I’m beginning this blog because I want to tell travelers about some of the little-known places I’ve found and enjoyed. And it’s my plan to use it as I plan my own future adventures.  Most importantly, I hope by offering suggestions about how to travel to special places on a reasonable budget I’ll encourage some would-be travelers to get up and go!

In the preceding post I mentioned the 11-month tour of Europe that my husband and I enjoyed once. We traveled from Ireland to Russia, from Norway to Italy. We traveled by cruise ship, train, ferry and we put 22,000 miles on a pair of rental cars. While we saw the major cities of Europe most of the time we stayed in rental cottages in small villages where we could (very briefly) feel that we were part of those ancient communities. We made new friends, encountered many helpful, welcoming people and enjoyed one another’s company more than we ever had.  That trip changed my life in countless ways.

It is the very act of becoming – however briefly – a part of the fabric of the places you visit that inspires a traveler to keep going.  I hope that by telling you about some of the places I’ve loved I will inspire you to find special, little-known places to explore.  And I really hope you and others will use the comments section of this blog to share your memories and plans with us. I would love for this blog to become a place for asking questions while you plan your journeys and for answering questions about places you’ve enjoyed.