Posts

Showing posts from September 18, 2022

100 and Done! (Countries that is...)

Image
We are back! This last trip brought the total countries visited to 100! It is a crazy milestone. It is difficult, time-consuming and can be (IS) expensive. After I got back from Antarctica in 2007, I started thinking about it. After 2010 I was thinking about it more (as I moved from NY to Georgia) and in 2014 it had become a real goal. Between Angie and I we have been to 109 Countries. We are tied at 100 countries each. We have 9 countries different in our lists. For example, I have been to San Marino. She has not. She has been to Israel. I have not, yet. There has been some fun competition in this area. That's why we had to establish rules. 1.) Must be listed (as a country) with the US State Department 2.) Being in an airport doesn't count. You have to get through immigration somehow and not in a DMZ or a no-mans-land 3.) A passport stamp is not required. I have been to Canada, Paraguay, and Uruguay without getting my passport stamped. There are friendly borders in many places...

Helping others

One of the best things you can do (for the sake of humanity) when talking to someone is to say "keep going, tell me more".

Civility in Adversity

Image
Angie was up in DC. We cancelled the Labor day trip to NY. Gasoline expense was one of the reasons. Although gas price is below 3 dollars a gallon in Duluth GA. It is considerablely more expensive elsewhere in the country. There was a lot of anti-Russian symbology (and nastiness) in DC. (it is DC-- symbols are reality there). Somehow it is OK to be a bigot when your friends agree with you. I miss cordiality in politics. Hopefully, the trend will stop or reverse. It can get a lot worse. I am sure.