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June 9, 2017 | Stories From The Road

It’s a trying process–applying for visas

Good grief! Applying online for visas is totally frustrating. The websites are so fussy. It took us two days of scanning and rescanning documents to upload to the Brazilian and Bolivian embassies, the Brazilian embassy being the most sensitive. They have not less than 1 gazillion strict rules to follow. Totally exhausting. Now we have to put our passports in the mail and hope for the best--like that the person who opens ... Read More

Filed Under: Stories From The Road

May 23, 2016 | Destination Guides

Iceland: A Cold Land Full Of Hot Surprises

We stood in front of the bubbling and gurgling geyser, Strokkur, watching it churn in a hole just 30 feet in front of us. It belched and tossed up a five-foot gush of water, then detonated a projectile of water that flared upward more than 100 feet. The geyser, Strokkur, erupts and is about to toss a water plume over 100 feet into the air. Some of the fun of a visit to Iceland is watching these guys leap out of the ... Read More

Filed Under: Destination Guides

June 16, 2015 | Destination Guides

Cuba Reemerging

Note: I traveled to Cuba in 2013 and wrote an article shortly after that talked about efforts in Cuba to rejuvenate Havana and its old buildings, its culture, its economy, and its place in the world. But it is a different story now because much has happened since I first wrote it. People from around the world are rushing to Cuba before the Americans are turned loose on the island. So, rather than let the ... Read More

Filed Under: Destination Guides

July 13, 2014 | Stories From The Road

Three Days in Beijing

We stayed at a 500-year-old temple that has been converted to a hotel. It is on the edge of the old city and was quite convenient for our treks into the old city. We had the courtyard nearly to ourselves. Note: This is Char's account of our anniversary trip to Beijing. June has been busy for us. Before school ended for me in mid-month, we made several weekend trips to nearby cities, met friends for dinner and did a ... Read More

Filed Under: Stories From The Road

July 7, 2014 | Stories From The Road

The Daily Grind

HANGZHOU, CHINA--July 8, 2014--In case those of you out there who are following our Asian escapades think that my wife and I are off on a non-stop adventure, I just want you to know that our lives still have more than a modicum of the daily grind. Our lives are still full of the normal administrative tasks to which we all must attend. Bus Passes For instance, on our return from our travels through Vietnam and ... Read More

Filed Under: Stories From The Road

June 24, 2014 | Stories From The Road

Take My Picture, Please

HANOI, VIETNAM—JUNE 24, 2014—Five Vietnamese people asked me today to take my picture with them. I am in the airport lounge waiting to board my flight. My wife and I are watching for a couple of Canadian girls whom we met during our cruise on Halon Bay. They show up and we chat for a bit. Suddenly, a Vietnamese man takes me by the elbow and says something. He gestures to another bank of chairs where other Vietnamese are ... Read More

Filed Under: Stories From The Road

June 24, 2014 | Stories From The Road

Dinged At Airport Security–Again

HANOI, VIETNAM—JUNE 24, 2014—Got dinged again in airport security, this time in Hanoi. Cork screw, but one with no blade. It’s just crazy to me. Passed airport security in Shanghai on my way to Hong Kong with two cork screws. Returning to Shanghai from Hong Kong, I got dinged for the cork screw with the foil cutter blade. I passed airport security from Beijing to Hanoi with remaining cork screw, but had it ... Read More

Filed Under: Stories From The Road

May 12, 2014 | Stories From The Road

Not Your Everyday Chinese Fare

Located on Píngjiāng Lù, one of the old streets in Suzhou, Mike's Hot Dogs is an unlikely find. Opened in May, 2014, Danish expatriate Mike Matthiesen and his wife, Xiapeng Zhu, are counting on the novelty and good taste of a German hot dog recipe to bring a different snack food to both Chinese and western foodies. Probably the last thing I expected to see while strolling along one of the old streets in Suzhou, China, ... Read More

Filed Under: Stories From The Road

May 1, 2014 | Stories From The Road

A Story About Getting Home

It’s better to miss a train by an hour than by two minutes. On our return trip from Hong Kong we missed the train from Shanghai to Hangzhou by two crummy minutes. The level of frustration in missing a train is inversely proportional to the amount of time by which it is missed: miss it by an hour and you will shrug your shoulders; miss it by two minutes and you will summon every word of street language and invective and ... Read More

Filed Under: Stories From The Road

March 25, 2014 | Stories From The Road

The Mother Of All Bus Rides

Joe and Char board the 25, the first step to embarking on The Mother Of All Bus Rides, aka, The Bus Ride From Hell. Our bus experience on a recent Saturday in Hangzhou, China, clearly sets it apart from all other experiences of the week and lands it squarely in the I-can’t-believe-I-lived-through-that category. In thinking back on it, I’m a little undecided whether to call it “The Bus Ride From Hell,” or, “The Mother ... Read More

Filed Under: Stories From The Road

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About BoomerTrekker

"Traveling—it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller." —Ibn Battuta

Boomertrekker.com is the cave wall on which I try to etch the stories and pictures of my travel experiences. You will find stories of setting out to go one place, but arriving at another; of finding, quite by accident, experiences that I could not have anticipated; of meeting and becoming friends with people whose language I cannot speak. Sometimes you will find me paralyzed and out of my comfort zone, as I was in Cambodia when I regretfully let pass my opportunity to eat a cricket. At other times, I hope you marvel, as I have, at the intelligence and ingenuity and inventiveness of ancient peoples everywhere. These are the stories I tell here. They are the stories of my travels to foreign lands in which I am the foreigner. Read More

Locations

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Recent Comments

  • Judy Horsnell on Exploring El Centro

    Can’t wait to see you in your net hat. I may need one....

  • Linda on Moving in and getting settled

    Enjoying your story. Good writing. PS. Bring Char home in one piece. No operations this time....

  • Char Koppi on A Story About Getting Home

    This really wasn't as scary as it seems and "all's well that ends well." Do wish we could have gott......

  • Suzanne on An unusual request

    This post is hilarious. I'm just now reading almost a year later!...

  • Lou Ferreri on Today’s Lesson: Teaching at Hangzhou Foreign Languages School

    Char, thanks for your notes regarding teaching. Really great for helping me shape a picture for what......

BoomerTrekker

Joseph Koppi is a freelance travel writer with over 40 years of writing and communications experience in both the media and corporate arenas. He currently treks around the world, writing about his adventures in foreign lands and with the amazing people he encounters. Read More

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