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January 2025 Newsletter – Siem Reap, Da Nang, and Hoi An
Hello and Happy 2025! Steve and I had the unique experience of ringing in the new year twice, once on January 1st in Siem Reap, Cambodia, and again at the end of the month in Hoi An for the Vietnamese Lunar New Year. Our month was filled with adventures across three Vietnamese cities, plus a fun-filled overnight escape to a…
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December 2024 Newsletter – Bangkok and Siem Reap
Hello, and Happy New Year! I hope you had a memorable holiday season and are excited for 2025. Steve and I spent the first three weeks of December in Bangkok, Thailand. Even though Buddhism is the prevailing religion, the city was teeming with Christmas décor. Just a few days before Christmas, we moved on to Siem Reap, Cambodia. While we…
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November 2024 Newsletter – Chiang Mai and Bangkok
Hello! November is over, and those who celebrate are gearing up for the holiday season. For those of you in the U.S., I hope you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving. Steve and I spent the month in Thailand, first in Chiang Mai, then in Bangkok. We will be in Bangkok until December 20th, then head to Siem Reap, Cambodia. For those…
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July 2024 Recap: La Palma and Gran Canaria, Canary Islands
In July, we said goodbye to the Island of Tenerife and flew to the Island of La Palma. We enjoyed our five weeks in Tenerife but were also looking forward to seeing what La Palma was like. After three weeks in La Palma, we headed to Patalavaca on the southern coast of the Island of Gran Canaria. July was a…
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June 2024 Recap: Tenerife, Canary Islands
Wind and Whim contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, we will earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks! Hello! I hope you’re enjoying your summer. After three months in England, Steve and I were ready for some serious sunshine. We found it on the Island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands. We…
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March 2024: Cambridge, Bury St. Edmunds, and London, U.K.
March 2024 found us in the U.K., specifically Cambridge, Bury St. Edmunds, and London. Here are the highlights from that month. Cambridge Our three-day trip to Cambridge got off to a rainy start. But we still enjoyed the art at the Fitzwilliam Museum. The rain cleared long enough to walk the cemetery grounds of Little St. Mary’s Church. We checked…
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Wind and Whim Update: January and February 2024
Greetings from London, where Steve and I have spent the last seven weeks waiting for nice weather. I hope wherever you are, spring is already working its magic. We ended 2023 by spending Christmas with our daughters, Steph and Laura (aka the girls), and Steph’s roommate, Jeff, in Jacksonville, Florida. It was the first time we’ve been together at Christmas…
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Memorable Moments From a Year of Full-Time Travel (2023)
It’s always fun to look back over our travels for the past year. As Steve and I wrap up our sixth year of full-time travel, we continue to be awed by this amazing world. Our year was busy with visits to 32 cities and towns, so there was ample opportunity to collect memorable moments. We were in Florida twice, first…
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Wind and Whim’s Monthly Update: November 2023
Hi there! Can you believe 2023 is almost over? I hope you are enjoying this festive time of year and looking forward to memorable holiday celebrations. Steve and I are anticipating Christmas with our daughters in Jacksonville, Florida. November was a most unusual month for us. We spent the first three weeks in Kotor, Montenegro, and the last week in…
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Wind and Whim’s Monthly Update: October 2023
Hi there, and happy November. Steve and I spent most of October in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, and then moved on to Kotor, Montenegro, at the end of the month. We had a low-key month in Podgorica, but Kotor should be busier since there is more to do. Even though we weren’t as active in October as usual, that’s…
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Wind and Whim’s Monthly Update: September 2023
Hi! I hope you had a great September. Ours was quiet, which is sometimes a good thing. And now, here we are in October, and it’s time for another monthly update. Steve and I spent most of September in Tirana, Albania. Since we had just come from Skopje, North Macedonia, Albania’s neighbor to the east, we couldn’t help comparing these…
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Wind and Whim’s Monthly Update: August 2023
Hi there! Can you believe it’s September already? The summer has been flying by for us, but we’re having fun. I hope you are, too. Steve and I started August with two nights in Brasov, Romania, and spent the remainder in Skopje, North Macedonia. Check out this monthly update to see our August highlights and low points, what we did,…
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Wind and Whim’s Monthly Update: July 2023
