By Linda Ballou NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Cruise up Highway 101 overlooking sweeps of white sand beach framing brilliant blue on a sun-filled California day to Santa Barbara. Take Mission Canyon Road inland to the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. Stroll miles of garden paths that meander through meadows of wildflowers, other worldly succulents, and deep into a shady redwood glade. Share a picnic lunch with butterflies and bluebirds flitting among the aromatic sage. Want to take a piece of the garden home with you; stop at the Garden Store where indigenous plants and more are for sale. On... Read More

By Linda Ballou NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Today I’d like you to meet Annie Coburn, a vivacious, energetic woman who can’t stop traveling. (That’s her looking cool beside her motorcycle over to the left.) An accomplished videographer, she adds sparkle to her content in her newsletter Fab Senior Travel with videos providing insider tidbits for visitors to a specific region. Annie is the author of detailed guidebooks for walking tours in major cities designed to take the stress out of travel. Even though I have been to London many times and thought I knew my way around,... Read More

By Linda Ballou NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Yachats (pronounced Yah-hots) is a Chinook name that means dark water. Nestled at the foot of spruce-sheathed mountains overlooking the wide mouth of a bay where the Yachats River meets the Pacific, it was the site of a thriving village. Today, squealing toddlers play in soft purling waves while parents throw Frisbees to happy dogs on a vast expanse of hard-packed sand. I couldn’t resist wading in the clear water and watching the kaleidoscopic bubble lines kiss the sand as white puffs of clouds overhead morphed into streamers across a brilliant... Read More

Solutions for Solo Travelers by Linda Ballou NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate   Boomer women make up the largest segment of the travel population. Freed from the ties of family responsibilities, and with a little extra money in their jeans, they want to explore. Often they have husbands who are not interested in travel, or they can’t round up a friend who shares their wanderlust. Yet, this segment of the population often feels intimated by the idea of traveling alone. Women worry about their safety for good reasons. What is more, society penalizes the solo traveler with the dreaded... Read More

Plug into Nature’s Bounty at Sacha Lodge in Ecuador’s Amazon Basin by Linda Ballou NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate   Like Jack on the beanstalk, we climbed up a giant wooden stairwell wrapping the kapok tree. A drenching rain set in before we reached a viewing platform above the protective canopy. We stood atop what must be the 9th wonder of the world with our heads tucked into the hoods of our ponchos waiting for the weather to change. Soon, blue skies opened over the platinum Napo River.   Pink flamingo hues softened gray layers of clouds. Shafts of light streamed down upon the... Read More

Saddle Up in Ecuador by Linda Ballou NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate   What prompts a young Brit ensconced in the Parisian perfume industry to flee the continent in quest of creating the ultimate South American riding experience? That was the first of several burning questions I had for Sally Vergette, owner of RIDE ANDES, before joining her in Ecuador this September. I’m looking forward to romps through pastures in the shadow of snow-crowned volcanoes with other experienced riders on Sally’s fit and well-mannered mounts. Each day’s ride ends at a wonderful colonial estate like... Read More

Winging It on the Central Coast By Linda Ballou NABBW’s Adventure Travel Expert   Morro Bay is a sweet coastal town, situated nicely between spectacular hiking and birding opportunities. To the south, Montana De Oro (mountain of gold), at 8,000 acres, is one of the largest parks in the state and one of its best-kept secrets. Fifty miles of hiking, biking, and equestrian trails wind through wooded canyons and along hidden coves. To the north rugged, untamed coastline given to the state by the giant Hearst Corporation remains a remnant of the natural splendor that greeted early explorers... Read More

Tiritiri Mitangi – Birding Adventure Down Under By Linda Ballou NABBW’s Adventure Travel Expert December is a great time to explore the other land down under. The North Island of New Zealand is easy to get around and much less pricey than neighboring Australia. Kiwis take pride in making guests feel welcome and love to share their miles of hiking trails and un-trammeled shores. Tremendous efforts on the part of New Zealanders to preserve forests and the unique birds that call them home are especially evident on the tiny isle of Tiritiri Mitangi. Spray splashed over the bow of our... Read More

Purposeful Lollygagging By Linda Ballou NABBW’s Adventure Travel Expert Birding is the second fastest growing sport in America. Sixty-five million of us are rising at ungodly hours to steal through estuaries and woodlands hoping to spy the flash of a wing. Some of us spend fortunes enticing our avian friends to our back yards. Why? (1) Birding is an opportunity for purposeful lollygagging. We must go slowly to catch a glimpse of the vast variety of birds that share the planet with us. A stroll through dew-laden meadows can garner sightings of warblers, finches, bluebirds, and meadow... Read More

Destination: Deep Time By Linda Ballou NABBW’s Adventure Travel Expert Thirteen strangers piled into the waiting raft at Lee’s Ferry on the Colorado River. It would be our transportation for the next eight days. Adam, our guide, greeted us with his eight-month-old son on his hip. Three generations of river guiding make his family as much a part of the river as the canyon wren, the pink rattler that has taken on the rosy hues of the sandstone walls, and the aloe—sustenance to the Native Americans who have called the Grand Canyon home for 10,000 years. A wren’s lilt echoed through the... Read More