I am Off on Another Adventure!
Some of my readers have become aware that I will soon be embarking on a new travel adventure, so I thought it would be a good idea to update everyone.
I left my little yurt near Pahoa, Hawaii, which was home for a year, on June 1. I will be visiting my friends on Vashon Island in Puget Sound, Washington, for three weeks. Then my first stops will be Iceland and Scotland.
How did all this start?
It began about three years ago (in 2014) when I first heard about the Camino de Santiago for the first time and then over the next month, I was hearing about it again and again from other unrelated sources. So, I took it as a “sign” that I should make the Camino pilgrimage and began making initial plans to do so in the fall of 2016.
Circumstances changed and it took an extra year to launch, but in the meantime I managed to keep adding places in Europe that I also wanted to visit:
Estonia because they are famous for a special style of knitted lace shawls, which I just love.
And then…
Scotland because that is where the Shetland Islands are and they, too, are famous for their lace shawls so fine that one will fit through a wedding ring. And well…Scotland! Why not?
And then…
Southern England because my friend Annie lives there and we could have a nice visit before I begin my Camino. (Of course, on the way, I will have to hike in the Yorkshire Dales because that’s James Herriot country.)
And then (after a month in Spain)…
All the fascinating countries between Spain and Estonia: Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark…I might as well make my way around the coast of Europe visiting countries that have lots of knitters–at least until my EU visa expires.
And then (after few weeks in Estonia)…
Why not take the Trans-Siberian Railroad to Russia’s east coast? Why not? Well, I won’t get there until mid-December. Hmmm…shades of Dr. Zhivago…Am I crazy?
And then…
Wouldn’t it be cool to come home on a leisurely passenger-carrying freighter?
But then…
Going to Thailand and warming up on a nice beach for a while would be pretty nice as well.
As you can see, the deeper into the trip I get, the more nebulous my plans become. We will see if I bail out at some point, or—more likely—run out of money.
Stay tuned…I will keep you posted!
Other Blog Posts You May Find Interesting

The Jyrgalan Summer Festival: Learning about Kyrgyz Traditions
There were also demonstrations of how ala-kiyiz felted carpets are made, opportunities to taste kumiz, (fermented mare’s milk), and a lunch of beshbarmak with plenty of tea available!

The Svaneti Towers of Northern Georgia
Because of the steep valley walls, it was difficult to build one fortress to encompass each village, so individual defense towers (called “koshki” by locals) were built within villages.

Peaks of the Balkans-Day 1:Valbona to Çerime
It was not without some trepidation that we started out on our Peaks of the Balkans circuit … We knew that our choice to go over the Prolipsit and Borit passes would test our strength—almost 20 kilometers with an elevation gain of 1422 meters.