A year of adventures

 So I’m going on a safari (!!) and I leave next week. I’ve been wrestling with the question of technology: is my iPhone camera good enough, or do I borrow a camera? Friends prevailed on me to borrow a not-enormous camera with a pretty good zoom (both physical & digital). I’ve been playing with it some to figure out the uses. But I also have to figure out how to USE the files! From the camera  From my phone Four concert pics from the camera, using maximum zoom to see the musicians (Pavement) Swifts - pic from the camera Crowd & swifts - pics from my phone.  In conclusion: I think I’ll use both. Phone for close-up and low-light distance pictures; camera for well-lit zooming in to see animals.  We’ll see how they look when I hit publish!

 I’ve been off work for twelve weeks - twelve! I had to count twice to believe it. Okay .. this is week 12 and it’s only Tuesday, but still.  Travel thoughts:  I did my road trip and RI/TX trips. I’m in the final third of my Canada trip - it’s been pretty evenly split between city (Toronto) and cottage time. Toronto time has been quite similar to my Portland time - some social, some lazy hangout solo time (mostly with books, though I did watch all the show Severance).  This week and next I’ll spend Friday through Wednesday in Quebec City and Montreal, and I’m excited for both! Then I have one more day in Toronto, and head home (with a side swing to see a friend in Milwaukee, WI).  It’s been a nice split of active and lazy time; people and solo time; and the weather has been decent, if too hot in Portland and too sticky/sweaty in Ontario. But…I guess that’s summer!  I’ll be glad to be home for 2 weeks and wish I had a bit more time there, but I didn’t want t...

I moved from Portland to the Bay Area in 2006. It was a good move for my career, but my heart belonged to the Northwest and I knew it. Since I fully intended to move back someday, I was extra diligent to keep my connections there alive. One thing I started was an annual group trip to Ashland, Oregon, with friends from both places.  Ashland is home to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, a name that really doesn’t do justice to the 8+-month season or the 10+ plays they stage (many plays run for months so you can see 6 in a busy weekend). There’s always at least one Shakespeare show, but the company has evolved greatly to offer so much more!  I’ve gone with a varying group of friends - usually about 12 of us make it - every year since 2007. Naturally our group trips to watch theater wasn’t A Thing during these last two beknighted pandemic years, but in 2022 we made our return! I got to watch one of the warm-up shows (one person played cello while two others made massive soap bubbles...

Here's what everyone asks about ... so what will I be DOING in the next chunk of time? First - road trip in Oregon and Northern California. I'll camp & bring my inflatable kayak. I'm going to  Clear Lake Resort - where "resort" is used very very lightly. I have a cabin for two nights, it's basically four walls, a bed with a curtain around it, and a futon for guests. But the waters are famously cold and clear, so it should be great for paddling on.  Oregon Shakespeare Festival - I've gone every year since 2007 (not counting pandemic years, of course), and meet with friends from Portland and the Bay Area there. We'll go to dinner, see plays, and have a picnic in the park. It's fun being in town the same time as 10-12 friendly faces, as you wind up bumping into each other all over.  Lassen Volcanic National Park - specifically Butte Lake Campground . This will be my most primitive camping - no running water, vault toilet, and it was impacted by...

I’ve saved money, I’ve given notice at work, my sister will be in my house to hold down the home front, I’ve been building up my miles accounts for years, and I’ve started committing to a lot of travel plans in the next few months. What else do I need to think about? Yep - technology. Staying in touch:  looks like I can buy data plans that will work for my iPhone in all the countries I’m planning to hit so far. Switching to some other plan like Google fi might make more fiscal sense but it’s only in beta for the iPhone and I just don’t want to mess with connectivity. I’d rather throw some money at it and keep it otherwise simple. Also open to having a burner phone or swapping out my SIM card. I have an iPhone SE 2020 and intend to stick with it - sure, the newer cameras are even better, but what it has is really very good.  I have an iPad I can bring with me - I don’t tend to watch a lot of videos or shows, but … I might want to?  I gave away my kindle and haven’t decided...