Apr12

Flying Solo in Dublin

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“Where would you like to go, Darlin?” in the cutest Irish accent ever is how I was greeted upon arrival in Dublin this week.

I decided to visit Ireland solo on my way to France for Zfest this year. Jess declared last year we would meet in Paris for Z’s 9th anniversary of heading into the cosmos and that is what we are doing.

My first day of jet lag and figuring out this city, I wandered. It’s a damn cute place! Went by Christ Church, St. Patrick’s Church and through the cobblestone alleys of Temple Bar.

Did some soul searching on the streets of Dublin.

Christ Church public art

Then….found the Irish Rock n Roll Museum. Whoa! It was so authentic, so grungy, and so informative. An adorable man who was all passion when it comes to music and the stories of Ireland. Proud Allen in a purple suit told us all about this place known as Temple Lane Studios where many had performed and recorded.

Some of the many talented from Ireland:

The Pogues which means kiss

Sinead O’Connor

Van Morrison (he turns 80 this year)

Rory Gallagher, considered the best Irish musician influenced by our American blues and said no to the Rolling Stones

Cranberries

Enya- never gone on tour-and lives in a castle

U2-Bono is named after hearing aid store…means good voice

Boomtown Rats

and on and on …..

The Harp is the national symbol of Ireland -music is very important to this country.

I hope The Plant moves into a more dominant position of music in the next 10 years. With Gloria’s skills, I think we will.

Next day took a train to Killarney and had a day tour around the Ring of Kerry, a round tour of the dramatic landscape of the peninsula. I get off the train and a little leprechaunish man is waiting for me. He grabs my hand and hurriedly pulls me out into his van. We rush over to a waiting bus of folks and he jumps in to be our driver/guide for the day. I could barely understand him, however.

John O’Malley

Part of our tour was learning how sheep get herded. A very impressive sheep farmer described the whistle commands that his border collie needed to go left or go right. The sheep are all painted different colors depending on their owners. Sheep are mostly used for meat these days as the price of wool has cratered.

Traveling anywhere in the world right now is interesting as all news is Trump. The radio in the cabs are discussing the tariffs and the global recession potentially being brought on by our administration. Ireland has always had a good relationship with US makers of spirits, but now that’s all jeopardized. The pharmaceutical industry will most likely be making huge layoffs depending on which way the wind blows for Trump. It’s embarrassing and inhumane. The Irish understand we have a psychopath dictator in office and pity us.

I did meet one fellow on my tour who voted for Trump. I really couldn’t finish talking to him when I found out. I’m not even sure how to address these people. I question their intelligence and humanity. Hopefully our country will come out of the shock soon and start taking action.

I decided I needed to drink a glass of guinness before leaving Ireland. I’m an IPA girl, so it’s not my favorite. I found a cute little pub on a sunny corner and sat next to a lovely young woman who lived in Ireland but was from Ontario. She was a badass paramedic and we traded stories of love and loss. We were besties after a couple of guinness. Her name was Kaitlynn, we were wearing the same shoes and there was some fox imagery at this pub. Pretty sure Z arranged this meeting. She may end up visiting NC, who knows?!

Kali had warned me of the terrible food in Ireland. I was pleasantly surprised to find all sorts of ethnic restaurants that had amazing food. Japanese, Tapas, Farm to Fork. The trick is to avoid the pub food. They mostly eat meat and potatoes as the Irish diet.

Which brings me to the potato famine. There was a little museum that documented this terrible blight that killed so many. England had taken control and could care less about the poverty in Ireland. It showed how the people that were lucky enough to get out immigrated to Liverpool, to Canada and to the US.

Last night in Ireland and I had tickets to an intimate music venue, Whelan’s. The band was Pour Creature and I think they only have one song on spotify. The three member band was made up of a drummer, violinist, and keyboard/lead singer. They were so beautiful, the energy they had together, the haunting voice of the woman and I could not have been happier. Kind of a spiritual experience. Wow!

This morning I’m off to meet Arlo, Jess, Dan, Margot and Aidan for a gathering in Paris. 🇫🇷

Grateful for this adventure. ♥️

Mar20

Galapagos and the Blue Footed Dance + Cotopaxi

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Today we had an incredible tour of Cotopaxi volcano. Cotopaxi means “the neck of the moon” and is a sacred mountain, a place of the gods and sender of rain for the Andean people. It did feel very spiritual being in this ancient place. We were mostly alone with our sweet guide, Wilson. We did run into a group of mountain climbers at lunch, but not many folks around.

We just came from Galapagos. Oh my. One of the most spectacular places on the planet. It was discovered by Charles Darwin in 1835. He was there via the HMS Beagle for only 5 weeks, but it contributed to his theory of evolution by natural selection.

the black iguanas were everywhere

Galapagos is 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador…volcanic islands famous for unique plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. It’s a living laboratory today and is a national park highly protected by the government and conservation organizations. They really do an incredible job of sustainability.

Turtuga Bay

We flew into San Cristobal, saw many, many sea lions, went to the beaches and had a tour of turtle breeding centers. We stopped at a volcanic crater to watch the frigate birds take a shower in the water. Frigate birds are pretty rude-they steal food straight out of the mouths of other birds. But they are cool.

it rains a lot and very suddenly in this part of the world 🤪

We were so lucky that the sky cleared to allow us to witness the lunar eclipse around 2.30am and I set some intentions. We’ll see. Eclipses are powerful.

