A partial list of the critters I have seen while kayaking would include, alligators,  dolphins, water snakes, ducks (duh!) eagles, hawks, ospreys, anhinga and snapping turtles. Just listing all the wildlife makes it sound as if kayaking was a chaotic experience. In fact, it’s just the opposite. There’s something so peaceful about moving slightly above the surface of the water; kinda in it and kinda not. The gentle slosh of the paddles is my only contribution to the sound track provided by nature. Wekiva River, Florida One of my favorite kayaking spots is the Wekiva River in Orlando, Florida not far from Walt Disney World… Read More…

Good travel is highly dependent on bringing along a good attitude. It is a  self-perpetuating circle and it’s the GO HOW philosophy.  This is why I was so enchanted by the story today of airline passenger Rowland Wickes Forensbee who learned how powerful simple gratitude can be. While presumably cruising above 30-thousand feet, he posted on the Facebook page of Southwest Airlines, how much he appreciated the excellent service he was receiving from flight attendant Holly Hansen on flight 913 to Phoenix. Obviously he was hoping that someone at company HQ would see his post because he was agitating for something special for Holly’s arrival… Read More…

I’m very excited about my upcoming trip to Copenhagen because I want to see for myself if it lives up to its billing as the world’s most bike-friendly city.  It boasts some pretty impressive figures. Seventy percent of the residents of Copenhagen do not own cars. Thirty-seven percent of commuters ride their bicycles to work. So devoted to their bicycles are the Copenhageners (Copenhageners? can that be right?)  even rain doesn’t dissuade them from riding. They open up a big umbrella and keep on rollin’. I’ve seen the pictures. Donchaknow I’ll be on a bike as soon as I possible after landing in Copenhagen and… Read More…

More than one hundred years ago, train cars were chugging across Texas powered not by the oil for which the state is famous, or even by the coal that provides that storybook puff of exhaust billowing from the smoke stack. No, these trains were runnin’ on electricity.  That electric trains in the United States have such a lengthy history was news to me, but at the Interurban Railway Museum in Plano, Texas that’s just part of the story. My tour guide, Judith Oldham was as proud of the jaunty renovated red and yellow rail car on display as if she’d built and run it herself.   I… Read More…

One of my all time favorite books is Earth From Above by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, which presents a pilot-eye view of the earth. It’s remarkable that even from great heights, Bertrand’s photographs reveal the subtle characteristics of land-dwelling humanity. Living in New England, this is the time of year when I most want Bertrand’s thousand-foot perspective because my little corner of the world is just the most remarkable place right-this-very-minute. Tomorrow, If the day is clear, I’ll go flying with my friend David Paqua in his Acro Sport, a biplane he built on the second floor of his glass shop in Stamford, and we’ll zoom around… Read More…