Philomena and Frank's story:
We are Canadians, living close to Toronto. Our passion is adventure & independent travel. We ran a successful horticultural company Plant Marketing Limited but are now retired and have expanded our interests in geology and native vegetation to deepen our appreciation of the mountains. We are both avid sailors and were involved with the Scouts for over 10 years. Philomena teaches Tai-Chi and speaks Cantonese. Frank speaks Dutch and German and is looking to improve on his Italian and French. Member of the Alpine Club of Canada.
When our sons were struggling to decide how to continue their education after high school, I suggested they broaden their horizons first and do some traveling. After working in Europe just long enough to afford their travels they set of for several months. The last few weeks of their adventure I met up with them and traveled together on overnight trains, ferries and buses, staying in tents and hostels. Consequently my wife and I caught the travel bug and for the next 15 years camped, hiked and biked all across Europe.
As retirement approached we were most worried about this feeling of ennui (boredom) because of in-activity and the depressing lack of excitement. Travel combined with knowledge of natural phenomena and playing the detective by figuring out past geological processes presented rewarding puzzles to solve. After all you have to do something when you hike and I am not talking about hanging out in mountain huts drinking wine and eating pizza..
The only guided tour we ever took was a tour of Japan. As we had no knowledge of the language, customs and were new to traveling and we much appreciated being lead by people who had intimate knowledge of the area. However we did not have much contact with the local population and conversed mostly with our fellow tourists. After visiting many of Europe's obligatory tourist towns and sites we now evolved from being tourists wanting to see everything to travelers, more interested in the local residents, music, food and things built by nature rather than by man. Are you a tourist or a traveler ?
To avoid flying and for practically the same cost we often took a re-positioning cruise from the USA to Europe. One year, to catch an inexpensive flight from Munich home, we had to take a train from Venice north right through the Dolomites. We fell in love with the stunning mountain scenery. The following year we walked up steep climbs and reached boundless landscapes in uncontaminated spaces, far from car traffic and pollution. We've come to appreciate the deeper enjoyment and the pleasure and emotions of watching nature from a higher point of view, with spectacular 100km vistas, beating even those from a sailboat. We still take the odd cruise to Europe, it keeps Philomena happy, she likes the luxury so I guess I'll suffer through that part of the trip to Europe.
Hiking relieves our stress, offers a bit of adventure , improved health, new friendships and cures the addiction to "screens". We stay young by being unafraid, travel, explore, hike, bike, sleep in a tent (Frank) and carry that backpack for as long as we can!
We are Canadians, living close to Toronto. Our passion is adventure & independent travel. We ran a successful horticultural company Plant Marketing Limited but are now retired and have expanded our interests in geology and native vegetation to deepen our appreciation of the mountains. We are both avid sailors and were involved with the Scouts for over 10 years. Philomena teaches Tai-Chi and speaks Cantonese. Frank speaks Dutch and German and is looking to improve on his Italian and French. Member of the Alpine Club of Canada.
When our sons were struggling to decide how to continue their education after high school, I suggested they broaden their horizons first and do some traveling. After working in Europe just long enough to afford their travels they set of for several months. The last few weeks of their adventure I met up with them and traveled together on overnight trains, ferries and buses, staying in tents and hostels. Consequently my wife and I caught the travel bug and for the next 15 years camped, hiked and biked all across Europe.
As retirement approached we were most worried about this feeling of ennui (boredom) because of in-activity and the depressing lack of excitement. Travel combined with knowledge of natural phenomena and playing the detective by figuring out past geological processes presented rewarding puzzles to solve. After all you have to do something when you hike and I am not talking about hanging out in mountain huts drinking wine and eating pizza..
The only guided tour we ever took was a tour of Japan. As we had no knowledge of the language, customs and were new to traveling and we much appreciated being lead by people who had intimate knowledge of the area. However we did not have much contact with the local population and conversed mostly with our fellow tourists. After visiting many of Europe's obligatory tourist towns and sites we now evolved from being tourists wanting to see everything to travelers, more interested in the local residents, music, food and things built by nature rather than by man. Are you a tourist or a traveler ?
To avoid flying and for practically the same cost we often took a re-positioning cruise from the USA to Europe. One year, to catch an inexpensive flight from Munich home, we had to take a train from Venice north right through the Dolomites. We fell in love with the stunning mountain scenery. The following year we walked up steep climbs and reached boundless landscapes in uncontaminated spaces, far from car traffic and pollution. We've come to appreciate the deeper enjoyment and the pleasure and emotions of watching nature from a higher point of view, with spectacular 100km vistas, beating even those from a sailboat. We still take the odd cruise to Europe, it keeps Philomena happy, she likes the luxury so I guess I'll suffer through that part of the trip to Europe.
Hiking relieves our stress, offers a bit of adventure , improved health, new friendships and cures the addiction to "screens". We stay young by being unafraid, travel, explore, hike, bike, sleep in a tent (Frank) and carry that backpack for as long as we can!