Took a speed boat which is a whole thing to get from island to island. It’s a bizarre system that the locals have figured out. You stand in line, get a tag, get shuttled to a water taxi and then over to a bigger boat. Don’t forget to pay the $1 to the water taxi! You are potentially getting wet the whole time. Once you get on the main boat, it takes 2-3 hours to get to the next island. Depending on weather, it could be a smooth ride or holy hell. We needed two boats to get back to our island on the last day. It was pouring rain the whole time. The seas were rough. The boat would go over waves and your body would lift up a lot and then be thrown back down on the seat. Jeff, sweet soul, helped a fellow passenger throw up. Others were leaning over the back puking. Connie and I were holding on for dear life. This was a two hour and then second boat was three hours. We were soaked and all our luggage as well. Not the best day of the trip.

Besides that, Galapagos is so worth it. The place is pristine, the people have such pride and prioritize the eco system, animals and plants over the dollar. The oceans are clean compared to Thailand where the pollution is at an all time high and also the tourists.

Ok! Let’s talk about the blue footed boobies! This was my motivation for going to Galapagos and they did not disappoint! The birds are the cutest, in my opinion in the world. The male does a big show and dance for his female prospect. He is showing off his very blue feet. They are blue because of their diet and the carotenoids. The more blue, the healthier the bird and hopefully he will be able to provide for her. Connie, Jeff and I took a boat out with a small group. We got to see these birds hanging out with penguins. The only warm water penguins on earth. It was magical. Then we snorkeled with sea turtles, beautiful circus fish and one shark. Yikes! I’m not the best at snorkeling, but this was amazing. A large turtle popped up directly behind me. Connie got a laugh. Huge highlight.

For my birders at home. Wow. Ecuador is the 4th most diverse place for birds. I saw so many gorgeous birds.

the black lava gull is the most rare gull in the world
the caribbean flamingo across from our hotel
he’s not a bird, but how cute?!

We rode bikes on Isabela Island to the Wall of tears. A preacher in the 1950’s tortured police and army members who made mistakes. These men were shipped to Galapagos. They were forced to build a wall of volcanic rocks. The prisoners were crying in the extreme heat and many died building this wall that was for no reason.

International travel helps me connect the dots about the world, but also about my life. It is so important to learn about other cultures in my opinion. Americans have a lot, a lot to learn how others do things. Our way is obviously not the best on many topics. I’m grateful to have this snapshot of Ecuadorian history and lifestyle. I would say it’s one of my favorite countries to visit.

in the very crowded San Cristobal airport

Travel Tips

When you are in this part of the world, prepare to be wet. And not just a little wet. Soaked to the bone with wet luggage, feet in wet shoes all day that are like pickles at the end of the day. Bring ziplock bags for phones and passports.

The local guides were crucial to our understanding of the culture and environment. We grew very attached to them. They were like living google but way more knowledgeable.

We head home tomorrow to a nation under fire and being destroyed by a rogue government.

A constitutional crisis.

I have business issues and personal challenges.

And I have faith. We can do hard things.

Until next time. Croatia? Who’s in?!

Mar13

A Monkey, a Pit Bull and the Holy Water

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Baños de Agua Santa is located at the foot of the active volcano, Tungurahua. (throat of fire). This is part of the Andes Mountain range which runs through South America. Ecuador is home to 84 volcanoes, 27 active.

The picturesque, mountainous village of Banos has waterfalls and thermal springs filled with healing mineral water. The church uses the water in their ceremonies. Connie, Jeff and I took full advantage of all that healing. It was packed with people and you could see the younger women helping the elders do their stretches in the hot water.

We noticed leprechaun bars, shamrocks and elves throughout this village. No one could tell us why there was such a fairy influence until our driver picked us up to go to Quito. Evidently Bob Dylan had come through in the 60’s and there is of course a lot of plant medicines in these parts. Bob was interested in the psychedelic mushrooms and the san pedro cactus (related to peyote). He must have had a big influence as people started seeing and being with the fairies, elves and leprechauns of Banos. Sometimes the young women would blame the chuzalongo that she may have met on a trail for her impending pregnancy.

We booked an all day expedition into the jungle with Polo, our guide. He picked us up early from our awesome hotel: La Posada del Arte. We went two hours into the Amazon basin stopping at waterfalls and an animal sanctuary, then to eat tilapia at Restaurant Nico.

The best part was this amazing hike to Cascada Hola Vida. A waterfall where the shamans come to do ceremonies for the community. Polo showed us all the bizarre trees and plants and pointed out the healing properties of many. He said during covid, the indigenous people used ginger and sugarcane rum to keep the virus away. And no one got sick in this region.

Next stop was a community that demonstrated native traditions and included us in face painting with the red dye from the achote plant. The children taught us a dance around the fire and we got to hit a target with a blow dart. There was a pretty cute monkey running around and he became interested in the flower in my hair and I did kind of initiate with him. He bit me on the shoulder and he had been eating that red plant so I thought I was bleeding but alas, all was well. I will not come home with monkey pox!

We went canoeing down the Puyo River, saw some cool birds and over to see a cacao farm where we roasted, peeled, and ground cocoa seeds and had the most amazing hot chocolate ever.

raw cacao

A really stellar day.

Next day, we had a little time to kill before our afternoon itinerary. Connie, Jeff and I decided to go for a quick hike up the mountain. It was maybe not very thought out and the incline was straight up. The three of us are in pretty good shape, but damn, I thought I was going to die. We were determined to keep going. Along the way we ran into a young gentleman who was practicing his violin up on the mountain. Very well dressed and not sweating at all like we were. It was pretty magical to have his sounds accompany us as we were winded and grunting up the mountain.

