Hi, thanks for checking in. So who am I and why am I creating a travel blog. Well, my wife and I like to travel…and have done quite a bit of it. Since we like to travel…a lot….we have learned how to do it well and cheaply. Now, when I say we have traveled a lot, it really is a relative term. On our travels, we have met people who have done much, much more, but we have a few miles under our belt. We have been to all the U.S. States and several territories along with around 100 countries; several multiple times. We have averaged 30,000 miles of driving a year and google maps says that we traveled the equivalent of 5.3 times around the world in 2019. (I think they underestimated.) So along the way we have learned a few things, usually from mistakes and helpful folks that we have met. So that is what this about, cool places you can travel and how to do it reasonably.
A little more about me (Oba) and my wife (Reva). I retired from the U..S Government and the U.S.Air Force Reserve a few years ago. I was GS-15 manager forever with the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency and a Colonel in the Air Force Reserve. These were great jobs and let me do things that I loved and allowed me to travel. Often to do crazy things like hang out on an El Salvadorian Army Base, tour Nuclear Waste disposal sites or visit remote Indian Reservations in North Dakota in the winter. I have slept in tents and castles, flown in helicopters and military transports, eaten Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) for weeks and had dinner at some of the best restaurants in the world. Reva is a farmer’s daughter and was a stay at home mom. She was from a small town in Southeastern Ohio with a population of 3,000. She cooks and bakes and is a poster child for Mother/Grandmother of the year.
In regards to travel, we are as different as you can imagine. I will go anywhere and do almost anything. Reva on the other hand, has a very small comfort zone and has no interest in hiking the Inca Trail or flying to a Thailand and taking a bus to cross the border to Cambodia. (Yes, I have done both…with my kids.) So we have learned to put trips together that provides some excitement for me and would be comfortable for her. So I will tell you stories of our travels and how we put them together. Hopefully we may be able to give you some inspiration. Enjoy!