my old newsletter), just because I can.
My brother and his wife just returned from their 16-day trip to Dubai, Egypt and Jordan. It was a great trip and at no time did we feel unsafe (except in the crazy traffic). In Egypt, we had a tour guide and a s... read more
( life / travel / transportation / auto ) From: Anonymous
See Electric-Cars...
"At a neighbourhood BBQ I was talking to a neighbour, a BC Hydro executive. I asked him how that renewable thing was doing. He laughed, then got serious. If you really intend to adopt electric vehicles, he pointed out, you had to face certain realities. Fo... read more
( life / travel ) This article is dated December 2018, and it's based on 2017 data, but whatever. :) RoadSnacks has a similar list here, and here's USA Today's.
"This list was created based off information from the FBI's crime statistics which were gathered from US cities with a population over 100,000 between ... read more
( life / travel / advice ) The Hobo Traveler tells it like it is: don't rent a car, some cultures dishonest, police dangerous.
See youtu.be/GNBfZ6oX73w
"What Countries Give You The Most Respect, The Least?" ... read more
( life / travel ) Cool international cost-of-living comparison site: expatistan.com/cost-of-living. If you're thinking of moving from Sacramento, CA to Lisbon, Portugal, for example, go to cost-of-living/comparison/sacramento/lisbon... read more
( life / travel ) Observations while walking around Old Sacramento with Elizabeth:
Jul 14, 2018 2:38pm
As I sat on a bench in touristy Old Sacramento, a little boy walked by and asked "Are you a statue?" I had to laugh. There was a statue/wooden carving of a man on the next bench over.
Jul 14, 2018 3:47p... read more
( life / travel ) I was having a hard time converting a digital photo down to the correct 2x2 physical size. Then I found this article: take your own passport photos. At first, I was thinking Tell me something I don't know. Then I saw the link to the State Department's own online passport photo editor (FIG-croppe... read more
( life / travel ) Interesting.
"Of Moscow's 35,000-odd stray dogs, about 20 are thought to travel regularly on the city's underground rail system. These dogs seem to be able to identify which trains to board, and where to alight. It appears that they can recognise humans who will give them a treat or a pat - an... read more
( life / travel / traffic ) Don't you hate it when you take an alternate route to get away from a slow driver only to have them end up in front of you later?... read more
( life / travel ) A list of must-see sights around the world. Less obvious places, such as Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory in Vermont, or the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, etc. Hopefully fun, interesting, different sorts of touristy things that people might not have thought of.
Sundial Bridge in Redding, CA ... read more
( life / travel ) Travel Picks: Best Places to Go in 2013 : Condé Nast Traveler.
Nashville made the list! Here's what they say about it:"The new Nashville offers two things worth traveling for: a hot, trendy new food scene and its famous, funky music scene. The haute southern cuisine is flourishing in Na ... read more
( life / travel ) Some of these are in the general area, not Nashville, proper.
Adventure Science Center
Alpha Mom (list)
Andrew Jackson's Hermitage
Centennial Park
Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre
Cheekwood
Country Music Hall of Fame
Delvin Farms
Discovery Center of Mufreesboro
Family Days Out (list)
Frank ... read more
( life / travel / usa / nashville ) Elizabeth and I played tour guide to my sister Jeannie, her daughter Tiffany, her husband David, and their kids Shayden, 9, and Skyla, 1½. We started with a late breakfast at Cracker Barrel one exit east of the airport. My brother Don wanted to go to Shoney's - like when our other sister, Lucy,... read more
( life / travel / politics ) Read the rest of the article at judicialwatch.org
"While the Department of Homeland Security investigates a commercial airline pilot for exposing security flaws at a major U.S. airport, it fails to protect America against terrorism by not screening passengers and cargo on thousands of planes t... read more
( life / travel ) "While the government agency responsible for securing the nation's transportation system harasses honest citizens with invasive, genital-groping personal searches, guns and bombs regularly get past inept Homeland Security screeners.
At major airports throughout the United States, undercover ag... read more
( life / travel ) Despite a $98 million infusion for state-of-the-art baggage screening machines, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) somehow missed a suitcase filled with explosives that blasted after a three-hour domestic flight.
The shameful gaffe is simply the latest of many for the beleaguered Home... read more
( life / travel / weather ) Christmas night, Diane, on the way to a party, found herself in the fast line of the freeway with a car stopped in front of her and the brakes not working due to a patch of black ice. With cars and trucks honking on the right side, she had no choice but to steer for the shoulder, running over not on... read more
( life / travel / health ) Airports to avoid, if at all possible:
Which airports have body-scanning technology
At least my airport, Nashville Int'l, uses the less dangerous model.
... read more
( life / travel ) "Preikestolen is one of Rogaland county, Norway's most visited attractions, and one of the country's most spectacular photo subjects. It has been named one of the world's most spectacular viewing points by both CNN Go and Lonely Planet. It rises 604 metres above the Lysefjord."
Read the ... read more
( life / travel / politics ) TSA - Sexual Assault
If I do have to fly, I'll try and make all connections through New Jersey! See the next link:
New Jersey moves to ban full-body scanners... read more
( life / travel )
Things you maybe never knew about Nashville
Expatriation sites/pages
Ten Benefits of Expatriation
Costa Rica ranked highly
5 countries to escape to
Miscellaneous
Alaska
Atlanta
California (Bill & Tara)
California (Rex & Carla)
Charleston & Savannah
Chicago
Ft. Lauderdale
Iowa
Kansa... read more
( life / travel / holmes ) Some pictures as we arrived in the airport. There was a great welcoming party there! We've never had an airport welcoming party before!