We came to a fork in the path and we took the road less traveled. BIG MISTAKE. Jeff was ahead and all of a sudden he said “DOG” and Connie turned around and walked quickly away. She has a healthy fear of dogs. This was a very ferocious pit bull and a hound behind him. Jeff turned around and walked slowly away as this dog acted like he was going to tear us apart. I talked to him like a child thinking he would not attack a sweet motherly voice. I did picture us in the hospital and it delaying us a lot. Finally, we got some distance. Never been that freaked out by a dog. We got the hell off that mountain and of course passed the oblivious violinist on the way.

A couple more things about this part of the trip…the soil is so fecund and you can see patches of different crops along the hills. The dirt is black. I saw some spraying and our guide said they just use a little pepper spray as pesticide. There is so much food everywhere.

He also told us about the economic crisis of 1999 when there was a bank holiday declared by the government. They froze the citizens deposits and the banks closed. The sucre currency was switched over to the US dollar due to inflation and external debts. Many businesses went under, people lost their jobs and it took many years to recover.

And shoutout to Connie and Jeff for including me on their adventures. We have a good system here. They are fabulous travel mates. Jeff is practical and has major common sense. Connie is the planner and history buff. I just add humor to the situation usually. We are the three amigos. ♥️

Mar9

Middle of the World

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We pulled into the historic district of Quito around midnight. Our hotel was one of the 5 oldest houses in the town and breakfast was served in a dungeon every morning. I learned on Ash Wednesday that my Mother’s partner, George had died. George was a big personality catholic, Italian man and he had told us all that he was ready to go. Still didn’t make it any easier.

It seemed fitting to go to the Basilica del voto Nacional on Ash Wednesday. It was beautiful and the music playing helped my melancholy.

Quito is sitting at 9350 feet in elevation and is the highest capital in the world. Connie, Jeff and I could feel the difference. I felt dizzy for days, not to mention we walked many miles up and down the steep streets.

There is so much history and information about this beautiful city. We are just going to touch on it.

La Compania was recommended by many folks. A baroque style church with maybe the most 23 carat gold leaf on earth. The place was stunning and not understanding religion all that much, it was bizarre seeing all the opulence and so much about sin and the devil. The images of white men saving all the indigenous people and the incredible fear that was used to manipulate.

A highlight was going to the Intinan Solar Museum where we were literally standing on the equator line. 0.0 latitude. The well spoken guide told us there were 3 seasons in Ecuador: dry season, wet season and crazy season. The sunrise is always about the same: 6.20am and sunset around 6.30pm.

She discussed the poles and the way water circulates. Fascinating stop!

Next day we hit the Jardin Botanico de Quito. Vast gardens of everything from orchids, to carnivorous to bonsai to cacti. Really fabulous place. Ecuador is the most biodiverse country in the world and trey seemed to have a little of everything. I kind of want to put in a bonsai garden in our Tree Museum at The Plant! 😅

Getting around Quito is pretty great. They just put in a brand new subway line in 2023. Pristine. Which leads us to politics. I asked Connie to be guest blogger again and this is what she wrote from our short time here, talking to guides and friends here:

“Politics is a loaded word these days. Those of us lucky enough to live in the United States have had a lot to talk about. For many different reasons, the United States finds itself being governed by “business” men. Men who govern by the maxim that might means right. That they must “win” every interaction and consequences be damned. These white business men are fighting an imaginary culture war in which they don’t want to share any of the power. Many voted for this administration.

Ecuador finds itself in a similarly divided situation. There is a runoff presidential election in April. The voters are pretty evenly split between a leftist socialist candidate and a right wing candidate. While the US is fighting a culture war, Ecuadorians are fighting an increasingly dangerous drug war. While drug cartels are fighting for dominance and killing each other, citizens are being caught up in the conflict. There is tension in Quito and some do not feel safe. People spend hours in line at the bank taking out minimum amounts of cash so as not to have too much on them. When darkness comes, the streets empty.

Voting is mandatory for Ecuadorians between 18-65. A lot is on the line this election. The current right wing president has issued a state of war in which the army is deployed to try and curb crime. Many people want to return to the prior socialist government in which there was a lot of prosperity. The leftist socialist government ended when President Delgado fled the country after being charged with kidnapping his opponent.

Governance is a fragile and complicated system. It’s important that we are all engaged and paying attention. Our leaders affect our lives in real ways and I would hope they take this responsibility seriously. People’s lives are at stake.”

Thank you Connie and I can’t wait to talk to Marcela about this.

Another fascinating thing about Quito is they are 95% powered by hydroelectric. What a beautiful clean energy! And here we are in climate change and the droughts come to the rain forest. WTF?! This past fall, they had rolling blackouts of up to 14 hours and are now looking at supplementary electricity which will go back to petroleum.

Their main exports are crude oil, fish and shrimp, then bananas and coffee and cocoa.

Ecuador is majestic, magical and awe inspiring. The people we have met have a strength and also calm gentleness to them.

And the streets smell like eucalyptus!

Next stop Banos de Agua. We’ll report back!

Feb19

Resilient Cambodia

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Resilient Cambodia

We flew to the brand new airport in Cambodia built by China. China is putting in massive infrastructure to support their investments in these developing countries. Connie and Jeff had a different hotel than me, so we took 2 different taxis into the hour drive to Siem Reap. We drove down the long chinese built road through the cashew trees on both sides into the town. My driver was adorable and when I asked for music, he gave me his phone to control. The first familiar song was Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect”. We cranked it and he sang it at the top of his lungs! He offered a cooler of beer and we were off to explore another town. The hotel was stunning, the staff incredibly welcoming.


