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The Rota Vicentina is a 450 km trail system in southwest Portugal. It includes the Fishermen’s Trail along the rugged Atlantic coastline, the Historical Way that heads inland through rolling countryside, and loop trails that connect both worlds. The system is good for point-to-point hiking where we moved to a different place each day, and hub-and-spoke… Continue reading Snapshots: Hiking the Rota Vicentina, Southwest Portugal

  In the past couple days there have been over 13,000 views of the above post in my microblog. Thirty-nine strangers have “liked” it. Typically, at this point, there would have been about 100 impressions. My microblog is an exercise in gratitude for something about each day of my life. I use Twitter as the… Continue reading The Emptiness of Social Media

San Francisco, March 1977. I had just finished my first business trip to the USA, and was now spending a few days walking around San Francisco. I loved the place to the point that I had changed a flight so I could stay an extra two days. At Fisherman’s Wharf I chatted with a couple.… Continue reading The Time I Visited a Moonie Commune

Yesterday, with a big snowstorm promised, I rushed to get through some errands. It was starting to snow, the gritty sort that stings your face. When the temperature hovers around freezing, we get the gritty kind. This is sometimes preceded by freezing rain then sloppy snow as the temperature drops. As the temperature continues to… Continue reading An Incoming Snowstorm

I had left the bright sunshine and blue sky that often follows a Minnesota snowstorm and entered the shadow of a corporate building. I walked past a snow shovel propped up at the entrance to a park in front of the corporate building. A worker had shoveled the entire path through the park. This was… Continue reading Walking With Attitude Through Cancer Survivors Park

There are things I have had to do that I’ve only done because my nephews are part of my life. Changing diapers, geocaching, and metal detecting quickly come to mind. Changing diapers is what it is. The little one does what he has to do, then I do what I have to do. Both jobs… Continue reading Seven Metal Detectors

It’s 1906. A man looks down from his perch high above a rail yard and the flour mills it serves. The caption for the stereograph simply reads “Huge flour mills where grain crops are made into food for the world, Minneapolis, Minnesota.” From our temporary Minneapolis Mill District home, a rented condominium, I love to… Continue reading Perches Above a Rail Yard

On a freezing February day in Minnesota, it feels good to think about upcoming travels to warmer places. Today, I’ve been assembling digital and print maps. As usual, my winter trip has several phases, each with its own mapping requirements. The trip starts in the Florida Keys and culminates in a walk from one side… Continue reading Mapping My Next Travels