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by Kate Dernocoeur, guest blogger, “Thank you, kind stranger.” Thus begins the paragraph in my journal about my arrival in Kyoto. Despite maps and a good sense of direction, I had no idea which way to go to find the hotel. A couple stopped to help (and thus missed their crosswalk light). The...
Who would have thought that the Pushkar Camel Festival would be the victim of Overourism? You might ask? “Where and what is the Pushkar Camel Festival” and what is Overtoursim. Both are topics of interest to me. I had a chance to go to the Pushkar Camel Festival in 2011 on a tour of […]
I’ve been avidly following some friends on facebook who are attending the Kumbh Mela in India right now . It is fascinating. If Kumbh Mela doesn’t sound familiar to you, it is a huge festival where millions of Hindus head to the Ganges River to bath and to participate in religious...
Going on a photo tour is a very different experience than a traditional tour …why? A photo tour is where folks travel primarily to take photos. It’s become a favorite way for me to see the world. On a photo tour typically you don’t spend much time in museums or cultural institutions...
by Kate Dernocoeur, guest blogger As I huffed and puffed my way up Yufu-dake, a beautiful notched mountain just south of the Kunisaki Peninsula on Kyushu (Japan) recently, the memory of what it takes to climb a mountain flooded back to me. Yufu-dake isn’t large, by world standards—just...
by Kate Dernocoeur, guest blogger The Kingdom of Bhutan in the eastern Himalaya is among the world’s few remaining mystical, magical places. Hidden from external influences until just a few years ago, the tiny landlocked nation of mostly Buddhists continues to honor its traditional ways while...
Note: every year I like to “repost” this blog about a Memorable New Year’s Eve. Enjoy When the big bell in Kyoto rings on New Years Eve, it gongs to erase the 108 worldly desires man is born with. For me, it rang to mark a new phase in my role as a mother. Like the New […]
I often get asked why I want to go to India. I’ve been three times. I am already looking forward to the fourth visit marked in bold letters on my calendar in 2018. Why would a woman like me who grew up in a small town, attended Midwestern Universities and settled in a traditionally conventional...
Ahmedabad recently won World Heritage Status and I can understand why. It’s a great place to visit. “Where is it?” you might ask. I pondered this question when I saw it on the itinerary of the Jim Cline Three Festivals Photography trip that I took last March. Had to look it up on a map. […]
“There are no new places to visit. Tauck Tours has run out of destinations.” This was a statement made recently at my book club by a member talking about the future of travel. At the time I was a little skeptical, but it stuck in my mind. Recently on a trip to India I visited a […]