Guest blogger, Connie describes the next part of our trip. She was very good at understanding the sometimes broken english of our sweet guide:


Visiting Siem Reap, Cambodia means visiting Angkor Wat. This temple complex was dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu in the 12th century CE by the Khmer King Suryavarman II. It is among the largest religious buildings ever created. Today it is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Unlike most temples, Angkor Wat was built facing the west in deference to Vishnu and one of the most powerful times to view the central towers is at sunrise.

Our guide and the driver arrived to pick us up at 4:30 am to begin our day long tour through the 420 acre Angkor Wat temple complex as well as the ancient city of Angkor Thom.  Our guide led us through the dark from the Angkor Wat parking area to a field facing that temple.  A hush fell over the crowd of visitors from all over the world as we witnessed the sun rising behind the five towers.

Our guide provided us with so much information on the history and symbolism of Angkor Wat as well as Angkor Thom.  However, the most unexpected experience was the information that he shared with us about his life and Cambodia’s tragic history.

In 1975 a communist regime known as the Khmer Rouge conquered the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. From 1975 to 1979 the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, set in motion a campaign of genocide that claimed the lives of up to two million people. One in four Cambodians were killed during this period.

Our tour guide was born in a small village in Cambodia.  He believes it was in the early 1960’s, but he can’t be completely sure because any record of his birth was destroyed.  His family was displaced from their village by the Khmer Rouge and were forced to work on a collective farm. His father died of starvation and his mother of disease.  Our guide had to bury his father in a shallow grave that he dug by hand when he was only 12 years old.  His little sister was struck down and killed for stopping work in a field to eat a cricket. Following that tragedy, our guide ran away from the farm and lived in the jungle on his own for two years. Then at the age of 16 he became a soldier fighting against the Khmer Rouge.  This man had been through truly horrific experiences in his life, a true mirror of the history of Cambodia.

As we toured the temples he exchanged greetings with many of the other tour guides and security guards.  It was clear that he was a well liked and respected man in that community.

We were completely shocked by our guides candor and openness.  We were so touched that he felt comfortable sharing his personal reminisces with us. He was so kind, generous, and I didn’t mention before, pretty funny. We will never forget those moments that we spent with this man and how he took the time to educate us. How incredibly lucky we are to have the opportunity to travel and meet this most awesome person.

Connie is correct. Our guide was so open and vulnerable and at times we had the biggest lump in our throats trying to understand what he had been through. He was just a little older than us. Imagining the difference of his childhood and my childhood was humbling and hard to imagine. The US just stood by as this was happening. And yet, the man has a beautiful family with grandchildren and he had just won a new IPHONE!

We did run into a band of monkeys near one temple. Our guide had warned us to not have food in our pockets. We witnessed small children getting assaulted by monkeys to get their bags of candy. It was kind of funny, kind of alarming. We walked past a line of scooters and one monkey opened up the compartment on the scooter, grabbed a bottled water and started guzzling.

Siem Reap is a pretty happening town and the infamous Pub Street reminded me a little of what we are going for at The Plant. Very active, lots of lights, tourists and great food.

Our time was coming to an end. The super bowl happened. Connie and Jeff found a bar that was open at 7am to watch the game. I hung by my pool and took advantage of the spa. We packed up our stuff and had to get back to Vietnam to make the long journey home. Jeff who is a great problem solver and mechanical engineer designed the trip so we had an extra day to chill in Vietnam (just in case). Well, I call him MVP of the trip because I got turned away at the airport due to an expired Vietnam visa. They don’t mess around there. I’m not sure what happened, but I was not allowed back into Vietnam. There was some panic on my part and Jeff and Connie stepped in to help. We started working on emergency visas but I had to turn around and go back to Siem Reap while they flew out. I had an extra day in Cambodia until I could sort out the visa situation. My dear cousin called to talk me out of a tree and make me laugh. I had fear I would never get to leave Cambodia and the smoke from the burning of the rice fields was getting to me. But never fear, it all worked out. Was a pretty expensive mistake, but I flew out a day later and an agent met me in Vietnam to make sure I had the correct paperwork stamped.

I jumped in a van with some germans to head into Ha Noi around 9pm (and needed to get back to the airport at 5am next day). The van drove into Ha Noi which was celebrating the last day of Tet (Vietnam New Years). The streets were packed with revelers and the van was driving through massive scooters and people sitting outside eating at these low tables and chairs. I couldn’t believe we didn’t run over anyone. He just pushed through beeping the whole time. We were driving through what felt like a parade on the way to the Golden Silk Hotel. Connie and Jeff were celebrating with Jeff’s vietnamese co-workers and I arrived to a party, lots of beers and cheers and dinner. Never been so happy to see these faces!

Some travel tips I learned about Asia:

Take US dollars that are brand new. Most places would not accept money that had any type of blemish, or tear.

Toilet paper was not abundant. I ended up with a stash in my bag because some places had NONE.

Good shoes and being in pretty good shape is important. We climbed steep stairs with shaky railings a lot.

We are privileged as the US dollar is accepted widely and the common language besides the native one is english.

Water is of course one of the most precious resources and I didn’t take it for granted.

People are so great.

Grateful to be home and on to the next adventure! Staying home!

