Thursday, June 27, 2013

Our Wedding Night ~ and other Travel Tales. . .

IMG_20130620_162149_853We’d ditched the wedding duds hours earlier --  opting, as they say,  ‘for something ‘more comfortable’. 

The lights were dimmed and we were snuggled up together on that,
. . .our first night as husband and wife. . .


wedding 001. . .well, as snuggled as one can be sitting side-by-side in the ‘no smoking’ section of a Delta Airlines flight that was whisking us across the continental United States to our Caribbean honeymoon hideaway. 


(Can you believe they had smoking/no smoking sections?!)



As a newspaper reporter, I didn’t have a lot of vacation days; so no time to waste when it came to travel.
This Friday is the 33rd anniversary of that first trip.  Although we no longer have those jobs with limited vacation time, we still believe there is no time to waste when it comes to travel! But sometimes it is good to pause in the planning and enjoy a trip down Memory Lane as well. . .

1980’s: Those wild and crazy early years. . .


PicMonkey Collage

Even with only two weeks annually, we managed to cram a lot of travel into those newlywed years.  Hong Kong,Thailand, followed by Singapore and Malaysia and then Japan. We couldn’t get enough of Asian cultures, the food, and history. The now-fading photos (above) were taken in Thailand (circa early 1980’s)– notice those look-alike white pants. And, btw, that elephant had just ‘goosed’ Joel!

The Call of Aloha . . .


VegasHawaii2012 060

VegasHawaii2012 067When we couldn’t make it to Asia, we’d head to Hawaii; a relatively ‘close’ getaway requiring only a 5+ hour flight from Seattle.

We were captured then by its ‘aloha’ magic  and our recent entry into the timeshare world has made O’ahu  our tropical ‘home away from home’ – for a few weeks each winter.








The 1990’s South of the Border ~ Down Mexico Way
DSCF2815A serendipitous set of events that prevented us from returning to Thailand, took us to Puerto Vallarta in 1993; a trip that was to turn our 8 – 5 work world upside down and change the course of our lives. 

(In this photo we were posing next to our first banana crop.)

Six months after that visit we had purchased Casa de la Playa, pictured below.  A decade later, we had quit those 8 – 5 desk-bound jobs and set out on the course of adventure we continue today.


Casa de la Playa 001

33 Years ~ What a trip!

We now spend nearly five months, sometimes more, living out of our suitcases. So many places we’ve seen; such wonderful people we’ve met. Land and sea; land or sea – doesn’t matter to us. Traveling independently, we’ve  follow our hearts; returning to favorite places and discovering new destinations.  Going ‘where the winds blow us’ has resulted in some amazing places, for instance:


PicMonkey Collage
From top left, clockwise:  Off-the-tourist track towns of Mexico; Bologna, Italy; Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Scottsdale, Arizona.


PicMonkey Collage
From top left: Venice, Italy; Loutro, Crete; Kotor, Montenegro,  Lake Chelan, Washington State.


PicMonkey Collage
Clockwise from top left: Walla Walla, Washington; Athens, Greece; Paris, France; Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Life isn’t measured by the number of breaths you take;
but by the number of moments that take your breath away.

Thanks for joining us today while we paused to admire the views on Memory Lane. We hope when you take a backward glance at your travels,  you’ll have as many of those breath-taking memories as we do. 
But enough looking back! Time to get started on the next trip. . .


That’s it for Travel Photo Thursday, be sure to stop by Budget Travelers Sandbox for more armchair travels. And for those wanting to know about my rendezvous with Nancie McKinnon, check back this weekend!!

25 comments:

  1. What fabulous memories, Jackie. Getting goosed by an elephant is something no one would ever forget! Here's to another 33 years!

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    1. Thanks much Nancie! We still laugh when we look at that elephant photo!

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  2. Happy Anniversary! How lovely to look back on so many wonderful travel memories!

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  3. thanks much Lisa! Yes, we have filled a few photo albums (and now photo cards) over the years. Hope your travel memories are as plentiful and good as ours.

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  4. Happy belated anniversary!A life full of exciting experiences, a happy marriage, you are blessed!

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    1. You are absolutely correct! We are blessed and don't take that for granted either! Thanks for visiting today - hope to see you back here again soon~
      xo Jackie

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  5. Lovely post, Jackie. 33 years, well done indeed. Happy anniversary :)

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    1. Thanks so much Sophie! Glad you enjoyed our trip down Memory Lane.

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  6. Hello Joel and Jackie

    I loved seeing your travel history. Wishing you a very Happy Anniversary and many more stamps in your passport

    Helen xx

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    1. Helen, that is such a lovely wish, 'many more stamps in the passport' Thank you and thanks for visiting today.
      Jackie XX

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  7. What a great story! You and your husband have certainly had some amazing travel adventures! And 33 years? That's certainly something to celebrate! Happy Anniversary and even happier continued travels.

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    1. Thanks Tonya for the good wishes. Yes, we still have a lot of the world to cover so had better aim for a couple more decades of travel - at least. Thanks for visiting today!

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  8. Happy Anniversary! I really enjoyed reading about your travel history together. Someday after retirement, we also hope to spend about half the year traveling. You make a really good case for it.

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    1. Thanks for visiting Michele. Yes, if you need further encouragement, don't hesitate to contact us -- we certainly recommend it!!

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  9. Awww....thanks for sharing your beautiful memory lane, Jackie! So touching and inspiring, made me a bit teary. I Hope that someday, my memory lane and Keith's will be as beautiful as yours and Joel's.

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    1. There's no doubt in my mind, that your backward glance at Memory Lane is going to show you a beautiful landscape filled with places and people. Thanks for the most touching comment.

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  10. Happy Anniversary and many more happy travels together! Fun to take a stroll down Memory Lane with you.

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    1. Thanks for the good wishes Cathy and glad you joined us on this trip down Memory Lane~

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    1. Thanks for stopping by on our trip through history, Dick.

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  12. I just loved reading about your adventures together as a couple. :-) I caught myself grinning so big several times. I love your love for each other and your love for adventure. :-)

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    1. Glad our Memory Lane brought a smile to your face. It certainly brought a few to ours as well! Get well soon~

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  13. Belated anniversary wishes Jackie & Joel. In this age of easy come easy go, marriages that survive the test of time are to be celebrated and I believe travel with all its shared new experiences helps this. Here's to many more adventures!

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We have been having problems in recent weeks with our comment section and I am not quite sure how to fix it. Thanks for letting us know. Some comments have been coming in as emails, so I will respond to those as I get them.

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