Travel Journal - ilivetotravel's travel log

My Boarding Pass Collection – The Log of My Travels

26 June 2013 by Raul 24 Comments

I have been flying since I was a pup and that is when I first got a boarding pass. However, my first time on a plane was around 3 months old though I do not remember it – or the boarding pass 🙂 Thankfully, that will not happen against thanks to my boarding pass collection!

My earliest travels

My first destination was San Juan, Puerto Rico. I flew again when I was 6 but I do not remember the plane part though I am sure it was exciting for a 6-year old boy to get on a plane (on the flip side, I remember a lot about visiting Disney!). The first flight I actually remember was when I was 8 years old when I flew alone from San Juan, PR to Miami, FL. I remember getting on the plane and running into someone who worked with my Mom. I remember the flight attendant taking care of me. It was an ADVENTURE!!!!!

Eastern Airlines plane ticket cover circa 1982 travel nostalgia flight — Bring any memories?? I flew Eastern almost exclusively for over 15 years as they dominated the SJU-MIA route. Loved their L-1011s!

Since then I have flown countless airlines (over 50), to go a multitude of airports (maybe a hundred or so?), and had my fair share of the good, the bad, and the ugly in terms of inflight experience (talking about both airlines AND fellow passengers…). I have been on airlines that have lasted decades (Delta, Lufthansa, Air France) and on others that disappeared (PanAm, TWA) and on others that are barely a blip in airline history (Kiwi).

Flying has been a part of my life all along and I have the evidence to prove it… A couple of years after traveling weekly for work, I opened a drawer at home and realized I had been dumping boarding passes in it – and had a good collection. So I found a box and continued the habit. To this day. Here is how a sample of my flights looks like – in boarding passes!

Airline, boarding pass, Alitalia, TWA, Lufthansa, Aerolineas Argentinas, boarding pass collection

Airline, boarding pass, flight, Varig, Emirates, Jet, Kiwi, Lufthansa, Delta, British Airways, Austrian Airlines, Air New Zealand, boarding pass collection — Lots of cool airlines traveled. Notice Kiwi on the top left? No, not in New Zealand – I flew it between Newark and Atlanta.

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——————————————————————————————————————-Some of the boarding pass series:

– Christchurch

– Dar es Salaam

– Delta drinks menu

– Denver

– Flying TWA

– Istanbul

– Las Vegas

– Little Rock

Do you have any cool boarding passes? Leave a comment with any that are especially priceless for you! I especially like those from now-defunct airlines. I also like them when they are/were colorful. The boring plain black & white en vogue these days in the name of costs savings really are a big downer for a boarding fan like me. And even the ink used wears out over time. While I appreciate technology innovation and what e-boarding passes allow, I still print mine at the airport to keep adding to my collection. Yep, I live to travel as you have noticed 🙂

I keep mine in wooden boxes that I have bought during my travels or have been given by my Mom from her travels. Once in a blue moon, it’s fun to open one of those small boxes and remember trips from near and far trips!

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Filed Under: Travel Journal Tagged With: air france, air new zealand, boarding pass, british airways, Delta, Eastern Airlines, flight, flying, kiwi, lufthansa, travel memorabilia, travel nostalgia, varig

The Charming Town of Kotor, Montenegro

13 June 2013 by Raul 12 Comments

Kotor, Montenegro was an almost accidental destination for me. The anchor destination for the trip was Italy but my wanderlust wanted me to go further to new places (even though Pompeii was new to me). So I added Croatia by visiting the gem of the Adriatic: Dubrovnik. But then I found out about day trips to Mostar (in Bosnia-Herzegovina) and Montenegro. It didn’t take much for me to say “sold!” Kotor was a very picturesque and “alive” town with its cafés and old architecture.

Café scene in old town Kotor, Montenegro Canon EOS Rebel

Part of the café scene

Kotor sits between the bay of the same and the mountain of St. John which was fortified as early as the 6th century. This town has passed from empire to empire from Roman times, Byzantine times, Republic of Venice’s time, Hapsburg times, Bulgarian times, Ottoman times and Yugoslav times among others (even if not all those officially had the name “empire”…). You get the picture of the changes this places must have gone through over two millenia!