Thanks for reading! It was life changing.
Until next time, tami

Feb12

The Kingdom of Thailand

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I found it part divine, and part not so divine. Thailand is around 70 million, 90% buddhist and the second largest economy in southeast Asia.

Cute bar with cold beer which is essential in this heat.

We flew into Phuket and drove about an hour and half to our destination, Kata Beach. The taxi driver let Jeff connect his playlist which we cranked. He has awesome eclectic taste in music. Once checked in, we tried to find the beach. Due to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, there was a massive wall most likely built to save lives in the event of another. My bff, Melissa, lost her dear friend Carol in that tsunami and I remember it well.

The place reminded us of Myrtle Beach. Very crowded, very hot and humid, full of cheap tourist items for sale. Every tourist was wearing the same white hooded shirt with the same elephant pants. It was hard to cross the street, we were tired and kind of not impressed. We found a huge night market and had a very authentic dinner. Thankfully Connie spotted THE BEST coconut ice cream place which we went every night.

We made the best of it. I found a yoga place that seemed nearby. Started walking through the crowded streets and then my map app started having hiking symbols. It was kind of a road that was vertical, not horizontal. I would have been very uncomfortable to be in an automobile on this road. I kept going and found this adorable small hotel with rooftop yoga. The instructor was amazing. The guests couldn’t believe I walked there. Coming down the road was equally challenging. Then I booked a 2 hour thai massage that changed my life. This woman manipulated my body in ways hard to describe. It felt like a workout and I truly think she got about a decade of stress out of me. I thought I might be covered in bruises the next day, but no. It was amazing.

Jeff found a beach to run on and was happy, Connie found the good restaurants to eat in.

Food was fabulous and incredibly inexpensive.

We still had time to kill before our plane to Chiang Mai. We decided to book an excursion to Phi Phi Islands. Should be beautiful. The itinerary was a series of stops including an island that The Beach was filmed. Leonardo DiCaprio made a movie at Maya Bay on the Andaman Sea. We had never heard of the movie before, but evidently thousands of tourists have. It was drop dead gorgeous. However, so many visitors came that it killed the coral reef and seriously damaged the entire place. They closed the beach and recently opened it. The boats of tourists would drop people off for exactly 40 minutes, you were not allowed to go in the water, but you would take your selfie and then back on the boat as quickly as possible. It was depressing. The good news is the locals are making bank from tourism now that covid is not as big a deal. Bad news is the ecology takes a hit (says this super privileged tourist)

Long tail boats (reua hang yao) in Phi Phi

Our guide, Mr. B described the hardship of the pandemic and how he invested in water buffalo to sell milk to get by. He was happy to be back on the boat and touring.

One more day in Phuket and we needed to see Old Town. We jumped on public transportation which cost about $1. It was like a big truck with a roof on it. Lots of people and took about an hour and half to get to old town. It was very hot. Very humid. Very smelly. Very loud. There was an aroma of diesel fumes, sewer, and a touch of the duran fruit. OMG. The duran fruit is fascinating. It’s a delicacy and yet has been described as smelling like sulfur, sewage, honey, rotting onions and stale vomit. YUM

We got to Old Town and it was worth the trip. Lovely boutique stores, amazing architecture and a very cool vibe.

Old Town Phuket had a lot of Art Deco style mixed with Asian.

We had made reservations at a 5 star for our last night and had to jump back on the bus. I can only describe that as hell.

The most beautiful sunset over Kata Beach. We are covered in sweat and grime for our fancy dinner.

Getting to Chiang Mai was very refreshing. Located in northern Thailand, the air was fresh, the heat was dry and there were not so many crowds. Our hotel was adorable. Cheeva Dee! I grabbed one of their bikes and explored the city. It took me to a beautiful old buddhist temple. I really bonded with this place. Sat under the 7 buddhist statues and wrote blessings to Zafer and my Dad. It was really beautiful and peaceful.

Connie did a lot of research on the elephant tours and chose Elephant Nature Park. She chose well, as the founder has won many awards around the world for her work in creating this elephant sanctuary. There is a documentary about her called “Love and Bananas”. Many places still exploit the elephants with touching and riding. This place was more like our Tiger Rescue at home. We did however get up close with these massive animals. At times our guide would look at us nervously and say move away, they are headed towards us! Again, makes me sad that we are taking all the wildlife habitat and creating so many endangered species.

Found another yoga place which was hilarious. Every yoga has been very different. This one was a bit ocd. The instructors hovered over you, but you could tell how much they cared. They even tucked you in with a blanket during shavasana.

I talked Connie into another Thai massage. This one was different. We both felt very sore for the next few days, but we had a blast. For some reason, there was a lot of information about Women’s Correctional Institutions and also places that had these women doing massage services. We didn’t see any info on men. Maybe the men are very well behaved in Chiang Mai? Maybe the women take all the rap? Not sure, but our thai massage outfits felt like correctional institution wear.

The famous soup in this region is called Khao Soi and Connie was dead set on getting the most authentic version. We walked down tiny alleys until we found THE PLACE. They only served one thing. Khao Soi. It was in their garage and it cost $2. It was delicious.

Khao Soi

The Flower Festival was stunning in Chiang Mai and I had to text Emily Fuller, our local flower queen. PBO should have a flower festival..,or The Plant to be specific! Connie’s family runs a plant shop in Winston Salem, House of Plants. We were all in awe of this huge park full of flowers.

Sadly, our time in Chiang Mai was over. I highly suggest this place. We just scratched the surface. Ancient history, fabulous food and the kindest gentlest people.

