NEW HORIZONS
Okay, Team VFH is serious now with the
traveling. Janet has retired and my work has been thankfully sporadic. Life is
good, but our time in this Garden of Eden is measured, and so your humble sojourners
are going full monty with the destinations. New horizons are in the works and
though we will continue to seek out the jewels amid the mundane, the world is
waiting and in 2019 we plan to see a fair amount of what she offers.
HOW ARE WE GONNA PAY FOR THIS?
Truthfully,
I don’t know. Hopefully the ghetto stock market (lottery) will help, but if not
that whole adage about spending your children’s inheritance is ringing true. (I
keep dropping hints that they should call more often…). I realize this may seem to
be hedging on vindictive, but truthfully the sea change attitude of enjoying my
life now, because the future is unwritten, has been a healthy dose of living for
me. Too long for too many years I’ve plowed through work and Saturdays and
Sundays were just two more opportunities to earn. I earned and earned, afraid an indeterminate future would not take care of me and my family.
Now, in hindsight,
I realize how we all suffered from my devotion to labor, but the past is gone
and I must abide by the tenet taught well by my wife Janet, that life is good,
but is fleeting and the Garden of Eden awaits us.
I’LL SIT HERE IN THE DARK
There’s a
joke: “How many Jewish Grandmothers does it take to change a lightbulb?” The
answer: “Don’t worry, I’ll sit here in the dark.”
Okay, I don’t
mean to simply wave off my family. I have struggled mightily with how to atone for
my imbalance over the years. I can continue to guilt myself and beat my chest
and bawl. I can attempt to guilt my children and become a nuisance and show up
on their doorsteps and constantly hover. I can sit in the dark and wait, to no
avail.
Or,
behind door number three, there is the road. It’s a big world out there you
know, and in the words of Dedalus, a character in my second novel, “The Music
Made Me Cry”, “someone’s got to see it.” As they have the right to live their
life, so do I.
“KEYS” TO SUCCESS
Team VFH
has resolved to travel somewhere every couple of months and we’re not talking
about trundling over to the mall. In this still young 2019 we have planned
three major trips: carousing in Key West, sailing in Croatia, and lounging in
the Bahamas.
1) GOD’S WAITING ROOM
In February,
Team VFH will call the Florida Keys home for a few weeks. We fly to Miami, rent
a car and drive to Looe Key Preservation Center to either dive or snorkel for a few days. Nearby is
the incredible Bahia Honda State Park, considered one of the best beaches in the country, and on Big Pine Key, The No Name Pub.
After a
few days we will stay in the Conch Republic, Key West and enjoy the revelry down there for a week. We've both been there before and though we're not sure what will greet us on this wacky island, I'm sure there will plenty for us to squint at.
One side trip
I had always wanted to go on was to the Dry Tortugas National Park a 70 mile ferry ride out
into the Gulf of Mexico, to see Fort Jefferson. DRY TORTUGAS
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| FORT JEFFERSON |
We’ll be
in the Key West area for about a week. On our return we will stay a few days in
Marathon key.
2) BUCKET LISTS AND DEAR FRIENDS
A long
time ago in a galaxy far far way I worked the Sarajevo Winter Olympics for ABC and
since then I have often wished to return. I still have dear friends there and I
suffered greatly when the former Yugoslavia was wracked with extreme violence
when the republic broke apart after Communism fell. Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
was crippled by the longest siege in history. When I visited Sarajevo, I was
impressed by the myriad of peoples living cohesively. Sarajevo was renown for all the Muslims, Catholics and Jews living together in peace. The war changed all that. One fellow I worked with at the IBC (International
Broadcast Center) fled Bosnia before the siege and settled his family in Zagreb, Croatia. Over the years we've kept in touch through social media and last summer he invited us out to
visit. We’ll be out there in July.
GEMS OF THE ADRIATIC
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| DALMATION ISLANDS, CROATIA |
We will
fly in and out of Dubrovnik and stay with Mr. Z and his clan in his villa in Trpanj, but before that Janet and I are sailing through the Dalmation islands for 7 days. We depart from Dubrovnik and visit islands like Korcula, where it is said Marco Polo was born, and Hvar. The trip ends in Split. We explore that area for a day or two before taking a ferry back to Trpanj. We won’t be traveling in-land to see Sarajevo, but I’ll bet my
bottom Kuna there’ll be a lot of hugs and much pivo swilling. I have always wanted to sail through these beautiful islands and so here we go!
 |
| CROATIAN KUNA |
IT'S BETTER IN THE BAHAMAS
We enjoyed
our honeymoon at the Antigua Sandals enough to give this adults-only, couples-only,
all-inclusive luxury resort company another swing. This time we’re off to their Royal Bahamian resort in Nassau in late November of this year. We were able to save a couple of BSDs (Bahamian Dollars) because
we booked the trip very early, almost upon our return last month.
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| BAHAMAS DOLLAR |
It may seem a bit anti-climactic to be lounging about instead of exploring new horizons, but this particular resort boasts their own private island to go along with the pampering that Sandals offers.
Thanks for reading. Keep checking back for updates on these and other trips that crop up.
Oh I realize I've mentioned my book in a shameless plug earlier. Here's where you can buy it: THE MUSIC MADE ME CRY by Greg Dunaj
Oh I realize I've mentioned my book in a shameless plug earlier. Here's where you can buy it: THE MUSIC MADE ME CRY by Greg Dunaj
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