A complete change of pace and location wakes you up - a well-traveled friend of mine. Iceland woke me up, alright! From the moment I landed on my first international solo adventure, I was completely enraptured with the people, the geography and the history. The Show Stopper The cloud is moving nearer stillAurora Borealis comes in viewAurora comes in view - A Flock of Seagulls, I Ran Seeing the Northern Lights was one of the main reasons I picked Iceland. I found myself on a

I have so much to say about my experience in Costa Rica (and I will), but for now I wanted to share images and info from the trip. Feel free to skip the text and just look at pix. The main export of Costa Rica is bananas. Harvested when they are green for shipment to the US and other global destinations, they're often referred to as Green Gold (Oro Verde). After spending one night in San Jose, Costa Rica's capital, we were picked up and driven by van to Tortuguero National

Am I gonna throw up? I wondered. How much extra will that cost? I thought. And that was just on the cab ride to O’hare to begin my first solo trip to someplace I’d never been before. And it wasn’t the last time those two thoughts occurred to me. I'm not much of a traveler. I enjoy ritual. Habits. I like paths well-traveled. My own, in particular. Familiarity is something that makes me happy deep down in my bones. But for my 49th birthday and for a promotion I'd worked har