Sea Gate in Kotor, Montenegro part of the fortifications city wall Canon EOS Rebel

The Sea Gate which dates from the 16th century

Madonna with Child in the Sea Gate

fortification wall tower Kotor Montenegro St. John history Canon EOS Rebel

Fortifications consist of large walls interspersed with towers along the water and up the mountain

Its architecture, heavily influenced by the Venetian style, contributed to it being named a UNESCO World Heritage Site which seconds my recommendation that this is a place that ought to be checked out – the trip to reach it is both, worth effort AND beautiful as Kotor Bay is a unique setting – in and of itself worth seeing in person.

Churches in Kotor

Kotor has quite a few churches from different times – 11 if I counted correctly on the tourist map for this town of around 13,000 inhabitants.

St. Tryphon's Cathedral in Kotor, Montenegro - crucifix, museum Canon EOS Rebel

Crucifix in the small gallery on the second level of St. Tryphon’s Cathedral

St. Tryphon's Cathedral - alter and crucifix in Kotor, Montenegro Canon EOS Rebel

Altar and crucifix in St. Tryphon’s Cathedral

St. Nicholas Serbian Orthodox Church in front of St. Lucas in Kotor, Montenegro Canon EOS Rebel

St. Nicholas Serbian Orthodox Church (facing St. Lucas Church) in Kotor, Montenegro

Church of St. Lucas in Kotor, Montenegro Romanesque architecture photo Canon EOS Rebel

12th century Church of St. Lucas – Romanesque style

Getting lost in Kotor -and is true in many places – is a neat way to see this town and, trust me, you won’t be lost for too long as you are bound by the mountain, the moat or the Sea Gate!

Filed Under: Europe, Montenegro, Travel Journal Tagged With: architecture, Canon EOS Rebel, church, Eastern Europe, Kotor, montenegro, photography

Honey Badger Anyone?

28 May 2013 by Raul 6 Comments

If you are a regular visitor of this blog, you know I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro this past February. It was a fantastic experience that I am glad I was dared to do. Before we embarked on that hike, we spent a few days in the town of Moshi visiting and working with a local orphanage, Kili Centre. A great couple of days to set us off for our hike. But those couple of days allowed me to meet the honey badger of that viral video. The reason the topic the video came up was not just because we were in Tanzania where likely there are honey badgers. It came up because we stayed at the awesome Honey Badger Lodge outside of Moshi!

We arrived around 2AM at the lodge due to a flight delay leaving Amsterdam. Obviously, everything was pretty dark and quiet when we got there and we were eager to get to our rooms and bed. We were all sharing rooms with other trekkers but my roommate was arriving the next night so I appreciated having the room to myself that first night. My room was in a standalone cabin whereas some other rooms were adjoining rooms in small buildings. My cabin was super spacious with two queen beds (with mosquito nets). No fan though… Oh, and it had separate shower area from the rest of the bathroom.

cabin, honey badger, lodge, moshi, tanzania, olympus, lodging, accommodation, hotel, tourism

Half of my cabin!

The hotel grounds had a lot of nice vegetation and monkeys too. There was a nice sized pool with a great area around it to sit and a few steps down from it was the dining area full of picnic-like tables and the bar. It all felt very close and convenient yet I felt there was a lot of space and openness.

Monkey Grounds of the Honey Badger Lodge in Moshi, Tanzania lodgiing accommodation

Notice the monkey?

One night, there was a show with local music and dancing that was quite enjoyable; I think this is done often for the benefit of the guests. The lodge can also arrange any number of activities for the visitor including climbs of Mt. Kilimanjaro – even if you don’t use them for that, I highly recommend staying there before and after!

But the good news about the Honey Badger Lodge don’t end there. The lodge makes a serious effort to to contribute to the local community. A portion of the profit goes to support local education and other projects and they strive to train staff and give them a good situation for employment (read more in their website). The current owners, Joseph and Jenny, do this but this started when the owner (and founder of the lodge) -the mother of the current owner- decided her business could be more than just to make a living for her and her family.

