Visit the fabled streets of the Renaissance in Florence. Boat along the canals of the merchants of Venice. Gander at the volcano peak of Mount Vesuvius from the ruins of Pompeii. Italy is a destination that will beckon you for many visits as it has me. https://leapingaroundtheworld.wordpress.com/italy/
Sri Lanka
Visit the tea plantations in the mountains of Kandy or climb one of the eight-wonders-of-the-world, the Lion Mountain of Sigiriya. A land of verdant jungles and beaches lined with fruit trees. Sri Lanka has had a culinary and mystic lure for many over the millennia. https://leapingaroundtheworld.wordpress.com/sri-lanka/
Switzerland
In the high Alps is an amazingly scenic multi-cultural land where Italian, French and German settlers have migrated. I recommend multiple visits by multiple modes of transportation to experience its cities and terrains. Come to yodel with me among the peaks! https://leapingaroundtheworld.wordpress.com/switzerland/
San Francisco
Twenty years ago I moved to San Francisco to start a new career and to discover the cultural plethora of this amazing city. After many international sojourns, I’ve found my way back here. It is home to so many cultures of the world. So it’s easy to call home. https://leapingaroundtheworld.wordpress.com/san-francisco/
Okinawa
Every year thousands of people march through the streets of Naha, Okinawa, playing music to honor departed souls. It’s a stirring ceremony to observe. Come with me for a glimpse! https://leapingaroundtheworld.wordpress.com/okinawa-and-the-drums/
Seoul
Studying Tae Kwon Do in high school, I got my first introduction to Korean culture. Decades later, having the chance to do business there, I learned much more intimately about the people, their music, their castles and beautiful countryside. Voyage with me along the peninsula! https://leapingaroundtheworld.wordpress.com/seoul-south-korea/
No tinted windows please!
I used to have an odd sense of discomfort when I would ride buses that had tinting in their windows. It stemmed from the irritation I felt that I wasn’t seeing something accurately. I’d see something outside the bus that looked particularly picturesque, but nudge myself that it wasn’t “true”. And when I’d see a…
Morocco
Africa’s musical traditions have been a great inspiration for me for decades. A friend of mine inspired me to take a journey through Morocco by bus along the coast and by car into the high Atlas mountains. This was my first of many journeys to Africa. It was amazing to see the diversity of landscape…
Portland
The Cascade mountain range along the west coast of the United States forms a barricade for moisture moving in on the Pacific ocean winds. The rising winds dump much of their rain in a fertile valley called the Willamette, yielding excellent farmlands where vineyards and hazelnut farms sprawl across the hills. I spent much of…
Beijing
In 1994 I took a long bicycle trip starting in Kanazawa, Japan, traversing the Korean Peninsula from Pusan, to Seoul and finishing from Tainjin, China to Beijing. (With two ferries between the countries.) It was one of the greatest adventures I’d ever attempted. I was well greeted and well rewarded along the way. Here was…