Hi there! It’s time for another monthly update. I hope you are surviving the summer heat. Steve and I spent most of July in Bucharest, Romania, where it was hot but, thankfully, not too humid. Even so, we didn’t do as much as planned since we were lazy about getting out before the days got too hot. We enjoyed four…
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Wind & Whim’s Monthly Update: June 2023
Hi there. I hope your summer is off to a great start. Ours sure is. After laying low in May, we had a busy June. We spent most of it based in Pula, Croatia. While there, we took a six-night side trip to three other Croatian locations. After Pula, we spent a few days in Venice, then headed off the…
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Back to the U.S. (For One Month)
More than three years. Almost 38 months. 1,146 days. That’s how long it was between our last visit to the U.S. and our recent one in March of 2023. As the months and years rolled by, Steve and I were less and less interested in returning home. Aside from our daughters being there, we had little motivation to return. Then…
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Memorable Moments From a Year of Full-Time Travel (2022)
Happy New Year! Is it just me, or did 2022 go by faster than a Parisian pickpocket can grab your wallet? I hope last year has left you with wonderful memories and new friends. Steve and I have been fortunate on both fronts. Sometimes when we are having a low-key day or two (or seven), I feel guilty that we…
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December 2021 Recap: Christmas in Budapest
Goodbye 2021, hello 2022! I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and are ready to start the new year. Like me, I’m sure you are hoping that 2022 will bring an end to the pandemic and a return to normal. Despite an increase in Covid cases, our December was remarkable. That is because our daughters, Stephanie and Laura, visited…
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November 2021 Recap: Lying Low in Budapest
Hi there! I hope this finds you well as we enter the last month of 2021. If you are a regular reader, you know that Steve and I enjoyed a summer full of activity, including visiting many baths and taking several side trips from our current home base in Budapest. Then November arrived. Not only did November bring colder weather,…
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October 2021 Recap: More to Explore in Budapest
Can you believe it’s November already? This year is flying by. I can’t decide if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Steve and I stayed busy in October, but this month all our activities were close to home. The most exciting thing that happened this month is that we began making arrangements for our daughters, Stephanie and…
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September 2021 Recap: Castles, Caves, Baths and the Beatles
Pandemic Update One and a half years into this pandemic, and it’s still wreaking havoc with lives. Like everyone else, Steve and I can’t wait for our lives to return to normal. Still, we respect how dangerous Covid is and how it is overwhelming healthcare systems, so we will continue to be cautious as long as necessary. Early in the…
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August 2021 Recap: Budapest Baths and Hungarian Town Attractions
Can you believe August is over? I don’t know about you, but for me, time is flying. Steve and I have done more this month than in any of the previous sixteen months we’ve been in Hungary. We spent many hours luxuriating in the Budapest baths. We also revisited the zoo and explored three nearby towns. These are the highlights.…
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July 2021 Recap: Living Life Again
It’s been a long haul for all of us, and it isn’t over yet, but at least life has begun to return to normal. After almost eight months of lockdowns and slowdowns, we are living life again. I hope you are also returning to your pre-pandemic life. Here is what we’ve been doing this month. We Keep Getting More Legal…
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June 2021 Recap: Things Are Looking Up in Hungary
Hello, I hope all is well with you. Steve and I are still in Budapest and plan to be here for another year. It’s been another low-key month, but things are definitely looking up here. Hopefully, they are where you are too. Our big news is that we finally got our Covid vaccines! Pandemic Update Here in Hungary, things appear…
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May 2021 Recap: Still Sidelined in Budapest
Well, here we are, fourteen months into the pandemic. I hope you and your loved ones are staying healthy and sane. It can be a challenge at times, but things are looking up. Steve and I are still in Budapest, waiting to be vaccinated and be able to travel again. Here is a look at what May 2021 was like…
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Our Top 10 Latin American Travel Experiences (2019)
When you are heading to a new location you think about the famous sights you plan to see. But often your best memories are of the little things that no trip planning could have anticipated. From February through November of 2019 we traveled throughout Latin America. These are ten of our most memorable travel experiences from those ten months (in…