I enjoyed my stay there because of the nice layout and the knowledge that our giving them our business would have more of an impact. But, as a final word, I will say that I enjoyed my stay there because the staff was very friendly and made an effort to call us by our name. I was impressed. Clearly management knows what it’s doing and I like that in every which way!

Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Moshi, Honey Badger Lodge, children, special, vista

Neighbors of the lodge and the roof of Africa behind them

Filed Under: Africa, Tanzania, Travel Journal Tagged With: accommodation, community, education, Honey badger, lodge, lodging, moshi, Olympus, purpose-driven, service, Tanzania

Jordan’s Wadi Rum: Not Just for Lawrence of Arabia

19 May 2013 by Raul 24 Comments

Well, I assume I did follow some of his/his camel’s footsteps in the Wadi Rum in my recent trip to Jordan. My visit to the Wadi Rum was an amazing experience as I had never had been in such a landscape before. In an earlier post, I shared how I found color everywhere I went in Jordan. It is now time to focus on one of the places I explored during my trip.

The visit began at the well-set-up Visitor Center which has great information, a surprisingly good restaurant and an excellent view of the rock/mountain Lawrence himself called the Seven Pillars of Wisdom, a reference from the Book of Proverbs.

Entering the Visitor Center, one immediately is rewarded by a view of the Seven Pillars!

T.E. Lawrence, his real name, became involved in the Arab Revolt in the late 1910s when the Arab peoples were revolting against the Ottoman Empire. Lawrence fell in love with the Wadi Rum area and now I can understand why. I hope sharing this adventure will also do the same for you and that you get inspired to see it in person some day!

Spending the afternoon exploring the Wadi Rum desert

We left the Visitor Center to find the vehicles that would take the group to explore the Wadi Rum well into the evening, prior to arriving at the Captain’s Camp where we would spend the night (and I will write about this in another post coming up soon).

Off we went in these pick up truck -type vehicles!

Soon we got deep in the incredible mountains/rocks formations characteristic of the Wadi Rum as well as have fun running up dunes and actually witnessing a rare rainstorm in the area (mercifully not over us!)

Sand dune soon to be “hit” by us visitors!

Note the Bedouin camp

Typical / iconic landscape the Wadi Rum desert in Jordan is known for

Amazing rock formations and colors in the Wadi Rum!

Barrah Siq where the large rock in the bottom has a carving of Lawrence of Arabia; alongside a Bedouin camp

Close-up of the carving of Lawrence of Arabia’s face in Barrah Siq

This photo offers a better sense of the scale of the place

The rare rainstorm in the distance – even lightning!

And then dusk began in the desert!

I thought we’d be done exploring as soon as it started getting dark and, while that was close to reality, we still got to enjoy dusk driving around – which made me appreciate the Wadi Rum in a different light, so to speak.

Sunset begins…

The magical sky at sunset

The clouds played nicely in the sunset scene

The ride is getting closer to ending as the lights come on. Still a beautiful backdrop!

And the method of exploring changes the next morning!

Our ride the next morning: Wadi Rum camels!

Riding camels! Yours truly in the blue shirt (via J. Festa – thanks!)

And to finish this, a shot taken by a fellow traveler about ilivetotravel in action!

Notice the tarp covering the back of our pick-up truck. And me so focused… (again, thanks J. Festa!)

During this trip, I was a guest of the Jordan Tourism Board. That notwithstanding, the stories I share were my real experiences and nothing else. As they always are!

Filed Under: Asia, Jordan, Travel Journal Tagged With: adventure, camel, desert, Jordan, nature, outdoors, travel

My Favorite Nativity Sets

31 December 2012 by Raul 7 Comments

I am not typically focused during my travels on picking a particular item from every place I go. (OK, maybe a beer glass but I am not consistent with that one…) But if an item really catches my eye in a certain category, I do buy it. Nativity scenes (“pesebres” in Spanish) is one of those categories. I especially like the ones from Andean countries which you will see below. Here are my favorite ones with special emphasis on one of them.