UMTravels

Usually, I go to Whistler three times a summer, this year it was supposed to be twice, but other commitments kept me from the first visit. Finally, WHISTLER! My friend Michael from Tokyo is joining me and arrived a couple of days early, so off to The Museum of Flight we go! Trying to decide […]

Summertime, and the living is easy…and SLO. San Luis Obispo by AmTrak that is. Several years ago they restored King Street Station in Seattle. High gloss white wouldn’t have been my choice, but considering the amount of money they spent restoring the plasterwork, I can understand. AmTrak has adopted the cruise line model of, bid […]

As part of our Alaska Cruise, Marybeth and I only booked one excursion… the White Pass & Yukon Route train out of Skagway. For the tourists off the boat, it turns around at the top of the mountain and returns to town. They say that if you are to take just one Alaska excursion, it […]

Been weeks since I’ve traveled – but I’m off with Marybeth for a 7-day cruise from Seattle to Alaska. It’s an overcast day when we leave Seattle..but hot dogs are perfect on any day when they are good (and free). That is the Rueben Dog – dog, Swiss, sauerkraut, 1000 island dressing. And then the […]

With summer almost on us, that means travel deals have dried up with all the revenge travel going on. Time to do some work around the house! Back in March when I was in Japan, I did some Obi shopping in Nagoya. Obi’s are the middle stomach wrap in a kimono. My nephew Julian took […]

Bluegrass country, but it’s dark when I arrive… And the reason for my visit. And the second reason for the trip…a new Buc-ee’s! Really, just hanging out with the Colonels. Lovely to see them, for more blog posts click here. [200.0]

As all my stories start, another day, another lounge. This time the British Airways Terraces Lounge at Sea-Tac: And that would be my plane off to the left. Aer Lingus this trip! I was a little surprised at the VERY LIGHT load up in Business Class – 4 or 5 seats out of 20+. Wow. […]

Off in the morning to Narita via the Narita Express. And Daveson all dressed up for work – they are taking me to a station where I don’t have to transfer to get onto the Narita Express: And the Narita Express! Another day, another lounge as they say. This is the JAL First Class lounge […]

Tonight headed to Tokyo but one more meal with Julian – out at a kitschy Shogun era restaurant a block from the main Nagoya train station. Interesting enough, on the 4th floor of a small high rise. Welcome to Japan, where home improvement stores can be on the 18-20th floor. Fun, fun, fun. And the […]

So, the English translation for Honen Matsuri would be Penis Festival. This would be my fourth or fifth. All but one in Komaki (outside Nagoya), the other in Kawasaki which is always on the first Sunday of April, rather than Komaki, which is always on March 15th, no matter the day of week. Fewer tourists […]

Flying into Nagoya from Guam… Compared to Guam, immigration and customs was a breeze in Nagoya. Bags and through in minutes, not hours. Left my luggage at a hotel that I may or may not stay at tonight, and headed over to The Flight Of Dreams which is connected to Terminal 2 at NGO. Who […]

This won’t be much of a post, because, really, unless you are a fan of beaches (me, not so much), Guam really didn’t have much to offer me except a place to decompress for a couple of nights as an interesting means of not having jet lag. Wyndham Guam is the freebie hotel (OK, points) […]

Yet another 4am wakeup call – this is getting old. But, The Island Hopper only runs twice a week, and there schedule is their schedule. What is The Island Hopper? It’s a famous old Continental Airlines route through the South Pacific. When United bought Continental, the continued the route (and I wear, using the same […]

I first tried to plan this for March of 2021, well, there was a pandemic still going on. Tried again for March of 2022, and there was STILL a pandemic going on, and Asia was MOST DEFINITELY closed for business. Which brings us to 2023 and I’m finally making the trip. Technically, my return is […]

One might ask, why Cincinnati? To keep my status on Alaska. Every winter one city stands out for cheap, long-distance turnarounds (out and back on the same plane). The previous five years, it was Raleigh-Durham. At around $250 r/t, which I can book in Premium which is the free booze and extra legroom portion on […]

Nothing like starting off a trip sharing an Uber with Jonathan to the airport and getting time in the lounge to just hang. Hopped to San Jose barely making my connection to San Diego – when you are using First Class upgrades, you take less than ideal routings! Second leg (San Jose to San Diego) […]

Of my many travel rituals, one of the constants is visiting Victoria, British Columbia a couple of times in the winter and Whistler, British Columbia, up in the mountains, a couple of times in the summer. This year is no exception – this being trip two to Victoria this winter. Got to the dock early […]

Even with an early flight – before the shuttle starts (cab ride), wow, the line at the front desk! What you see at the left below is the line for members of Hyatt’s hotel points plan; which I’m a member. Even if you never planning on staying at that brand (and most of the majors […]

Goodbye Busan, you will be missed (Seoul, less so). LOVE being 500 yards from the train station. And soon we are on board: These cars are actually newer than the high-speed cars we came down to Busan on – and this is an Express that takes the old route without all the tunnels, and clocks […]

Our departure from Seoul to Busan is heralded by snow… A little snack in the hotel coffee shop to get us going… And off we go in a cab to the main train station… We are taking the high-speed train to Busan. Our route is in the dark blue: In the station I fire up […]