Kevin and Veda Trip Reports


Veda and I spend most of our disposable income on travel. To me, it's the greatest joy in the world. I got the travel bug from spending summers driving across the country with my grandparents when I was young. I lived in Baltimore and they lived in Seattle. When school was out, they would come and get me and we would drive back to their house. I did that trip three times and, because of it, have seen most of our country.

I didn't start to travel again until I was in college, and then only to Montreal (I went to school in upstate New York). Believe me, I wanted to go more places, but financially was unable to.

When I graduated and got a real job I was able to start serious travelling. A good chunk of the Caribbean, more of Canada and parts of Mexico. In the Caribbean I met a couple from England and visiting them became my first European trip

Marrying Veda fueled my travel desires because she too liked to travel. And she liked to travel the same way that I did (more on that below). With her I have explored more of Mexico and Canada, Western Europe, and even Africa.

Of course having three kids means family trips too. I want my children to have the same love of travel that was given to me. In my opinion traveling and meeting new people and experiencing different cultures is some of the most important learning you can receive.

How do we like to travel? Well, when we're with the kids, it's obviously to somewhere that's fun for them. We get a hotel and stay fixed in one spot. Pretty boring :) However, when we travel alone it's usually a different story. We have two modes of travel: Do Nothing Trips (DNTs) and Exploration trips. An example of a DNT is staying at the Grand Negril in Jamaica for a week. Pure luxury, no cares, and usually a full day spent sleeping. An Exploration trip is going to Europe, no hotel reservations, no real itinerary, just exploring. One thing to note is that Exploration trips are not about sightseeing, they are about meeting people. For example, we've been to Paris twice, but have only seen the Eiffel Tower and Versailles. As a matter of fact, on our last trip there, we walked along the Seine right past the Louvre, and neither of us gave a second though about entering.

Don't get the wrong impression. There are someplaces where we do sightsee. We saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa and in Rome we saw almost all of the sights, but it's the exception to the rule. To better illustrate, one of my favorite travel moments was spending Thanksgiving in Morocco. Our dinner consisted of lamb and pita bread that we bought on the side of a road in a Souk. The whole experience was surreal, and, to me, worth more than 100 visits to all the art museums in Florence.

Language is usually not a problem when we travel, although we like to try and find places where no English is spoken. I speak French enough to understand and be understood and I can read it fairly well. I speak enough Spanish and Italian to count and ask directions. We always try to learn Yes/No/Please/Excuse Me/Thank You in the native tongues of the countries we visit.

Here is a complete list of all of the places I have been:

  • All US states except: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorodo (did the 4 corners), Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah (did the 4 corners), South Dakota, West Virginia

  • Asia
    • Japan
    • Maldives
  • Middle East
    • Saudi Arabia
  • Africa
    • Morocco
    • Egypt
  • South Pacific
    • Tahiti
    • Fiji
    • Samoa
    • American Samoa
  • South America
    • Paraguay
  • Europe
    • Albania
    • Austria
    • Belgium
    • Bulgaria
    • Croatia
    • Czech Republic
    • Denmark
    • England
    • Finland
    • France
    • Germany
    • Gibralter
    • Greece
    • Greenland
    • Holland
    • Hungary
    • Iceland
    • Ireland
    • Italy
    • Kosovo
    • Liechtenstein
    • Luxembourg
    • Macedonia
    • Malta
    • Montenegro
    • Norway
    • Portugal
    • Romania
    • San Marino
    • Scotland
    • Slovakia
    • Slovenia
    • Spain
    • Sweden
    • Switzerland
    • Turkey
    • Vatican City
  • Canada
    • Montreal
    • Quebec City
    • Edmonton
    • Niagara Falls
    • Toronto
  • Mexico
    • Cancun
    • Puerto Vallarta
    • Cozumel
    • Akumal
    • Mexico City
  • Bermuda

  • Caribbean
    • Bahamas
    • Puerto Rico
    • St. Kitts
    • Nevis
    • St. Martin
    • St. Lucia
    • Jamaica
    • Antigua
    • Labadee (Haiti...sort of)
    • Turks and Caicos
    • Dominican Republic
    • USVI
    • BVI
    • Grand Cayman
    • Aruba
    • Bonaire
    • Curacao