On to Cambodia. But we’ll save those stories for next blog. Some are hard to hear.

The three Amigos.
Feb1

The Secret War featuring guest blogger, Connie.

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Laos has been incredible and a country I hardly knew existed. We wanted to share some history and give reference to why we are here.

Connie on the rooftop in Vang Vieng

Written by my dear college roommate, Connie Boneno Russell:

The Secret War: “As part of US anti-communist operations in southeast Asia – commonly known as the Vietnam war – between 1964 and 1973, American pilots flew 580,000 attack sorties over Laos, an average of one planeload of bombs every eight minutes for almost a decade. By the time the last US bombs fell in April 1973, a total of 2,093,100 tonnes of ordnance had rained down on this neutral country.”  (The Guardian – Bolingbroke-Kent, April 27, 2023).

Laos is the most heavily bombed country per capita in the world. It is estimated that 30% of the over 2 million tonnes of ordnance remain unexploded in Laos.

at a Vendor stall in Vang Vieng where Connie bought a bracelet

In the fall of 1979 a refugee from Laos enrolled in our high school. She was very open and friendly and we became fast friends. Together with a couple of other girls, we navigated high school together. The highs-we all made the volleyball team, the lows-we all failed to make the soccer team, the in-between – just hanging out and having fun, we were inseparable. We understood that our friend had lived a life that we would never understand, but we never talked about what that had looked like. We were all very focused on the moment and getting to the next moment. My friend from Laos most of all. After high school we went to separate colleges and our lives began to drift. We would connect occasionally, but time and distance grew.

This fall we reconnected for a reunion weekend and it was just like old times. I was reminded of how special it is to laugh and dance with people you love. Lots of dancing, maybe too much dancing. I now know that her family fled the Laos communist government (LPRP) by swimming across the Mekong into Thailand where they lived in a refugee camp for a period of time before coming to the U.S.

I am not sure that I can answer why it was important to me that I visit Laos. I know my friend did not share my desire. She still carries the wounds of war from her childhood. My heart breaks for all the children around the world who have to pay the price for the shameful behavior of people in power.

We have been greeted with warmth and kindness while in Laos.  It is a beautiful country with beautiful people and I hope that both can find healing.

Hot air balloons are big in Vang Vieng

From Tami:

We arrived in Vang Vieng to the Confetti Garden Hotel. A bit road weary, we grabbed early dinner at the Happy Mango which became our go-to restaurant most of the time. Things are very inexpensive in Laos. Fresh and delicious thai, lao, and vietnamese foods could be had for a few dollars. Our transportation was also incredibly cheap.

I’m already missing The Happy Mango

Next day Connie and Jeff took off via foot to a blue lagoon and cave hike. I rented a bike and cruised the countryside, stopped at a buddhist temple and just sat. Some needed downtime.

I biked over to a foot massage place and had the most divine hour long foot massage for around $8.

Heights are not Jeff’s favorite, but he was a super good sport and agreed to go up in a balloon with us. We were picked up at 6.30am for the sunrise ride.

not anxious at all…

My cousin Charlie used to have a bungee jumping Hot Air balloon company. I had helped him years ago and knew how magical hot air balloons are. The folks were very skilled at getting us up and making sure we got our photos. The view was breathtaking.

We even did a little photo shoot for Hempsmith.

targeting those hot air balloon women…

Immediately after, we thought it would be a good idea to rent scooters and go about 8 miles out to Blue Lagoon 3 for the day. Never having driven a scooter, I was a little nervous. Jeff used to own a motorcycle. I thought if he could go up in the balloon, surely I could face my fear.

I really wanted the cute scooter.

very powerful and electric!

The shop owner explained in broken English and hand motions how to operate this. I don’t think he had a lot of confidence in me at first.

I practiced for a minute and then Jeff, with Connie on the back, lead the way. The first thing was to get over a rickety bridge that looked like it was built out of bamboo. Then another bridge full of walkers. We hit dirt roads that had potholes big enough to float boats in and finally we got to somewhat better roads. Once we got out of town, driving through limestone mountains, dodging cows and chickens, it was a spiritual experience. Partly terrifying and partly exhilarating. I’m so glad we did it.

Blue Lagoon 3

We swam, Jeff went into the caves, and back we drove.

Because we had not done enough that day, we went to sunset yoga on a pony farm. There is a fabulous yoga studio in one of the hotels and Connie and I did yoga every day with different teachers. Makes me grateful for Cathy Holt who has given me the foundation of yoga for 25 years.

Yoga is the answer for weary travelers.

Last day in Vang Vieng we watched the balloons and also they have these weird go carts in the sky. Kind of like parasailing but with go-carts. It didn’t seem like a good idea.

BeerLao and Mojito time

Overall, this place is amazing. There is a good bit of pollution, poverty and trash. Infrastructure needs help. It’s a developing country, of course. The people are kind, humble, reserved and very hospitable.

Today we took the high speed train back to Vientiane. China built the railway and it’s NICE! Better than Amtrak! On our one hour ride, a surprise dance troop broke out!

Next stop is Phuket, Thailand!

