alilou's Adventures in Wonderland - all over the map.

Alilou

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Hi Alison, I'm so glad that you got to see Milford Sound in the sunshine. Isn't it wonderful? I had that lucky experience too a couple of years ago, and when I was showing my photos to a friend who had also been there the month before, he said "Oh, is that what it looks like?" His trip there was in the rain and fog, so it is so important to see it on a sunny day. Good thing the weather report was accurate for you!
Loved New Zealand too.
Cheers,
Virginia
I'd been to Milford in 1975 and by sheer good luck got there on a sunny day. Don had never been there so I wanted him to be able to see what I'd seen. Everyone says how amazing the waterfalls are on a rainy day but I don't think there's any comparison - it's all about the mountains and the sunlight on the sea!
New Zealand is spectacular :inavoid:
 

Alilou

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A new blog post is up. It's a two in one. There's a link to an online magazine called Retirement and Good Living - we wrote an article for them about health issues while travelling ranging from what to eat (or not!) to medical insurance.
The second part is a google translation (somewhat fixed by me - we all know what google translate is like lol) that is an interview about our nomadic life that we did for a Brazilian online Magazine called ViraVolta.

http://alisonanddon.com/2015/05/20/this-nomadic-life-guest-post-and-interview/
 

skatesindreams

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Both the article and interview are interesting and enlightening.

You and Don are receiving new opportunities and exposure as a result of your continuing adventure.
What a bonus for you.
 

Alilou

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Both the article and interview are interesting and enlightening.

You and Don are receiving new opportunities and exposure as a result of your continuing adventure.
What a bonus for you.
Thanks skatesindreams. Thanks for your comments, and thanks for reading. We do seem to be getting more opportunities for writing articles. Keeps me busy :)
 

sk8pics

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ali,
Wonderful as always, and so THAT's why you were looking for someone to translate Portuguese, LOL. Seriously, really nice to read and to see your photos, as always. BTW, if you ever decide to go to Israel, I can recommend a great tour guide! And another BTW, if you want to see more of my pictures than I posted on Facebook, let me know and I will send you a link to a shutter fly share site with pics of mine and others on the trip.
 

Alilou

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Thanks sk8pics. I think we will go to Israel one day, but first: Sweden to see family, then in the fall Turkey Jordan and Egypt! So excited. I know Israel is so close but we hate rushing through places and 2 months will be just enough time to see those 3 countries.
 

sk8pics

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ali, I've been to Eqypt, too, so we'll have to compare notes. And we saw Jordan at the Jordan river. Funny to be so close --the border there is just a string with buoys in the middle of the river, really just a tributary of the Jordan.
 

Alilou

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We are hoping to do a 15 day Nile cruise from Cairo to Aswan with a couple days in Cairo beforehand. Have just started investigations. Just the name "The River Jordan" reeks of history to me.
 

sk8pics

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I took a Nile cruise, too, when I was in Egypt. Can't remember where it started. I had to take a short flight, and we were in Luxor and Aswan. It was wonderful, but because there had been some bad terrorist attacks several months prior, our ship had only about 40 passengers (it could have held 200) and most of the ships were docked. Very sad for the locals. Do be careful, especially if you are traveling alone (with your husband, of course).
 

Alilou

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Your planning process seems - and sounds - as interesting as the visits themselves!
Don does most of the research while I try to keep up with the blog and writing guest posts, but we do discuss plans of course, and it was me who found the 15 day Nile cruise. ATM He's busy reading a bunch of books he got from the library on each of the three countries.
I took a Nile cruise, too, when I was in Egypt. Can't remember where it started. I had to take a short flight, and we were in Luxor and Aswan. It was wonderful, but because there had been some bad terrorist attacks several months prior, our ship had only about 40 passengers (it could have held 200) and most of the ships were docked. Very sad for the locals. Do be careful, especially if you are traveling alone (with your husband, of course).
I've heard the same thing, that tourism is way down, not surprisingly. I read a blog of another woman who just did a 5 day Nile cruise and there were only 7 people on the boat :(
If we want to see Abu Simbel (and we do) we have to fly from Aswan. I don't think we'll be going anywhere away from the main tourist sights, and even in Cairo will go with a guide.
 

sk8pics

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When I was there, it was Christmas '98, I think. I'm not surprised tourism is down right now, and I'm glad you will be with a guide. I had friends living there and so I was always with one of them. I'll be looking forward to your pictures and posts! Sorry you are not going to make it to Israel this time.
 

