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Tenerife & Portugal

We really kicked our travel into gear in 2024 with several "big" trips...

Mid-January to Mid-March we spent a month in Tenerife and a couple of weeks in Portugal.  Tenerife is starting to establish itself as our winter getaway - we absolutely love it there.  Relaxed, fun, warm, and welcoming.  We spend most of our days and nights outdoors, and generally just really apprecaite the area and the people we are fortunate to meet.    Portugal never disappoints, and this trip took us to some new places and some old familiar favorites.  We especially loved our time in Evora, Nazare and the wine country of the Duoro Valley.

Peru

May took us to Peru for three weeks.  Absolutely amazing country full of once in a lifetime experiences.  

Starting in the Amazon Rainforest where we experienced a crazy storm while on a leaking boat, walked through the trees on rickety rope bridges and hiked through the forest with howler monkeys, tarantulas, piranhas and had the luxury of getting stuck in a canoe on some gigantic tree roots in the water!  

We moved on to Ollyantambo - a fantastic little town as we started to climatize for primary purpose of the trip - a hike up to see Machu Picchu. Words and pictures cannot describe the beauty of Machu Picchu.  Stunning.

From there we went to the city of Cusco - the elevation is a little higher still and Gerard struggled a bit with it - bit the city is magnificent.  We did a few day tours to see ruins, markets and the first salt mine in the world.  

Our next stop took us on a ten hour luxury train ride to Lake Titicaca - the highest elevation of the trip and one of the most memorable places on the trip - where we did a homestay on a small private island lodge completely built on reeds.  We were taken care of by a family - taken on a boat tour of the lake, cooked dinner and breakfast and got to sleep with a ton of blankets and a hot water bottle!  

Southeast Asia

The fall brought another "bucket list" trip....Japan, Hong Kong, Cruise through Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand with a final stay in Singapore.

Japan was simply amazing.  A culture of respect, with freindly people, clean cities and subways, terrific food and more temples than you could possibly imagine.  The best part of the trip - the first two weeks were also spent with Will & Marybeth.

Hong Kong was a tale of two cities - one busy metropolis very much like NYC, and then the other, older more historic side.   Easy to get around, lots of hustle and bustle, good food and some great markets to visit.

The cruise was aboard Holland America's Noordam ship and visited ports Halang Bay, Da Nang and Ho Chi Min City in Vietnam, Sihanoukville, Cambodia, and overnight in Bangkok with a final stop in the beautiful Koh Samui.  This was a great way to see these areas, and I can absolutely see us going back to some of these places again....especially Thailand.  We also were very lucky to meet and make several new friends from around the world that we are still in touch with.

The final stop was Singapore....and what a city! Spotlessly clean, safe, beautiful and HOT!  Singapore has a real multicultural feel with special neighborhoods that celebrate the culture - Little India, Chinatown

Traveling for the first time with our youngest Will and his girlfriend MaryBeth was a real treat.  Seeing Japan through their eyes, and watching them grow closer together was something I will never forget and will always treasure.

And TeamLab Borderless was the perfect spot to see this all unfold.  An amazing, not to be missed experience.

We boarded the Holland America Noordam in Hong Kong with stops in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and ending in Singapore.  We didn't know anyone prior to boarding, and left the ship with new friendships and were lucky to be part of a great group of "travel buddies".