Daphne's Drivel

Good news. We are now in Athens. But more to the point - so are our bikes, in perfect shape after their maiden air voyage. Frank did a great job of packing them up in their bike bags with appropriate foam padding, bubble wrap, etc. Our dear friend Tannis was kind enough to offer her driving services to the airport at 3am, which really helped because the cab companies I had talked to could not promise the availabilty of the van taxi we would need because of the bikes. The only painful part was at Calgary airport where security insisted on us taking every piece out of each bike bag for hand inspection. Luckily we had allowed ourselves plenty of time so that was fine, just annoying. Disassembled bike being packed up at home At Athens airport, transfer to the sub-urban train was far easier than expected. The station was quiet, and there was loads of room on board the train to place our massive bags and be able to keep a watchful eye on them (you may sense a certain bike-theft paran...

"We're going to the Greek Islands in September in case you fancy joining us - just planting a little seed!" That's what my brother Des emailed to me back in April, around the time we were thinking of ideas for our summer of retirement. Well apparently the seed took hold and flourished, although I'd say the ground was fertile and well ready for planting at the time. Although at the time we had no notion of a Europe trip till possibly 2019, here we are one week from our departure to Athens, excited and full of anticipation of this trip  with a new more adventurous twist for us. Neither of us has been to Greece before, but it has been on my Bucket List. Random picture from the island of Mykonos Before a decision was made, I had to make sure we'd have a chance to meet up with my other brother David and his wife Rosita. That would work ok, they would meet us in Crete, but wouldn't be able to make it till mid October. Darn it - we would be stuck in th...

In the months leading up to retirement, I was starting to think about some adventures that Frank and I could get into. Inspiration is easy to find on social media these days, and so I want to share some of my favourite adventurers and their stories and blogsites. Because we have a Safari Condo camping van, on Instagram I would sometimes follow other Safari Condo owners and check out their travels and photos.  I happened on a very interesting account called "300 Days South" about a Calgary family who planned to travel from Chile back to Calgary in their van. They have a blog as well which makes for great reading and armchair travelling. Check it out here . What I especially like about this blog is their honesty. It's not all plain sailing on this adventure. It's no big surprise that with four people travelling and living in a very small space for ten months, with two quite young kids, that there would be tantrums and tears along the way. And they tell it how it re...