... read more
( life / travel ) I'm home after a long trip to Roanoke, VA and back. It was quite an experience overall. The 1-3/4 hour drive to SMF was punctuated by the puppy screaming and howling in the crate behind me in the van. She messed the newspapers once and I stopped and changed them. Once I got to the airport, I put her... read more
( life / travel ) It's over, for me, anyway. I rode two days in and that was enough. As I expected, it was nice to ride with 10,000 other cyclists and the party-like attitude of the riders and the people in the towns was really nice. The problem was that it took place in Iowa. I was glad that when I rode, it was over ... read more
( life / travel ) We visited Evelyn's family in Guatemala, hence the title of the post :) and ate like the pigs that we are. Bijou had fun. I guess the highlight was going to the cemetery. Believe it or not, it was really Gothic, colorful, historical and very interesting, in general.
We didn't have much time for ... read more
( life / travel ) Kansas. What an incredibly boring state. Tara, her sister Sandie, niece Destiny and I flew from Nashville to attend her youngest sister Stephanie's high school graduation in Council Grove, Kansas. Tara and I figured we'd find something to do that night upon arrival in Kansas City, followed by some... read more
( life / travel ) Our trip was great. Here's a very short story. We left on 8/11 from my work. My boss made me attend a meeting that day which ended at 2:30, whereupon I joined June, Brian and Andy who were in our van, waiting in the parking lot. Boy, did I need a vacation! We arrived at Jeannie's that night, staye... read more
( life / travel ) Charleston, SC
We drove ... and drove ... and drove - 10 hours or so
- from Nashville until finally reaching Charleston, South Carolina. Along the way, we
stopped in Asheville, North Carolina at the Biltmore Estate because Tara had forgotten to
get postcards when we were there a couple years ago ... read more
( life / travel ) We flew into New Orleans about noon time on a Friday. Since the room wasn't ready for such an early arrival, we walked four blocks to the pier and decided to ride the paddle wheel boat Natchez. It basically goes a mile up the Mississippi, then heads back. You'll see a lot of other international ca ... read more
( life / travel ) Before we left, I took Austin to his Grandma
Joy's house. We had a good visit and he took to her immediately. I left him on Friday
morning and drove back to Nashville. I was supposed to get my eardrums cut open for the
plane ride because I had ear infections, but the steroids and antibiotics had ... read more
( life / travel ) I went to Ft. Lauderdale (Nov. 6) for the Breeders Cup horse races at Gulfstream Park (actually in Hallandale, FL). It was fun just being there. I'd never been to south Florida before.
How'd I do on the races? Well, I bet a total of $45 and won $35, so I ended up $10 down. Not bad.
I didn't ... read more
( life / travel ) I've always heard people use the words wilderness and Alaska in the same sentence. It didn't mean a lot to me until recently when my wife Carla and I cruised the Inside Passage of Alaska. The state is huge, but it still takes a good seven days (round trip) to cruise up and back on the western co... read more
( life / travel ) Tara and I made a quick trip (if you can call a five-hour road trip "quick") to St. Louis over the Labor Day weekend. We visited their historic district ("old town") along the river where they were hosting the Big Muddy Blues & Roots Festival. That was just good timing on our p... read more
( life / travel ) Tara and I left Nashville for Chicago on a Thursday morning. At the last minute I decided to let my cat Myca out. I figured he would return shortly after doing his "business" in the neighbor's bushes, as usual, and I could then lock him in the house for the duration of our trip. When he di ... read more
( life / travel ) Tara and I just got back from a long weekend in Atlanta. It
was nice to see the town. I'd passed through before, but had never stopped to
look. The first touristy thing we did after eventually finding our hotel - the
downtown Courtyard-by-Marriott, picked out by Tara, which was much better tha ... read more
( life / travel ) How I Spent My Summer Vacations (Portugal to Hungary)
from 1992
Portugal/AzoresOn Sunday, July 12th, I woke up ... but while getting ready for the flight to Portugal the next morning, I never went back to sleep. In Lisboa, my 2nd cousin Teresa Rocha Homem and her husband Antonio Melo met me at t... read more
( life / travel ) Roving reporter returns from East
(September, 1989) - Bill returned from his trip to eastern Canada a few weeks back. He was supposed to seek out and capture Wild Man Doug. Remember? Well, he's back. Bill, that is. When asked to report his findings, however, Bill said, What? You never said anyth... read more
( life / travel / europe ) Nashville - June, 1996
I planned everything in advance. Or so I thought. I bought my round-trip plane ticket three months in advance. I "surfed The Web" and researched whatever I could find regarding my destination cities and countries. I bought renter's insurance for the apartment, a vi ... read more
( life / travel ) You can watch it here: vimeo.com/3271045
I was in Bratislava, Slovakia for Doug and Jana's wedding, but this doesn't include the wedding itself. That was filmed by a professional. This video is so badly-done it's almost funny.
There's also some footage on here from Budapest, Prague and Berlin!... read more
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