2025, Fantasy, Kids, Nature, Travel, work

Where in the World is YA?

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The photos above were taken from YA’s hotel room in Banff. 

It’s still a little bizarre that YA now works in the same travel division as I did for 33 years, albeit in a different department.  She designs website and mobile apps for group travel; when a client purchases a mobile app, she accompanies the group to provide onsite support for the app.  She seems to enjoy it.

I know people who have retired from the industry and many of them have really missed the travel.  I would even call it grieving in a couple of cases.  I wondered if I would feel the same, but I have not.  I’ve always felt extraordinarily lucky to have had my job and visited so many fabulous places; I even fantasized about making a life in many of those places.  My favorite destination was almost always the last place I’d visited. 

Banff is a gorgeous place and I’ve been there twice, both at this time of year, when there is snow and the air is clear and brisk.  Seeing YA’s photos did give me a momentary pang but it was replaced with a great feeling of gratitude that she is getting to have some of these experiences – experiences that certainly enriched my life.

Any place you think would be nice to visit in January?

37 thoughts on “Where in the World is YA?”

  1. Yes. January is quite pleasant at the house we’ve rented since 2013, in the Florida town where we’ve wintered since 2005, which had been hurricane-free from 1950 until Ian (2022), Idalia (2023), Helene and Milton (2024).

    The first week of December, the contractor said, “The upstairs is fine. Come on down.”

    “What about the water heater?”, said I.

    No water heater. No washer or dryer. The bottom-level garage, which had been 5 feet under water, was in process of drywall finishing. The yard had washed out, undermining exterior walks and patios. The pool was still full of grunge. The status of the pool heater was unknown.

    And so forth. But we could still come down, if we wanted, and supervise three months of construction as an agent for the owner.

    Meanwhile, in Southern Indiana where it is very cold, we have a 9-week-old male chihuahua/beagle puppy learning the ropes from our 2-year-old male dachshund/beagle/minpin, who sleeps in the bed with us because this is the way of his people.

    And so sleeping with the big dogs is now the way of Bruno the puppy, who cannot hold his bladder all night the way Ernie can.

    If all was as it should be, I’d be taking Bruno and Ernie out for a pee walk every morning at 3:00 AM, on a patio facing the bay, where it is at this moment 54 degrees F.

    But no. I took Bruno to a pee-pad in the kitchen, where he was a very good boy. Ten minutes later, Ernie jumped out of bed, and Linda said, “I hope he doesn’t poop in the kitchen.”

    A reasonable apprehension, under the circumstances.

    To his credit, all Ernie did was hike his leg on an antique Chinese lacquered stool, because, hey, Bruno can pee in the house, why shouldn’t he?

    As of yesterday, there is still no water heater at the Florida venue, and there won’t be until after a crew gets around to painting the garage floor.

    I know. Things could be a lot worse. I’m counting my blessings. Say ‘hi” to YA for me.

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    2. We lived in Southern Indiana for a year after living in Winnipeg for 6 years. I couldn’t describe it as cold at all, after Canadian prairie winters.

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  2. banff is one of my favorite places summer is wonderful camping and hiking but winter is beautiful and quiet like being in a theater before it opens
    bozeman is great too actually livingston on route to yellowstone
    ive loved orlando just after christmas many times with my crew and traveling for work to vegas and la is great
    thailand and china are nice this time of year and austrailia/new Zealand are bucketlist destinations. as are south america africa and greece and south africa.
    my goal is to travel a week a month
    life doesnt allow for that today but thats my goal

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      1. I’m learning Spanish on the Babbel app but it’s going slowly. I will try to converse with the taxi drivers so that I can get from the airport to my friends’ apartment. I should be able to make myself understood at least that much.

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  5. I’d like to visit some place in the far north during January to experience near 24-hour darkness—just for a few days, though. 🙂 Fairbanks, Alaska comes to mind.

    But in two weeks we’re actually going to a place I love to visit in January–the North Shore. Renting a cabin near Tofte and hoping for enough snow and seasonal temps to ski and snowshoe. Looks a little better than last year, which was a total washout, activity-wise.

    Chris in Owatonna

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    1. You might get to see a great gray owl, or a snowy owl, or if you’re really lucky, a boreal owl! It’s been an irruption of these owls this year due to a high vole population.

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  6. Starting Feb. 1, I am officially retired from full time work and I am staying home most of February until March, when I will start back to work at my agency part time. We will meet our daughter in Brookings, SD for a belated family Christmas with her and our son and his family.

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    1. If you buy your Amtrak ticket before tomorrow, you can get very near to Charleston for only $300 (get the rail pass that gives you 10 segments at that great price). It’ll take one segment from the cities to Chicago, one more from Chicago to South Carolina, and two segments to get you home. You’ll have a bunch more to fool around with on side trips out of DC if you pause there on the way home.

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    1. I’m shilling for Amtrak because the sale ends on the 17th. Out of Minneapolis (out of Fargo, too) the fare to South Carolina is only $60 each way, but you’ve gotta get the rail pass ticket before the close of business tomorrow. I’m headed for California. Once you’ve got the ticket in hand, you make your reservations for later in the year, and can be gone for a month.

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      1. Thanks for the tips, David. If I were in better shape, I’d buy myself one of those tickets. Do you know if the ticket can be used by someone else if I’m unable to use it myself?

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        1. Probably not. But if you by the ticket with that person’s name on the reservation, they can use it themselves, all 10 rides in a 30 day time period. The sale ends tomorrow and the cost is $299. Usually it’s either $499 or $599. The same “10 rides within a 30 day window” applies.
          I’m a train nut, so these things appeal to me.

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  9. Better Late Than Never, Baboons,

    I would love to re-visit Savannah, GA. It will not happen this winter, but maybe next winter. And I will investigate the Amtrak system that David is selling today. I do not enjoy air travel these days. It may be time to check out the rails. Didn’t Edith, AKA Little Jail Bird, take a rail trip and then write about it?

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    1. YouTube has lots of videos with audio of old songs. It’s sometimes hard to choose a version. There are videos of Jesse Winchester performing this live, but the audio is not all that great, so I chose a version I loved by Iain Matthews. But if you want to look at what else is out there, you might find something you like better.

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        1. Many of these old videos send me into moments of grief. Jesse Winchester, who wrote the song, and David Lindley, on steel, have both left us, but as far as I know Iain Matthews is still with us. More and more, the songs I love are being consigned to the past.

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