Jan28

When your bus breaks down in Southeast Asia

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My college roommate, Connie, told me about her trip to Vietnam and how magical it was to see the older women come together every morning at sunrise around Hoan Kiem Lake in Han Noi. She visited with her husband, Jeff who worked extensively in Asia and knew it well. The women did Tai Chi and danced and chanted to music. In fact the whole town was alive with folks running and stretching and dancing in groups. That is how we ended up here on this three week journey. Connie wanted someone to join her and these ladies.

sunrise tai chi

Connie was the more academic one in our relationship, super smart, high energy, a whole lot of fun plus she was in marching band. She planned the entire itinerary and just told me what tickets and hotels to book. She and her husband are very detailed which is helpful in travel partners. They showed up at my house and Arlo took us to the airport at 3.15am. We went to Newark, on to Tokyo, and then to Han Noi. About 33 hours of travel. Upon arrival at the Golden Silk Hotel, we downed a beer and a shot of bourbon with pretzels and chocolate and off to bed for 5 hours.

We made it to the sunrise tai chi, had amazing food at our hotel and then went to the Note Cafe for egg coffee. I will be making this at home…a frothy coffee with egg yolks blended in…vanilla and sugar. Soooo good. The entire cafe is covered in heart sticky notes in which you write blessings. We wrote our blessings.

Jet lag was real, but we didn’t waste anytime. We took off across the city. Han Noi is a hive of motorbikes. A few cars and buses, but mostly motorbikes carrying whole families, building supplies, crates of chickens, huge trees, even very large paintings. In order to cross the street, you simply “walk with purpose” into the traffic. The hive just moves around you. I never saw even a slight bump or accident. It did feel harrowing, but I got used to it.

First stop was the Vietnam Military History Museum. It was very eye opening to see how Vietnam has been resisting outsiders since 214 BC. Most recently from French colonists and of course American imperialism. They have a willpower and determination that no one can defeat. I wish my Dad were here to discuss this with.

B-52 sculpture that was shot down

We found a Tet festival happening next door. Tet is the Vietnamese New Year and is one of the biggest events of the year. It’s when folks go home to see their relatives, cook special foods, worship their ancestors and forget the troubles of the past year.

kumquat trees and incense

Next we walked to the Hoa Loa Prison. Showed terrible conditions when the French held political prisoners there and then later Vietnamese held American POW’s. Nicknamed “Hanoi Hilton”. John McCain was one of them. It was interesting that they had many photos of happy Americans playing basketball and checkers while imprisoned. Somehow, I question the conditions for the US soldiers.

Exhibit of Vietnamese political prisoners

Off to the silk area of town where Connie bought cute tailored silk pajamas. I hit my wall and went to bed at 4pm 😂.

Next day was Ha Long Bay. A beautiful area with 1969 islands and caves. Took a boat trip around to see and hiked up a mountain.

we were pretty winded after walking up 400 stairs to Ti Top Mountain

Timtam was our energetic young guide and the highlight was when he convinced the boatload of people from all over the world to go to the top deck and have a dance party. As someone that constantly works on dance parties, I was super impressed. Timtam would ask each country for their favorite song. We would all join in dancing. I blanked and said “ Dancing Queen” for the Americans. But it got people up. We had a blast dancing with all those people on top of that cold deck.

Timtam the great dancer and guide

Then it was time to fly to Vientiane, Laos. An overnight in the capital, we watched the full moon from the rooftop of VIP Boutique Hotel. They had the longest night market that seemed to go for miles. Tiana Thurber would have been impressed. (she runs Night Market at The Plant).

Connie and Jeff

Jeff arranged our 3 hour bus ride to Vang Vieng, a small town of mountains, caves and a river.

Tuc Tuc in the rain

The bus was pretty packed. I sat next to the driver and kept having to assist him in wiping the windshield off so he could see. We were happily heading along when we all of a sudden we stopped due to a massive fuel leak. The driver had two other employees on board and they all started pulling the engine apart and going underneath the bus. Most of the passengers got off to wait. Two of the staff motioned for us to stay there, and they walked off down the highway holding a part of the engine. English was not so good, so we didn’t really know what was happening.

I was nervous his foot was going to get driven over.

We talked to a russian couple, made friends with a native Laosian woman and older english dude, and made up stories about the rest of the passengers.

A very dirty man walked by picking up aluminum cans and wished us well, seemingly so happy and content. It started to rain a little. It smelled terribly of diesel fuel. We thought of hitchhiking but no one seemed interested in pulling over.

Finally, the two men triumphantly returned holding a soldered piece of pipe and climbed under the bus again. They tried and tried, but it kept leaking.

They motioned for us to get back in the bus and the driver just gunned it, even with the leaking fuel. We got about ten minutes down the road and it just sputtered to a stop. Out again and then the driver started flagging cars down. Two people at a time were getting put into cars with their luggage.

We were not sure if we would ever get to our hotel.

Then….another bus miraculously showed up and took the remainder to Vang Vieng! Whew!

Grateful for this trip, grateful to not be sleeping on the side of the road, privileged to get to see this part of the world, these beautiful people, this culture. Wow!

Until next time…signing off.

Jan17

Grand Finale

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It’s hard to sum up 18 years in a blog post. On Saturday night we will celebrate the end of a beautiful thing-Abundance NC. It’s not the end of abundance of course, but the non-profit organization will be dissolved according to the current Board of Directors and Executive Director.

Abundance NC began in 2006 in our hot tub when we were frustrated at the lack of sustainability projects happening, the red tape and bureaucracy. We decided to start a non-profit that focused on renewable fuels, local food and of course community. It seemed like a no brainer in this town. Our founding board was rock star status and had big visions.

Most of the time we responded to what folks in the community were asking for. Sustainability tours became a big deal with school children and adults alike. We could show them the biodiesel plant, the solar panels, talk about the farm, native plants, composting, worms, and conservation. We began small workshops at The Plant. Everything from how to eat from a CSA box to growing mushrooms, aquaponics, biodiesel making to non-violent communications and on and on. We put on hundreds of workshops.

