TRAVEL|WEEKLY NEWS

Stories 3–9 July

In record numbers. Thank you to all who contributed.

I hope you haven’t forgotten July’s writing challenge — Celebrations Around the World. Everyone, including myself, has been busy writing other stories.

Weekly Newsletter

JoAnn Ryan keeps us up-to-date with all the happenings at Globetrotters. Here’s the link if you missed it.

Anne Bonfert introduces herself as our new editor. Great news! There are now four of us. She’s a wonderful writer, editor and an all-round lovely girl.

Story of the Week

Cat Dee explores the Monasterio de Piedra not too far from Zaragoza, Spain — just the sort of place I love! History, nature and knowledge combined!

Writer Spotlights — 4 new stories

Maceo Cabrera Estévez introduces herself and her two children to Globetrotters as world travellers. We look forward to more of your stories.

Julien Demaret introduces himself to Globetrotters. Oh, to be young again!

Colette Langley introduces herself to us at Globetrotters. Another young traveller making the most of her life!

Here’s the one we’ve all been waiting for. The wait was worth it, Anne Bonfert.

Places — 19 new stories

Gerald Sturgill writes about a beautiful camping spot on the lake in Ripley, NY.

I write some more about my magical trip to Iceland.

Catherine Dunn writes about her visit to Merville, British Columbia. Her photos are spectacular.

Catherine also takes us to Rome, Italy on the other side of the world.

Gerad Carrier takes us on a nostalgic trip to the place he honeymooned 48 years ago in the Pahang Highlands, Malaysia.

…and Gerad takes us on to Penang!

… and then up Penang Hill.

Jillian Amatt - Artistic Voyages takes us on a quick visit to a place I have never heard of — Kassala, Sudan. The sunrises and sunsets are magical.

The Sober Vegan Yogi takes us to the Seven Magic Mountains just outside Las Vegas. They look very strange.

M T Sutphin takes us to Koh Chang, Thailand for a weekend getaway.

Bryan Dijkhuizen guides us on a bike ride through The Netherlands, his home country. Beautiful photos here, Bryan.

Mulan recalls her first impression of Paris. First impressions often stick in our minds a long time after we return home.

Cat Dee travelled to Iran and loved it! The architecture looks amazing!

CatHERine shares her experience in a little “Danish” village north of LA, California. It was my first experience of what Europe might be like. I loved it.

Osan Fernando writes about her whirlwind tour through several US States.

Jerry Dwyer takes us to Granada, Spain — one of my favourite places in Andalucia. If you haven’t been, the Alhambra is definitely a bucket list item. I’ve been lucky enough to visit twice.

Diane Neill Tincher takes us on a peaceful tour of Lake Towada, Northern Honshu. It looks so beautiful — so Japanese.

B.R. Shenoy takes us to a beautiful beach in Southern California, almost as gorgeous as our Australian beaches.

Anne Bonfert went on a “work trip” to Evora, Portugal. You can even see her working in the video. Evora is an interesting town if you’re driving from Spain to Lisbon.

Experiences — 16 new stories

Have you ever walked through a cemetery? Is it an activity you enjoy when you are travelling? I find they all have a different vibe — but this one that B.R. Shenoy discovers in Neuquén, Argentina just looks peaceful and beautiful too.

Napoleon shares his experience on a nude beach on St Maarten.

Sofia Ruyle tells us of how her experiences hiking in Boulder, Colorado helped her in so many ways and not just physically. Great story, Sofia.

My own daughter Keeley Schroder narrates how she was followed into an elevator in Beijing, China while her husband popped out to get cold water. It’s pretty scary! She has another scary story from China which I am encouraging her to write next week. Please clap/comment on this one if you like it.

Malky McEwan gives us his first impressions of Australia — and they’re not good…

Sara Burdick shares with us some of the things that are completely normal in Colombia. Pretty normal in rural Australia too.

Suntonu Bhadra takes us on a beautiful green hike in Canada. I can almost hear those birds, and mosquitoes!

No one will ever have an experience as daunting as Michelle Y. Kwak. She’s been living in her car (and not a big one) for a whole year travelling across the US to reach North Carolina. Congratulations, Michelle.

