“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.”
Jack Kerouac
Original content written by Jann Segal
Finding Peace, Love, and a Pub in Prague
Travel is the color of love. It’s the one event in our lives that is a tapestry of the sights, sounds, smells, foods, music, colors and local people. Every trip I take must be divinely inspired. At the end of whatever the road, there is always a surprise to learn from, a joy to experience, or…
Continue readingUnderstanding Southern Justice on a Civil Rights Journey in Mississippi
One thing that came as a complete surprise to me when I took the Grand Circle Travel trip Let Freedom Ring: A Civil Rights Journey, was the role Jackson State University took in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, the fight for justice, and how the struggle thee continues today. In fact, everything about…
Continue readingLetting Freedom Ring: Understanding the Struggle for Freedom in the Deep South
Author Henry Miller once wrote, ” One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” That was certainly the case when I took the Grand Circle Travel trip Let Freedom Ring: A Civil Rights Journey. Of the 48 states I have visited, getting a full dose of the struggles of the…
Continue readingMeeting the Maasai Tribes of East Africa: A Diamond in the Rough
I don’t live an ordinary life. I have been blessed to be able to travel the world, so I live an extraordinary one. I was reminded of this when I took the Overseas Adventure Travel trip Safari Serengeti. The pre-trip to the Maasai Mara game reserve and meeting and learning about this distinct tribe of…
Continue readingExploring: Three Days in Nairobi
I recently took the Overseas Adventure Travel Trip, Safari Serengeti with the Kenya pre-trip. I really enjoy seeing a country in depth, as well enjoying what additional new countries have to offer that I can see as part of my travels. I wavered between boking this trip or their alternate East Africa trip that goes…
Continue readingTraveling to Become Inspired
I just returned from the Grand Circle Travel trip to Alabama and Mississippi Let Freedom Ring: A Civil Rights Journey. I had so many moments of inspiration on that trip – especially considering that I had lived through the tumult of the Civil Rights movement and had even met some major players – that I…
Continue readingSpending a Divine Day in Zanzibar’s Paradise
I spent a wonderful day in the Paradise that is Zanzibar’s Fumba beach on the post trip to the Overseas Adventure Travel trip Safari Serengeti. The entire trip was wonderful, but our three days on Fumba beach which followed two days in and around Stone Town – and this day in particular – was an…
Continue readingVisit Zanzibar and See How it Will Rock You
Zanzibar. An exotic sounding destination in East Africa off the Indian ocean. A land filled with monkeys of two species, a multitude of butterflies, and spices originally brought from India by the Portuguese. A land once ruled by the Sultan of Oman who brought with him Muslim influence in a territory that was simultaneously a…
Continue readingDiscovering Kenya and Tanzania Up Close
When I took the trip Safari Serengeti with Overseas Adventure Travel, I must have taken almost two thousand photos between my stand-alone camera and my cell phone camera. I was on the pre-trip in Kenya as well as the post-trip to Zanzibar, yet what stands out among all the photos are the close-range shots I…
Continue readingWhen the Serengeti Comes Calling
Sometimes when traveling, you must break the rules and push your boundaries beyond your regular limits in order to truly appreciate the world. This is what I learned during my first full year of post- pandemic travel. I had five trips on the books with Overseas Adventure Travel, including Safari Serengeti, and a two-week independent…
Continue readingEnjoying Hibiscus Tea in Egypt
When I took the trip Egypt and the Eternal Nile with Overseas Adventure Travel, I had two days on my own before joining the group. These two days afforded me time to see the pyramids at Saqqara and Dasher with a private guide, experience the uniqueness of Garbage City in Cairo, and enjoy as drink…
Continue readingEnjoying the Taste of Tuscany at Home
When I was on the Overseas Adventure Travel trip, Tuscany and Umbria: Italy’s Rustic Heartland, I experienced more food and wine delights then I ever have on any other trip. Or rather, delights that were explained and enumerated, not simply enjoyed at mealtimes. Our trip to the Pruneti olive oil facility in the Chianti region…
Continue readingEnjoying the Floral Surprises of Spello, Italy
When I was on the Overseas Adventure Travel trip Tuscany and Umbria; Italy’s Rustic Heartland, we stayed in Spoleto while on the Umbria portion of the trip. We had an optional evening of folk music in the nearby town of Spello, but the flowers that graced that walled in city was music to my eyes.…
