My Musings (Sundays)

Category Archives for My Musings (Sundays).

TajMahal Memories- A Top Experience

Was reflecting that, eight years ago this week, I was at the Taj Mahal for an amazing dawn. From out of the dark… the first rays of the sun lit up the historic building. Gradually more and more of the building appeared.   It was beautiful. I include that as one of the top 100 experiences of my life! My camera was much more primitive than it is now. What have been some of your best travel experiences? Related Posts World’s best airlines -skytrax 2013 All about #Bargaining /Haggling Don’t carry a Money Belt  

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Peeve about Express Security Lines

Many airports have express lines for the security process. These lines are open to elite and/or frequent fliers. I rely on them to make my airport transits as short as possible. I have a few peeves about them. One being is there are not enough of them. Another is that when the “normal lines” are full, they redirect regular passengers to the express lines.  I know I should not be selfish and share and slow down etc but it drives me crazy! At Sydney Airport, yesterday, this happened. Two young backpackers got moved into the…

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Fight Cancer With Us: #flyforpink

My sister died two years ago from Cancer. She fought it nobly.  You can understand why I will support (almost) anything that helps support the fight against cancer. Here is a simple way you can join in the fight during October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month:   Hint: Cover up your frequent flyer number and other personal details. For every boarding pass photo posted to Twitter & Instagram with the hashtag #flyforpink, the frequent flyer collaborative of BoardingArea, Milepoint,Freddie Awards, Bonusfeber, Ikvliegveel and Frequent Traveler University will donate fifty US cents to cancer-related causes. If we…

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Everything worked!

Most of my trips work but none has worked as well as my last three weeks in Europe… Twelve flights with six airlines and five rail trips plus numerous metros and buses took us to six countries.   I walked the 141km (84 miles) from the Irish Sea to North Sea along Hadrian’s wall   I also ran my first marathon!  While my finish timings could have been faster, I was thrilled to finish!   All in all, a very satisfying trip -reports coming soon!

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Walking across England

I am writing this from a cute old hotel in the northern English countryside. Am staying here as one of the way stops on my walk from the Irish Sea on the west coast of England to the North Sea, a distance of 141 km ( 84 miles). The walk follows the 2000 year old Roman wall built by Emperor Hadrian to keep the Scots out of Britannia! This walk is part of my goal to walk 500 000 steps in September to raise funds for cerebral palsy. I will do a post soon on…

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I visit my 60th Country: Denmark!

With touchdown in Copenhagen, the Capital of Denmark on Friday, I have officially been to 60 of this planet’s countries. My goal is 99! Countries by region: Asia: 13 countries Africa: 3 countries Central America/ Caribbean: 5 Europe: 21 Middle East: 7 North America: 3 Pacific: 6 South America: 2 My favourite countries are: Iceland New Zealand Australia Vietnam France Costa Rica Which are your favourite countries? NB: I use the UN membership list as my guide.  I therefore count Puerto Rico as a US territory  and not a separate country. While they are technically…

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I am walking Half a Million Steps this month- seriously!

In September, I am aiming to walk half a million steps. The average office worker takes just 3,000 steps a day so I am aiming to walk five times that! This is my contribution to the Steptember charity event which raises funds and awareness for Cerebral Palsy (CP). I will be walking those steps in seven countries: Australia, Denmark, England, Germany, Netherlands and Thailand. A chunk of my half a million steps will be achieved when I walk along Hadrian’s Wall in the north of England starting in just over a week’s time. This walk is one of my bucket…

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Will I keep flying?

First of all it was MH370, then MH 17, then Taiwan, Iran, one in Mali and a shooting at a plane in Pakistan. Lots of people have been asking me whether I will keep flying after these horrific events. A poll, conducted for TheStreet by GfK at the end of July found that 36% of Americans feel afraid to fly internationally. Women are more fearful than men, older people are more fearful than younger people. For an Australian who flies Malaysia Airlines a lot and who has traversed the skies above the Ukraine a few times in my Europe voyages,…

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Tips for Copenhagen?

My 60th country will be Denmark which I will visit this September. Copenhagen, its capital will be the 182nd city of over 100 thousand people I have visited in my life. We are staying in the old quarter of the city near a metro station. The Tivoli Gardens, Little Mermaid, Strøget, and Christiania are the immediate attractions I associate with the city. What else should be on my list? Any other tips for Copenhagen?   Related Posts Visiting Myanmar Reflections and Advice Burma (Myanmar) Bound Any advice for Myanmar? My 58th country: Vietnam I visit…

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