Janin Lyndovsky continues her motorhome adventure across Canada.

Rhys Sydney talked about her experiences of the negatives of living in France, this week she looks at the positives.

What a great stopover experience at Changi Airport, Singapore, T.J. Rowntree! We Aussies know the true meaning of long-haul flights!

Jay Davidson writes about his experiences living in Mauritania for 2 years. He compares the cultures of Mauritania and the US as being polar opposites of one other. Great insight, Jay.

Jay writes about another of his unusual experiences — staying in an ashram in Amritapuri, India.

Linda Ng talks about her experience in Hong Kong where life is so fast-paced.

Jillian Amatt continues the saga of her kayaking trip to the Bahamas when she was 24!

Souvenirs

Jay Davidson shares his favourite souvenirs in words and pictures. Some weird ones here for sure.

Simon Whaley collects postcards as souvenirs from every place he visits — if he can find one he doesn’t have!

Prompts — a new prompt?

Allison Ditmer asks whether we prefer saltwater to freshwater beaches. You may use this as a prompt if you’d like to.

Bucket Lists

Malky McEwan shares an Australian bucket list given to him by his hosts and challenges everyone to do a bucket list for their country. Can’t wait to read yours for Scotland, Malky.

Linda Ng writes a hypothetical bucket list. Machu Picchu, the Galapagos, and seeing an aurora are all on my list too, as well as Easter Island.

Jean Elizabeth Glass is off to a new life — travelling — we look forward to reading about your adventures, Jean.

Advice — 15 new stories

Ophélie Quillier tells us how she plans her trip and creates an itinerary. This is almost exactly how I plan! It’s a tried and true successful method!

Ophélie gives us an invaluable tip on how to make the holiday seem longer. Fascinating!

Ophélie has been busy writing for Globetrotters this week because he’s an excellent article on travelling with your pets. Something I am never likely to do — oh, except for taking Phoenix our Labrador to the beach or camping — she loves both!

Linda Ng decides to add some fun into her travel photos in Hong Kong and Macau. Do you do this?

Here’s a fun piece by Travel Prepper.

Nishan Fuard follows Linda’s lead in his travel tip for Hong Kong.

Yvette Brand gives some down-to-earth advice on how she travelled non-stop. I’m not sure if she’s still travelling. Let us know, Yvette!

Aun Gregg advises us on what not to do in Thailand — very valuable information. No one told me these things before my visit to Thailand.

The Sober Vegan Yogi is nothing if not practical, as you have to be when you’re travelling with children on a strict budget. Michele makes me feel not so much of a tightwad when I travel because I do the same thing especially when I travelled with my kids.

Bernie Pullen gives us the lowdown on what it’s like to fly nowadays. It’s an eye opener.

Aarti Tailor talks about what she learned from living in a van in New Zealand. NZ is a perfect place for a campervan holiday.

Rebekah Megan advises the best way to capture your travel memories is by taking videos not just photos.

TRAVEL STORIES BY GABE explains how he used travel quotes and gives examples. He’s worked hard compiling this. Well done, Gabe.

Allison Ditmer imparts some valuable wisdom to newbies who’ve never towed an Airstream.

Most travel tips I already practise but if I did all of these that Zaid - WrittenMastery recommends I’m sure I’d never leave home.

Opinions — 2 new stories

Kade "Kuma" Maijala shares his experience as an expat living in China.

Aarti Tailor shares with us the misconceptions people have about solo travel. And how they are the complete opposite of the truth in Aarti’s opinion.

Allison Ditmer has her reasons for thinking travelling with her kids is the best. She’s the bee’s knees when it comes to family.

Lost

If you’ve ever been lost, we’d love to hear about it. Where were you? Were you alone? How did it happen? Here are some, but not all, of the places I’ve been lost!

Well, if you’ve got down this far, congratulations and thanks for persevering. It’s only a long post because so many of you have submitted stories and articles this week. Are you happy for me to continue doing this? Or would you like a shorter round-up? I could choose my favourite stories, or just articles focussing on experiences one week and travel tips the next but then I think a lot of fantastic stories might be overlooked.

Have a great week, Globetrotters from all over the globe.