GUAYAQUIL, ECUADOR 2008

Hotel Oro Verde Lobby in Guayaquil, Ecuador (2008)

THE STORY OF A WORLD TRAVELER

 

Ireland

The elementary school in Mozambique, Portuguese East Africa

Wine cellar in Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California, Mexico

Born in Maracaibo, Venezuela.

I took my first International Flight from Maracaibo, Venezuela to Curacao when I was 18 months old.

From Curacao, we sailed through the Panama Canal up to San Francisco, California. Stopping along the way in El Salvador, visiting San Salvador.

Finally arriving in San Francisco after sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge.

The vessel was a Swedish Line out of Vancouver, British Columbia called the Lionsgate.

Onboard, Mom and Dad had purchased a brand new Mercedes Benz which would later transport us across the USA to Falls Church, Virginia.

 

 

We traveled to Cali, Colombia in  August of 1962, via San Francisco to Panama and Bogota and on to Cali.

The Mercedes was sold in Cali, Colombia.

In 1964 we traveled to Washington, D.C. via Mexico City and Acapulco and on to San Francisco, and ultimately Bethesda, Maryland.

In the later part of 1965, we fly from New York City to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

In 1967,  we left Brazil via Salvador, Recife, Fortaleza, and finally Belem at the mouth of the Amazon River where we caught a PAN AM flight to Washington, D.C.

In 1968, we flew from Washington D.C. to London, Paris, Madrid and on to Portugal where we flew to Mozambique via Johannesburg, South Africa.

In 1969 we flew from Mozambique to Morocco on to Spain and ultimately on to our home in Whispering Pines, North Carolina.

Later on, we flew from Washington D.C. to Madrid, where we lived from 1969 to 1971.

In 1972, we fly from San Francisco to Taipei, Taiwan via Honolulu and Tokyo, Japan.

On two summer trips to Vietnam, we travelled from Taipei via Hong Kong to Saigon on one trip and on the second trip we travelled via Bangkok, Thailand.

We flew back to the USA from Vietnam in 1973 from Saigon, Vietnam via Bangkok, Thailand,  Delhi, India,  Istanbul, Turkey,  Athens, Greece,  Geneva, Switzerland.

In 1974 we travel from Miami to Buenos Aires, Argentina. One summer I travelled to Montevideo, Uruguay with chums. 

In 1976 we travelled back to the USA via Panama to Miami and from Miami to Santo Domingo via Port au Prince. Haiti.

We spent three months in Santo Domingo where we lived at the El Embajador Hotel and I graduated from High School at the CAROL MORGAN SCHOOL.

In December of 1976, we flew back to the USA via Haiti with a four-day visit to Port au Prince.

In the first 16 years of my life, I lived in Venezuela, USA, Colombia, Brazil, Mozambique, Spain, Taiwan, Vietnam, Argentina and the Dominican Republic. All told 10 countries. 

In addition, I had visited Curacao, Panama, El Salvador, Mexico, United Kingdom, France, South Africa, Portugal, Canada, Hong Kong, Thailand, India, Turkey, Greece, Switzerland, Morocco, Monaco, Andorra, San Remo, The Vatican, Italy, Haiti, Uruguay and Ireland. All told another 24 countries, for a grand total of 34 countries visited by my 17th Birthday.

College years in Bay Area (Menlo College) 1979

For the next 11 years, I travelled close to our Home in La Jolla, California with the exception of Costa Rica (1984) Belize (1986) Honduras (1988).

In 1989 I travelled to the United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium, France and British Columbia.

In 1990 I lived in Colombia until 1995 during which time I travelled non stop among Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Guatemala, Chile, Costa Rica, Canada, Jamaica and the USA.

In 1999 I travelled to Brazil for two months.

In 2000 I made a trip to South Africa vis London, United Kingdom.

In 2001 I spent several months Costa Rica, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Margarita Island and Caracas, Venezuela.

In 2002 I lived in Nicaragua for six months.

In 2003, I spent three months travelling around Europe (The Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, France, Italy, Corsica and the United Kingdom).

In 2004 through 2007 I lived in Maracaibo, Venezuela with a trip to Aruba for our honeymoon:

In 2007 I left Venezuela with my wife and two children. We flew from Maracaibo to Panama and on to Houston, Texas.

In 2008 we travelled as a family to Mexico, Panama (1-week visit), and Colombia (1-week visit). I travelled to Ecuador and Peru as well.

By my 50th birthday, I had travelled to or lived in a total of 46 countries.

I have lived in or visited many of these countries on many occasions:

Venezuela (Twice)

Colombia (Twice)

Panama (Three Times)

Brazil (Four Times)

Peru (Ten Times)

Canada (Eight Times)

Ecuador (Eight Times)

Costa Rica (Four Times)

Nicaragua (Three Times)

Spain (Ten Times)

France (Six Times)

Italy (Six Times)

Mexico (Too many times to count)

Lived in Baja California for two years (2016-2018)

United Kingdom (Four Times)

USA (Visited 38 states and Puerto Rico)

USA (Lived in five cities in California, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, Florida, and Washington D.C.)

USA: (Driven across on land 8 times)

By my 60th Birthday (This year because of COVID) my Travel has been very limited to San Diego, California area and Las Vegas, Nevada)

But the BEST is yet to come !!!