www.whereiscdnow.blogspot.com

I have put my lengthy collection of unpublished travel stories into a blog in the hope that someone would actually read them. In an act of shameless self-promotion, I am asking all the devoted watchers of Anthony Bourdain and other Travel Channel shows to read my blog. New stories posted twice a month with photos. Current locations include: Jost van Dyke, Vermont, Puerto Vallarta, Bundaburg and St. John. Locations to come: Belize, Maui, Aspen, Sydney and truly exotic locations like...Nebraska and Iowa. Come join me!

www.whereiscdnow.blogspot.com

@ c_rau: Rather than just provide a link, why not share a travel story here and if it catches someone's attention, then they can go to your blog? Shameless self-promotion needs a hook; a short story will do.

Good idea! Here's a teaser - - - Seconds after disembarking the ferry on Jost van Dyke, the excitement of getting our passports stamped wore off. Despite all the boats anchored in the bay, we saw no people…anywhere. During the ride, a ferry worker said there were only 200 permanent residents on this 4-square mile island. One hundred and ninety-nine to go after meeting the customs agent. With no other transportation than our feet we began to walk. It was ten in the morning and the ferry wouldn’t return until three that afternoon. What were we going to do all day?

I have another teaser for the August Blog...It didn’t take long before we ran into Richard again. A man like him is easy to find, especially when he tells you his hangout. He was exactly where he said he would be, at Fido’s bar laughing it up with the Rasta men playing dice. He’s the type of guy you like instantly with his easy smile and handy pieces of advice. Richard proved more valuable than any guidebook on Belize I could have bought.

This week's blog is a bit somber; my cat passed away last week. I found him while on vacation in South Dakota, which proves just how much travel can change your life.

Finally, a blog No Reservations lovers can sink their teeth into -- a blog about lunch! Here's a teaser...My waitress was a young, friendly Asian woman with shiny dark hair. She told me they had iced tea when I asked, something I had trouble finding at other restaurants. After ordering I looked around and looming in front of me was the Sydney Opera House. That’s when it hit me…I was in Australia!!!!!!! It took me twenty years to get here and I wanted to jump up on top of the table and scream at the top of my lungs. I had to grab the edges of my chair to keep from doing so. I smiled and decided I had to share this moment with someone so I pulled out my phone and began texting everyone I knew. The time on my cell phone, stuck in the Pacific Time Zone, reminded me it was 2 a.m. in the states. I didn’t care and sent a message anyway. It said, “Having lunch across from the opera house. Miss you.”

This week's blog: Maui, Hawaii...Technically, it was illegal to hike to Twin Falls. According to my Maui guidebook, Twin Falls was on private property, a tropical farm that harvested exotic flowers to be exact, so to hike it was considered trespassing. However, the guidebook also said this hike was so popular with tourists that the owners wouldn’t prosecute unless you wandered off the marked path and into the crops. With that knowledge, we drove past the surf town of Pa’ia until Highway 36 inexplicably turned into Highway 360 and the mile markers start over at 0. At Mile Marker 2, the guidebook told us to pull off the highway and park the car. If it weren’t for the three other cars parked along the barbwire fence and the juice cart off to the side, I wouldn’t have had any idea something worth pursuing was here.

New blog post for October, Small Town 4th of July featuring...Tekamah, Nebraska? Where the heck is that? Read and find out...

Second blog post for October...As I stood there, baking in the sun, my arms and legs pelted by millions of tiny airborne tacks, sand going up my nose and crunching between my teeth, I was astonished. If my eyes hadn’t dried out, I might have cried. North America’s largest beach stretched out for a half mile below me. A beach with no water, not in the month of August anyway. The harsh and unforgiving climate makes this location an extremely difficult one to visit, yet one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen.

New blog post for November - This is actually Part 2 of 2 posts for Great Sand Dunes National Park in southern Colorado. It's about time I focused on my home state. Here's a teaser - Medano Pass Primitive Road had 25 campsites from bottom to top. We chose site 2.1. It was downhill from the pass road, surrounded by trees and Medano Creek flowed behind it, about as picture perfect a campsite in the Rocky Mountains as you could get. It was hard to believe that just two miles down the mountain were the largest sand dunes in North America with desert climate to match. As we breathed the cool mountain air and washed our dishes in the ice cold creek, we felt like we were in another world.