Alilou

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Yes, we know we have to be really careful in Egypt. We haven't actually booked anything yet, and won't be able to until next month anyway. We'll be keeping an eye on the situation there that's for sure. We love just wandering around new cities by ourselves, but definitely won't do that in Cairo. I just soooo want to see all the antiquities there. I've wanted to go to Egypt sine I was 14!
Bit sad about Israel, but there are many other countries to explore in that part of the world so we'll get there on a future trip.
 

Alilou

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Don mentioned that there is (or perhaps used to be, haven't checked yet) a day tour to Jerusalem from Amman. If it's still available we will do it for sure.
 

sk8pics

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Beautiful as always, ali. And between you and my Israeli tour guide, I am newly inspired to dust off my 300 mm lens. I'm planning to go on a beginner birdwatching hike at the end of the month. :) We'll see how it goes.
 

Alilou

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Beautiful as always, ali. And between you and my Israeli tour guide, I am newly inspired to dust off my 300 mm lens. I'm planning to go on a beginner birdwatching hike at the end of the month. :) We'll see how it goes.
Thanks sk8pics. I had fun writing that post, especially the part about the glow worms. I'm so excited for you getting out your 300mm lens and going birdwatching. It's so much fun. I'm suddenly reminded of a little hike we did in some South American country (Ecuador maybe?) and coming across this bird just sitting on a branch very near us, and staying there long enough to be photographed. It happens you know!
 

Alilou

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I have two new blog posts ready.

The first is a guest post I wrote for another blog about finding/making time to write and produce the blog while we're travelling. (It takes some sacrifices that's for sure)
http://alisonanddon.com/2015/06/04/this-nomadic-life-finding-time-to-write-guest-post/

And the most recent post is more about magical New Zealand - the magnificent albatross, and the kinda weird yellow-eyed penguin.
http://alisonanddon.com/2015/06/09/...till-the-birds-of-otago-peninsula-2/#comments

And I've changed the whole layout of the blog so the photos are bigger. I've been wanting to do this for months, or years. At last I had the time. It has taken about two weeks of determined research and help from Wordpress techies, but I finally have it looking the way I want it to look. :cheer2:
 

sk8pics

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Ali,
Beautiful as always. But I have to tell you it did not display quite right on my iPad. The first letter or two on each line was cut off, and a little of some of the pictures as well :(. But I loved the little yellow-eyed penguins! You know, you would love the tour guide we had in Israel, as he is an avid birder and general nature lover. He is forever sayin something like, "oh-look-at-this-beautiful-xxxxx. What a gift!" :)
 

Alilou

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Ali,
Beautiful as always. But I have to tell you it did not display quite right on my iPad. The first letter or two on each line was cut off, and a little of some of the pictures as well :(. But I loved the little yellow-eyed penguins! You know, you would love the tour guide we had in Israel, as he is an avid birder and general nature lover. He is forever sayin something like, "oh-look-at-this-beautiful-xxxxx. What a gift!" :)

Thank you so much sk8pics. We had a great day at Otago Peninsula - so much wildlife. So much beauty. Yes, a great gift!

I have reformatted the blog so the photos are larger. I will get back to the Wordpress techie who did it for me and let him know it needs tweaking for iPads.
 

Alilou

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I've done a little reformatting so it should be good for iPads. Could you check for me sk8pics and let me know please.
Thanks :)
 

sk8pics

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ali, Well done. I need to find the time to write you an email, and I will, but maybe not until next weekend. But thank you for sharing. You might also find Richard Rohr's "just this" mantra helpful. I think I probably shared a clip of him explaining it on my Facebook page, but basically he uses it when he's mad about something or not paying attention, to get himself to really be present to whatever is happening in the moment. I know this is not exactly what you are talking about, but your "what if?" statements reminded me of that a little bit. Of course your New Zealand post was totally awesome, but I know I already told you that. :)
 

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