Author: bootleggerbay

When I am in Yosemite, I feel the presence of my parents, as if they are surrounding me with an enormous embrace. I am forever grateful to them for introducing me to nature at a very young age. The memories of our annual summer family trips to this iconic location are imbedded deep within me….

Accompanying my travel partner on a work sojourn to Miami was an excellent cure for being homebound for too long! As I was packing my trusted Osprey rolly bag, I realized how much I have missed my little two-wheeled companion. I tend to pack meticulously and could happily spend time squeezing just the right amount…

After two weeks of sailing on a boat with no hot water and a sketchy sun shower shared by 10 people, the luxuries of a beachfront resort in Cabo was indeed a treat, yet after a couple days the back roads beckon. The 27th edition of the Baja Ha Ha, and my 13th year of…

Dear Mother Ocean The UN has dedicated June 8 as World Oceans Day, yet I celebrate and cherish your beauty every day. I have loved you since I was a toddler with sand in my butt crack, squealing with delight while frolicking in the surf of San Diego’s beaches. My attraction and fascination with you…

“Attention crew, attention crew, this is your Captain. Who wants to go to Machu Picchu?” Exuberant cheering is heard throughout the vessel. We were docked outside of Lima, Peru on the Sea Shepherd vessel M/V John Paul DeJoria in the only space they had for a 110’ former Coast Guard cutter, at the seedy and…

Fernweh. I discovered a word that aptly describes my state of mind. Roughly translated, this German word means “far-sickness”. As opposed to homesickness, fernweh is an aching for far-flung places and a perpetually, insatiable desire to travel and explore. While the world is on hold, I reflect on the amazing opportunities I’ve had to fulfill…

It’s not officially called Whale Vomit Island, yet it is the literal translation of Ambergris Caye, which has long intrigued me, not only because of its unusual name, but it’s proximity to the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the second largest reef system on our watery planet. I’m amused to find the meaning of ambergris is a…

I have lived with sadness for far too long. I refuse to let sadness be my constant companion, yet sadness sneaks in when I least expect it. I want to break up with sad. I want to kick sad to the curb, stomp on sad and throw sad over a cliff. Only I can make…

  In honor of National Dive Bar Day (yes, there is such a thing!) sponsored by Seagrams 7, who proudly support the National Trust for Historic Preservation, valiantly helping to preserve dive bars, we take a pub crawl in Waikiki, on the not quite so beaten paths. Frivolity; it’s a good word. Perhaps not practiced…