Whilst perusing Reddit, I actually found some very useful information amongst the garbage.

I came across a post about how visually impaired people navigate using a “track” embedded in sidewalks to get around. I vaguely recall seeing them in city sidewalks during my travels, and I definitely remember seeing them in train stations in various countries but never really knew their intended purpose; I figured they were to make people more aware of dangerous places to stand – don’t need to be too close to the tracks.

The video showed a visually impaired person using his white cane to navigate a city sidewalk. The amount of people standing “in the way” was surprising. But, like myself, they possibly did not know and many seemed surprised to get a nudge to move by a white cane using the track so they can get around and do the things they need to do. Of course, some people gave the person the stinkeye because they were “bothered”. I mean really? They are blind – they won’t see it.

I am glad I came across this bit of info and wanted to pass it along as I think having this type of information is a very important part of the travel experience. I honestly do not spend much time in American cities even though I live here so I am unaware of how common this is here. I will be more conscious of these while I travel now that I know.

**********

It has been pretty warm here – into the mid-80s – and I am not liking that much. Of course, with cardiac issues I always am concerned with high heat and/or humidity. The humidity is not too much of an issue here but it can be every now & then. I have never liked hot weather and always avoided it as much as possible even before my heart attack. At least I can work around it here, plus I am not in the Midwest anymore and that is the main thing.

We are heading into the dry season here in just a couple of weeks so I presume we will start seeing more local fires kick up, especially with the amount of tourists that come here. People need to be aware of the dangers of fires while camping. Campfires are NOT a necessity. I like being mesmerized by a campfire as much as the next person, but I really don’t have many campfires these days when I am out camping. Of course, I do like to grill some corn, roast a hot dog, have a delicious charred burger, or maybe have a s’more or two while gazing into the flames, but I do not have a fire every night when I am out – it is not really necessary since I can cook my food with other methods.

Speaking of dry weather, Meghan left a few days ago for another fire assignment. This time she is off to a fire in Colorado and it is very hot & very dry where she is headed. There are some pretty serious fires happening down there and I hope they can get a handle on them soon. Since science is actually real, fire season is lasting longer and getting even worse every year due to global warming. Lack of precipitation, more extreme temperatures, and I won’t even get into the political stupidity and incompetence – it its all making things progressively worse pretty fast.

**********

Why is it that non-alcohol beer is only sold with the other beers in some states like it has alcohol, and in some states only in liquor stores? That is pretty stupid – IT HAS NO ALCOHOL…says it right n the label. Probably still carding people for it too.

**********

Meghan has sent dogs across the globe from her breeding program Saddle Peak Aussies. One of her dogs is in Austria (she is still a co-owner) and it got a title in Italy last month. Last week she was informed that he got another title in Bosnia! Pretty impressive and it is a really good-looking dog. The pictures she was sent were incredible and had me longing for Europe – but honestly that doesn’t take much to do!

**********

I have been thinking about another theoretical trip just for something to do and thinking about what would I do differently, what new places to see and experience, what it costs currently, etc. I think for most everything else, like my backpack, clothing & the few extras I pack, I have that down pretty well. I am taking into consideration other aspects of my travels.

First, I think your plans will determine if you go “open-jaw” or “roundtrip (return)” and you should be looking at all options while planning. First time we did a roundtrip flight to Amsterdam and worked around in a circle back to Amsterdam to come back. We knew nothing about this new travel we were doing but we kicked ass and had a big time learning. We only planned the first half then did the rest only planning that we had to be back in Amsterdam to leave.

The second trip was roundtrip to Dublin for a drive around Ireland, then a flight to Cologne, Germany to see the Kölner Dom (Cathedral), then a train to Amsterdam for a few days. We then flew back from Amsterdam Schiphol. There was some backtracking involved but that was for a special event.

The last trip in 2025 was also “open-jaw”, meaning arrive in one city and your travel plans/itinerary gets you to your different departure city. We left Boston for Copenhagen, traveled around all over then came back from Dublin, Ireland. (This, and the previous two trips are just a few of my trip posts, and all my blog posts that are searchable since I started blogging in 2012).

With my experiences I will probably stay more open-minded with my itinerary as far as not going strictly roundtrip or open-jaw. There are advantages both ways. I have also gotten better at slowing down and not planning too much while trying to see things. I find a lot of pleasure just being in the moment in a new place – so much so that sometimes I have to really think if I even want to stop the moment to dig my camera out. That change has already started long ago and it is how I travel most everywhere.

Another change is to get outdoors in nature outside of cities more no matter where I am. Yeah, I can hoof some miles around Seattle, Amsterdam or Dublin, and I do love walking in the cities, but I gotta say that the hike in Killarney National Park was almost a spiritual thing in an Earth-related way. It was an incredible hike and it brought an inner calm to be in a place where there was evidence of where people from many centuries ago lived. It felt timeless and had a feeling to it I have never felt anywhere. As with everywhere in Ireland, I felt at home. I will definitely plan to get out of the cities for some forest/nature bathing when possible, but many European cities I have been to have fantastic parks and green spaces.

That kind of change also means possibly renting vehicles more often to get out of the city if there is no public transit available. That leads to considering whether or not to have a car in any big city, as that can cost you dearly in fees. But, it frees you up to get to the small towns and really get in deep into the culture.

On a bigger scale, the sheer amount of ancient history, castles & ruins in Europe is amazing. They are so fortunate to have all of that history still available to see & experience and not be torn down & paved over. I’m so envious of that. I do still have a bucket list of places to go or see so I cannot really narrow it down much with so many.

That last part about price…holy cow. I did a flight itinerary just to see prices for some of the usually lower-priced destinations (that are always a few major Western Europe cities that are hubs) – Dublin, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Istanbul; all are pretty expensive right now with the unnecessary cost of fuel. My first trip was $377 RT Seattle to Iceland to Amsterdam and I found a few mid-$700s to mid-$900s. That is crazy.

So there are always things to re-examine to see if you can plan a trip better to make it more worthwhile and save time & money or maybe you just want to change things up a bit from your normal travel style. I just want to expand the things I am doing and I think it is worth thinking about BEFORE you want to plan an adventure..

**********

That is all for this post. Thanks for stopping by.

Shawn