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By Carolee Duckworth, NABBW’s Independent Travel Associate This year, let’s plan to set off in early May on an independent, but expertly planned, trip to Normandy on the northern coast of France.…By Carolee Duckworth…By Carolee Duckworth, NABBW’s Independent Travel Associate This year, let’s plan to set off in early May on an independent, but expertly planned, trip to Normandy on the northern coast of France. Our travel will carry us across the Atlantic to Paris, then west to the Normandy coast, for four nights in charming little Bayeux, where stories of conquest and liberation span from the 11th to the 20th century—from William the Conqueror to the D-Day landings. In Bayeux, we’ll luxuriate in comfort at Villa Lara, and feast nearby on local seafood, fresh from the frigid waters of the Eng…
Carolee Duckworth
January 25, 2023
By Carolee Duckworth, NABBW’s Independent Travel Associate OUR LATE FALL ARMCHAIR TRIP: PUEBLOS AND BALLOONS OF NEW MEXICO: SANTA FE & ALBUQUERQUE Let’s imagine setting off…By Carolee Duckworth…By Carolee Duckworth, NABBW’s Independent Travel Associate OUR LATE FALL ARMCHAIR TRIP: PUEBLOS AND BALLOONS OF NEW MEXICO: SANTA FE & ALBUQUERQUE Let’s imagine setting off for our next Armchair Trip in early October. This time we’ll be mentally travelling to New Mexico, starting with Santa Fe for two days. In Santa Fe we’ll wander through the charming Old Town, relax over drinks on an upstairs balcony overlooking the Plaza and venture up into the hills to gape at otherworldly rock formations and cliff-dweller remains, and stop to admire the work of award-winnin…
Carolee Duckworth
November 27, 2022
By Carolee Duckworth, NABBW's Independent Travel Associate OUR JULY ARMCHAIR TRIP: Montréal & Quebec City: A Trip to France without Crossing the Atlantic Are you ready for an…By Carolee Duckworth…By Carolee Duckworth, NABBW's Independent Travel Associate OUR JULY ARMCHAIR TRIP: Montréal & Quebec City: A Trip to France without Crossing the Atlantic Are you ready for another Armchair Trip? It’s July, so this time let’s head off to the more moderate temperatures of Northern Canada to visit two historic cities with winding cobbled streets, flanked by seventeenth and eighteenth-century stone houses and churches, graceful parks and squares. Our destinations will be the French speaking cities of Montréal and Quebec City, rich in unsurpassable French cuisine, Fr…
Carolee Duckworth
July 6, 2022
OUR MAY ARMCHAIR TRIP: CAROLINA ON MY MIND: BLUE RIDGE TO THE COAST By Carolee Duckworth, NABBW's Independent Travel Associate Ahhh. It’s May. And we’re back to all the green and bri…OUR MAY ARMCHAIR TRI…OUR MAY ARMCHAIR TRIP: CAROLINA ON MY MIND: BLUE RIDGE TO THE COAST By Carolee Duckworth, NABBW's Independent Travel Associate Ahhh. It’s May. And we’re back to all the green and bright colors of late Spring. So, for this next armchair trip, let's head for Carolina blue skies and Mountain sunsets, followed by the sounds of surf and white sandy beaches. We can have it all in lovely North Carolina, from Blue Ridge peaks to the sparkling Atlantic coast. Traveling West, we’ll climb up and up into the Blue Ridge mountains for three days in eclectic Asheville. This arty and ev…
Carolee Duckworth
May 23, 2022
OUR APRIL ARMCHAIR TRIP: NAPA VALLEY, SAN FRANCISCO & THE PACIFIC HIGHWAY By Carolee Duckworth, NABBW's Independent Travel Associate We’re ready to take off again on our April Armc…OUR APRIL ARMCHAIR T…OUR APRIL ARMCHAIR TRIP: NAPA VALLEY, SAN FRANCISCO & THE PACIFIC HIGHWAY By Carolee Duckworth, NABBW's Independent Travel Associate We’re ready to take off again on our April Armchair Trip, traveling in our minds. So, sit back, set loose your imaginings, and let’s be off on our April trip. First, we’ll drive our rented convertible (fire red or royal blue) across the Golden Gate Bridge and up through California redwood country to Napa Valley, for three days of vineyard visits and wine-tastings, hearty pioneer eating and soul-soothing hot springs. Next, we’ll make t…
Carolee Duckworth
April 9, 2022
OUR MARCH ARMCHAIR TRIP: Blues, Soul, Rock & Jazz: Memphis to New Orleans “Riding on the City of New Orleans” By Carolee Duckworth, NABBW's Independent Travel Associate So, let’…OUR MARCH ARMCHAIR T…OUR MARCH ARMCHAIR TRIP: Blues, Soul, Rock & Jazz: Memphis to New Orleans “Riding on the City of New Orleans” By Carolee Duckworth, NABBW's Independent Travel Associate So, let’s head back to that cozy chair for another amazing Armchair Trip. Again, we will be traveling in our minds, but this is a trip that we certainly will want to take for real someday. Open your “imaginings” and join me on our March trip to where music “calls out from every door” and wooden trolleys make their lazy way up and down the waterfront and through the city. WHERE TO THIS TIME? It…