Continue readingDiscovering Michelangelo’s Marble in Carrera
When I took the Overseas Adventure Travel trip Tuscany and Umbria: Italy’s Rustic Heartland, I expected many things the region is famous for, all of which I experienced. But it is the unexpected discoveries that remain with a traveler, and which turn an excellent trip into an outstanding one. So it was in Carrera, an…
Continue readingExploring Two Basilicas in Italy, Two Synagogues in Prague
I recently embarked on two sharply different trips with Overseas Adventure Travel. It was supposed to be a 5-week exploration or Eastern and Central Europe with two different OAT trips. However, thanks to the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and my own post pandemic flexibility, I returned to Italy just a few months after my…
Continue readingEnjoying Parmesan Cheese, Balsamic Vinegar, and Prosciutto in Parma
On the Overseas Adventure Travel trip Tuscany and Umbria: Italy’s Rustic Heartland, we were treated to many fabulous food experiences, including learning how some of their great food is made in Parma. While on the pre-trip prior to the main trip, we learned and saw first-hand how Parmesan cheese and their additionally famous Balsamic Vinegar are…
Continue readingListening to Tuscany’s Most Famous Musical Sons
Tuscany. Land of food and wine. Balsamic vinegar. And world class composers, conductors, and singers. The musical aspect of Tuscany was a sheer delight for this former musician, when I took the Overseas Adventure Travel trip to Italy, Tuscany and Umbria: Italy’s Rustic Heartland. The native sons we learned about from Tuscany were Luciano Pavarotti,…
Continue readingDiscovering Italy’s Capitol of Chocolate in Umbria
I took the trip Tuscany and Umbria: Italy’s Rustic Heartland with Overseas Adventure Travel. It was undeniably a foodie tour which highlighted the geographical beauty of the region, the culture, and without a doubt, the food. After we left the beauty of Tuscany, we drove through lush vegetation as the regions changed from Tuscany to…
Continue readingLearning About Refugees in the Prague Train Station, Platform 1
While on the Overseas Adventure Travel trip Jewels of the Bohemia, I was extremely interested in meeting some of the Ukrainian refugees, in whatever form was possible. I understood it was a sensitive situation, and certainly I did not necessarily expect many to speak English. My trip leader accommodated my unusual request at the end…
Continue readingUnderstanding Stolpersteine Across Europe
When I was in Europe recently with Overseas Adventure Travel, I took the Central Europe trip Jewels of the Bohemia. On that trip, I finally saw the memorial stones to those lost in the Holocaust that I had heard so much about over the years. They have a German name, stolperstein, or stolpersteine for the…
Continue readingTraveling to Explore a Deeper Truth
I’ve always known that when we travel, if we are paying attention, we can explore a deeper truth about humanity, history, and even how geography helps us get to the bottom of this truth. On the Overseas Adventure Travel trip to Central Europe, Jewels of the Bohemia, I saw both the best and the worst…
Continue readingUkraine Has Not Yet Perished
As a traveler, my heart is broken as the war in Ukraine rages on. I had to move the dates for my Baltic Capitols and St Petersburg trip three times because of the pandemic. I wasn’t so sure their Covid recovery rate would allow the trip to go this year, but Putin did what Covid…
Continue readingReflecting on Volcanoes, Pomegranates, and Moorish Heads in Sicily
During my recent trip with Overseas Adventure Travel called Sicily: Ancient Landscapes and Timeless Traditions, I came away with many great learning experiences. But three of them which were unexpected were seeing and experiencing such a magnificent volcano, the cultural influence of pomegranates and pinecones, and the story behind the all-pervasive Moorish Heads. Mt Etna…
Continue readingLearning and Discovery in Sicily’s Last Arab Casbah
One of the most intriguing parts of the Sicily trip I rook with Overseas Adventure Travel called Sicily: Ancient Landscapes and Timeless Traditions, was the time we spent in the old Tunisian Casbah in the fishing port of Mazara del Vallo on the West coast of Sicily. Our day wandering the Casbah and enjoying the…
Continue readingLearning in Italy about the Sweetness of Doing Nothing
In Italy there is the concept of dolce far niente – the sweetness of doing nothing. The Italians claim to be masters at it. I enjoyed some of it on my own during rainy days in Matera in Southern Italy and other times in Sicily. I much prefer the Italian description rather than the American…
Continue readingLoading…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
“The most beautiful thing in the world is the world itself”
Wallace Stevens