THE ADVENTURES OF MAINE BEAR
Posted for the curious and the bored.
Places I've been:
Northern Europe. Spring 1981. A Grand Tour when I was 22.
Asia. 1984-1987: Peace Corps Nepal, including numerous trips and treks around Nepal, to India and to Pakistan. After Peace Corps, Thailand and China (Hong Kong; flew to Chengdu for four weeks; ferry down the Yangtze from Qongqing to Shangahi; train back to Hong Kong). Revisits to Nepal in 1989 and 1993 for more trekking and visiting my previous Peace Corps village.
North America. USA: Sundry trips to visit friends, ski trips, work trips, etc. Canada: Various weekends in Quebec, Montreal, a trip to Campobello; July 1999, a 30-mile canoe trip on south end of Baffin Island, plus hikes.
Caribbean. Fall 1994: Sailing a 50-foot yacht from St. Lucia to Grenada. I consider this trip to be my single best vacation ever because it was stunningly beautiful, it was my first time on a real sailing trip, I was with wonderful friends, and it was enough off the beaten path so that it was exciting, new territory for everyone including the captain. Learned the pleasures of sleeping in a rocking boat and a fresh breeze all night long. Fall 1996: Sailing a 50-foot yacht around British Virgin Islands. The beaten path can be gorgeous, such as the beach on Jost Van Dyke and The Baths.
Dream trips I'd like to take, in approximate order of likelihood:
Back to Paris. Or London. This time I want to go with a lover. And find flea markets.
Rome and Florence. To see old stuff. (Possibly combine trips with:
Bike Provence and/or Tuscany. Either sounds wonderful.
Sail Turkish coast. I hear it's beautiful.
Hike Mont Blanc circuit. Fly into Paris, train to Grenoble, and hike a 7-day loop through the French, Swiss, and Italian Alps.
Climb Aconcagua. I came THIS CLOSE to actually doing this climb in February 1999. I even took a semester of conversational Spanish to get started, but it just didn't work out for various reasons. May start again by doing some climbing in Oregon or California.
Istanbul-Colombo Motorcycle trek. Fly to Istanbul, buy a motorcycle, and head east across Turkey, go up over the Caspian Sea, across Kazakhstan, come down through Pakistan or India. Extended version: swing through Nepal (fried fish in Biratnagar!), over to Calcutta, and loop south via Goa to Colombo.
# # #