Carolee Duckworth
March 10, 2022
By Carolee Duckworth, NABBW's Independent Travel Associate OUR FEBRUARY ARMCHAIR TRIP: Southern Beauties...Charleston & Savannah (with Jekyll) Let’s head back to our comfy a…By Carolee Duckworth…By Carolee Duckworth, NABBW's Independent Travel Associate OUR FEBRUARY ARMCHAIR TRIP: Southern Beauties...Charleston & Savannah (with Jekyll) Let’s head back to our comfy armchair for another amazing Armchair Trip. For now, we will travel again in our minds! But we may come back in person someday... Where to This Time? Since it’s February, it’s still cold up North. But the temps are mild enough down south. So, let’s choose a place where Spring comes early, and it never gets all that cold anyway... We’re off this time to the Coastal Beauties: Charleston and…
Carolee Duckworth
February 2, 2022
By Carolee Duckworth, NABBW's Independent Travel Associate Oh baby, it’s cold outside! Clearly winter is upon us. The world has turned drab and neutral, a dull pallet of brown and gray. Not a dot o…By Carolee Duckworth…By Carolee Duckworth, NABBW's Independent Travel Associate Oh baby, it’s cold outside! Clearly winter is upon us. The world has turned drab and neutral, a dull pallet of brown and gray. Not a dot of color in sight looking out our windows. Oh, how we miss fuchsia and yellow and purple. And how can we possibly live for the next few months without green!? And another thing… We’ve been cut off from travel for two years now by this pandemic. That’s long enough! We come up with trip ideas, and even make reservations. Then we hear the latest bad news and cancel everything yet again. The cru…
Carolee Duckworth
December 27, 2021
By Dr. Carolee Duckworth, NABBW's Independent Travel Associate “Someday I want to travel!” How often have you heard a friend or family member say that? How many times have you said it yourself?…By Dr. Carolee Duckw…By Dr. Carolee Duckworth, NABBW's Independent Travel Associate “Someday I want to travel!” How often have you heard a friend or family member say that? How many times have you said it yourself? And why is travel such a common dream? There are two levels of answers to the question of why people travel. The first is the obvious one, and probably the reason we give ourselves and quote to others. We travel so that we can see sights, experience other cultures, attend events and learn more about the world. These are exciting reasons. But there are deeper reasons for traveling that h…
Carolee Duckworth
June 18, 2019
By Dr. Carolee Duckworth, NABBW's Independent Travel Associate Imagine yourself on a great 5-day trip to Paris. How would you design your days to have the most engaging and captivating experience, …By Dr. Carolee Duckw…By Dr. Carolee Duckworth, NABBW's Independent Travel Associate Imagine yourself on a great 5-day trip to Paris. How would you design your days to have the most engaging and captivating experience, while traveling independently and keeping to a budget of under $5000 for two? What will you do with your precious travel time? Why would you want to do these things and have these experiences? And how will you arrange them and accomplish them, with a maximum of enjoyment and a minimum of frustration or overload? What are the stories that bring to life the places you visit? How do you best i…
Carolee Duckworth
September 12, 2018
By Carolee CameronNABBW's Associate for Independent Travel Before you travel to France, it is important, even essential, to know at least three things. First, be aware that French culture is di…By Carolee CameronNA…By Carolee CameronNABBW's Associate for Independent Travel Before you travel to France, it is important, even essential, to know at least three things. First, be aware that French culture is different from American, but equally, if not more, genteel. French people are quintessentially polite and considerate. Before you interpret their behaviors, be fully aware of what these behaviors communicate in France. These meanings are not the same as they would be in the United States. For example, a delay in giving you your check at the end of a meal is certainly not indicative of poor servi…
Carolee Duckworth
March 2, 2015