School lunches were a program…we shipped thousands of pounds of local food into the 17 Chatham County Schools, brought in Chefs and worked with the lunch ladies. Amazing stuff happened! We did give up after 3 years, the mountain was too big for us.

We then went on to create festivals and conferences. PepperFestbegan from a need to get feedback on Farmer Doug’s hundred varieties of mostly sweet peppers. PepperFest will get recreated and will continue at The Plant, so get ready for some beautiful food and peppers in the fall.

Chef Jay at Horton middle school
Abundance NC first board meeting

A farmer asked us to put on a conference about climate change and that started a whole thing. Slow Money was under our umbrella and the force of nature, Carol Hewitt, really made a difference in how small businesses could gain some capital to get started.

We launched dozens of projects and other non-profits in our fiscal sponsorship program. That was big. The mural across from Havoc Brewery was created because we stepped in to be the non-profit overseeing that beautiful painting of the Haw River with Stacye Leanza and a big group of folks.

Carol, Jenn and Joe

Bikes and Barnyards was another wild idea…let’s collaborate with Triangle Bikeworks and have a bunch of kids learn about biking and farming and of course go to my house and swim. I remember one camp looking over at Kevin Hicks after the first day and he said “we only had 6 kids bleeding today”.

Heading out for the big ride to Jordan Lake


We put on intellectual and entertaining events such as Pecha Kucha, a drag queen event at the General Store, Drink & Thinks, and Think Agains.

Hannah Eck tabling

When my son died, the Abundance community picked up my family and me and carried us for a long long time. Death Faire came out of that and will continue for as long as I can keep it up.

I could keep writing. We could create a book or make a movie about Abundance. But really I just want to thank all the supporters, all the board members, the amazing staff throughout the years. And special thanks to LaShauna and Brittany who were wise enough to say let’s close that door. And we’ll open up another one.

Join us for a cozy night at Fair Game (192 Lorax Lane) Saturday (Jan 20, 2024) 5-8pm. We’ll tell stories, catch up and get ready for the next chapter.

Aug17

The Magnificent Margot

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The Magnificent Margot

I had the amazing gift of Margot last week.  Jess brilliantly came up with Moncure Camp for Margot and prepared her for months about what it was going to be like to be away from Mom, Dad and Aidan.  Margot understood that GPops, Granny and Arlo would be the camp counselors and that Moncure is a little different from Arlington, VA and her busy life there.

Jess, Dan and Aidan brought Margot down on a Saturday and we got to have our typical family fun in the pond, big dinner, visit to The Plant and loads of chaos, catching up and sweet, sweet connection with this family.

Margot knew that her parents and little brother would be leaving and she would be staying in the very tall bed at Granny’s that requires a catapult to get into.  GPops would be up the hill if she needed anything and Arlo of course was right down the hall. 


My fear was that when her parents left and it was bedtime, she would freak out and we would be up all night talking this out.  Zafer and Arlo would need a midnight pickup for years until they were used to being without their parents.  I envisioned sleepless nights for a week.

Well, not the fearless Margot. 

She told me that she would need a midnight snack.  The girl is a great salesperson.  As if that were a normal thing at her house.  I of course, was ready to do anything to make the first night go smoothly.   “What entails a midnight snack, Margot?”  “Well, a banana, an apple, cookies of course and maybe some crackers.”  The idea is that a plate of food is by her bed for when she happens to wake up and then she has a snack. There were definitely cookie crumbs in her bed all week.

Coming up!

I told Margot that my Granny Ruby would give me warm milk at night if I couldn’t sleep.  She thought that was a good idea.  So, warm milk became a ritual every night and we would go over the day and get ready for bedtime.  It was a calming beautiful thing for both of us.

The song “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for” by U2 came on the pandora station and Margot and I started belting it out together.  That somehow helped our night and became our song of the week.  It’s in a popular kids movie and that girl can sing!

Jess always has Margot’s gorgeous hair looking pretty perfect…in braids or something to keep it out of her face.  Not having a lot of experience braiding and kind of forgetting that showers are important, we might have gone a few days with just jumping in the pond and I looked at Margot at one point and thought, wow, she reminds me of Pippi Longstocking.  My childhood hero.  We did a facetime with Jess, who upon seeing Margot was a little horrified at her lack of showering and hair care.  I started to work on regular baths at that point.

The week entailed lots of dress up, jewelry store, puzzles, playing hotel (which we really did due to needs at our AIRBNB, Arlo teaching the carbon cycle, picking produce at Little Pond farm, ballet class, Pippi Longstocking movies, meeting new friends, swimming in the pond, screen printing at Hempsmith, adventures with GPops and Arlo, watching movies with Carrie, learning about business at The Plant and helping, dinner with the Lilly Den crew, navigating country life and putting on our glow in the dark angel wings at night and running around the woods.

I drove Margot back to Arlington which is no small feat…7 hours of traffic and car charging.  The girl handled it like a champ and when I was getting frustrated, she talked me out of it. 

She mentioned McDonalds and I said, “Margot, Granny doesn’t do McDonalds, we look for a lovely, fancy restaurant to have lunch”.  Well, needing to charge the car and not having any food, we ended up walking through waste high grass to get to a Wendy’s fast food restaurant.  I was a little defeated and apologized to Margot for the lunch.  She looked around positively and said “Granny, this is pretty fancy”.  Love that girl. 

Can’t wait for next year.