By Carolee CameronNABBW's Associate for Independent Travel Are you ready for another “Trip of a Lifetime”? For now, sit back in your favorite chair and imagine yourself on this trip, breathin…By Carolee CameronNA…By Carolee CameronNABBW's Associate for Independent Travel Are you ready for another “Trip of a Lifetime”? For now, sit back in your favorite chair and imagine yourself on this trip, breathing clean mountain air and taking local ferries back and forth across stunning lakes, with mountains as their backdrop. You will journey southward across the Alps from Switzerland into Italy on the William Tell Express, then northward back across the Alps into Switzerland on the Bernina Express, then westward through the Alps on the Glacier Express. Prepare yourself to gaze upon some of the most stu…
Carolee Duckworth
December 22, 2014
By Carolee CameronNABBW's Associate for Independent TravelThe adage holds. “To travel is to visit people.” Think about your trips as a child, traveling to Tarpon Springs to visit your Aunt Sad…By Carolee CameronNA…By Carolee CameronNABBW's Associate for Independent TravelThe adage holds. “To travel is to visit people.” Think about your trips as a child, traveling to Tarpon Springs to visit your Aunt Sadie and Uncle Bob. Then put yourself back in that frame of mind.As you pull up their driveway, you know what to expect. First everyone will greet each other happily. Then, before you even come inside to sit down, Uncle Bob will eagerly lead you out to his back shed to see and admire his dozens of multicolored parakeets. Next he will invite you out for a ride around the bay in his motor b…
Carolee Duckworth
September 11, 2014
Incomparable Capitals: London, Paris & Amsterdam By Carolee DuckworthNABBW\'s Independent Travel AssociateOn this trip, you will divide your time among three of the most extraordinary cities in…Incomparable Capital…Incomparable Capitals: London, Paris & Amsterdam By Carolee DuckworthNABBW\'s Independent Travel AssociateOn this trip, you will divide your time among three of the most extraordinary cities in the world, each entirely distinct from the other. In London you will stay in a flat or hotel near Covent Garden, and take in two (or, better yet, three) theater performances, with at least one of them performed at the rebuilt Globe Theater that harkens back to Shakespeare’s days. You will find the river, in this case the River Thames. As you travel the Thames, tracing the journey made by the co…
Carolee Duckworth
June 19, 2014
Travel in Italy is a life-changing, deeply enriching experience… especially “Great Trip” travel. It is almost a crime against life and nature to glide past Italy encased in a tourbus. The smells…Travel in Italy is a…Travel in Italy is a life-changing, deeply enriching experience… especially “Great Trip” travel. It is almost a crime against life and nature to glide past Italy encased in a tourbus. The smells of lemon trees. The colors of ceramic tiles. The leather markets and shops. The music in the piazzas at night. The views from the bridge over the Arno, looking back at the glowing marble church perched high above Piazzo Michaelangelo. The artistically prepared fresh sea bass and pasta with pesto and lightly sautéed spinach. The dazzling views of the water looking down from the rocky hills to whi…
Carolee Duckworth
June 19, 2014
Loire Châteaux, Mont St Michel, the Normandy Coast & Paris, City of Lights The world is a very big place. And world travel is one of life’s great pleasures, as well as a certain means to expan…Loire Châteaux, Mon…Loire Châteaux, Mont St Michel, the Normandy Coast & Paris, City of Lights The world is a very big place. And world travel is one of life’s great pleasures, as well as a certain means to expand yourself. There is no such thing as a trip that leaves us untouched. We return home from each travel experience a somewhat new person – larger and more aware, appreciative and with increased social and cultural capacities. "The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only a single page” (St. Augustine). But there is travel, and there is travel. On the one hand, there is travel …
Carolee Duckworth
June 19, 2014
You may as well admit it. You’ve always wanted to travel in Europe, whether or not you’ve already done so. And even if you’ve traveled there many times, you yearn to go back----again and again. …You may as well admi…You may as well admit it. You’ve always wanted to travel in Europe, whether or not you’ve already done so. And even if you’ve traveled there many times, you yearn to go back----again and again. For as long as there’s been an America, Americans have been drawn back to Europe, like Spock to the mothership. “Beam me up Scotty!” Whether this yearning to return is because many of our ancestors came from Europe… Or because Europe has such a deep, rich and long-ranging history, much of it still there to wander around in… Or because it has amazing food and wine, to be experienced …
Carolee Duckworth
June 18, 2014
