Hello Everyone! Long time, no see. I hope you’ve all had a wonderful start to 2023. It’s nice to be back with you and to be back on the road, but I’ve had the most amazing time since last I wrote. As many of you know, I left right before the New Year for a 47 day trip to England, Wales, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, France and Belgium. At its core, it was a trip to see some old friends and catch up and to get my international traveling feet back underneath me, but it was also a very nice break from everything here in the U.S. I left my computer and my camera behind and brought only a small day-pack and my iPhone. Over the 47 days I was there, I caught up with 51 friends from the last 25 years of my life including a college friend from Penn State, three people I did my Divemaster course with in Honduras, four work colleagues and a whole lot of friends who were once clients of mine on tour here in the U.S. I saw people I took on tour during my very first season 23 years ago and people I took on tour just last summer. Some people could only meet up in the evening after work or for a quick drink and some took a whole day off from work to show me around their hometowns. Many opened their homes and their lives to me for a few hours or days and I met spouses, partners, kids, parents and pets along the way. All told, it was exhausting but also invigorating and inspiring and absolutely one of the best time periods in my entire life. It was truly a remarkable 7 weeks. I’ve come back feeling motivated and excited about all of my projects, my coming tour season and life in general. While there was a lot more to this trip, I thought I’d share a brief(ish) recap of where I went.
My journey began in London on the 29th of December. I touched down at Heathrow Airport and headed right into central London on the tube. It was so wonderful to be there after at least 15 years and I just enjoyed wandering around, looking at the buildings and taking in the sights. Over the next couple of days I visited with my friends Vicky, Sal and Neil and enjoyed a quiet New Year’s Eve to myself. I watched the Rose Bowl with my friend Jamie, who I haven’t seen since I graduated from Penn State 25 years ago. I got some planning done for the rest of my trip and touched base with a lot of people over dates and times, travel routes and details. I also had some great fish and chips, steak pie, gelato and a couple of excellent pints of ale in some truly awesome old pubs, some dating back hundreds of years.
From London, I headed north to Bedford where I caught up with my friend Lucy who came with me on a weeklong trip to Hawaii back in 2019. She took me out to Bletchley Park, a fascinating historic site which housed a major codebreaking operation during World War II. Next I went to Kettering to see my old friend Ryan who came on a cross-country tour with me 20 years ago. I had stayed with Ryan on a more recent visit to England, but that was probably 17 years ago now. I met his wonderful family and we caught up over dinner and some excellent Scotch. From there I headed on to Warwick to see my buddy Chris who was one of my first-season passengers. He showed me around the medieval town of Warwick and Shakespeare’s hometown of Stratford-Upon-Avon. He also kept me out way past my bedtime on a Friday night drinking beers with his friends. It was awesome to look through Chris’ photo album of the tour we took together so many years ago.
From Warwick I made my way north to Lincoln and met up with my friends Jo and Adam who came on a Rocky Mountain tour with me back in 2015. Lincoln is a marvelous little town with a beautiful cathedral. It was also the site of the training grounds for the legendary WWII dam-busters. To top it off, Adam cooked me up a proper Sunday roast – perhaps my favorite British tradition. From Lincoln I headed up the road to York, one of England’s most beautiful old cities, to meet up with Claire and Paul who came to Hawaii with me back in 2019. They gave me an amazing tour of the city and we saw some stunning historic architecture and a couple of great little museums. We had a few pints in town and then headed back to their place for dinner and a movie. The next day I headed north again to Newcastle to meet up with my friend Paula who spent 46 days on tour with me, traveling all the way across Canada and then south through the Rocky Mountains and the Desert. That was the 4th longest anyone ever spent on tour with me and she was such a wonderful person that she made the whole thing feel like a breeze. Paula took the day off from work to show me some of the spectacular sites around Northumberland, including some fabulous castles, dramatic seascapes and charming little towns. It was another great day and as far north as I was going to get on this trip.
Heading back south, I made my way over to Leeds and spent the day with my friend Aiden who came on the very last trip I would ever run for the Trek America brand before the pandemic shut it down. It was a great trip with a great group and it was awesome to see Aiden again. We spent the day at the National Armory looking at old swords and armor and then made it to the spectacular Kirkstall Abbey ruins right before we lost the light. After a quick drink at a cool Victorian pub, Aiden dropped me off at my buddy Sami’s house and it was so amazing to catch up with Sami after 21 years. We shared a nice meal and looked through old photos in his back garden pub, drinking beers late into the night. From there I headed on to Manchester where my good friend Ray was unfortunately quite sick and unable to hang out. Ray and his daughter, Chloe, had come on a Deep South and Delta Blues tour with me seven years ago and I know they were looking forward to seeing me as much as I was looking forward to seeing them. While I didn’t catch them in Manchester they did come out to see me in Liverpool a few days later so at least I didn’t miss them altogether. While in Manchester I caught up with three different friends at three different times – Marcella who came out with me last summer, Jordan who came from Miami to New York with me in 2014 and Louise who was with me way back in 2005. It was amazing to see all three of them and they showed me some great spots in Manchester.
Leaving Manchester, I caught a flight out to the Isle of Man in the middle of the Irish Sea. If you’ve followed this blog, you know that I have a fascination with islands, and the Isle of Man is probably where that all began. This was my third visit to the Isle of Man where I was happy to see my dear friend Peter who spent 5 weeks with me way back in my first season as a Tour Leader. It was great to meet Peter’s wife and his daughter and his legendary mother-in-law and to spend some time checking out this quirky and beautiful island. I was also able to have lunch with another friend, Lisa, who had come on that same trip with Peter but has since gone her separate way. I stayed with Lisa’s mom on my first visit to the island back in 2000 and it was great to meet her sister and to catch up on what they were up to. Tragically, their mother had just passed away a few weeks earlier – may she rest in peace.
I flew back to Liverpool in the early morning and spent a few hours at Albert Dock and exploring the Beatles’ Story. I’m not the biggest Beatles fan, but I’ve come to appreciate their place in music history over the years and it was good to learn even more about their early days in this well-designed museum. I had lunch with John and Annemarie who had come separately on the same tour with me on a great trip through the desert 8 years ago. It was nice to get back together with them and catch up. That evening I met up with Ray and Chloe, which I mentioned above, for a delightful meal and a few beers. When they headed home to Manchester I headed down to the legendary Cavern Club on Mathew Street for some live music and more Beatles nostalgia.
The next morning I made my way out to Birmingham where I met up with my friend Nadine who came out to the desert with me back in 2005. She showed me around town and treated me to a Balti, a delicious Pakistani dish which originated in Birmingham. After dinner, her husband Paul brought me to a West Bromwich Albion Football Club game which was cold but also a lot of fun. It was fun to meet their twins and we even got some snow that night.
Leaving Birmingham I made my way to Cardiff where my friend Luke showed me the sites in the afternoon and took me for a delicious lamb burger and some warm Welsh cakes (a top culinary highlight). In the evening I caught up with my buddy Andy for a few beers before we headed back to his place for some educational TV. The next morning I rented a car and drove all the way out to Pembrokeshire on the west coast to visit my friends Steve and Brett who came on a really great tour with me 16 years ago. We went for an incredible walk along the coast and then went to see St. Davids, Britain’s smallest city. We had a few beers and a delicious seafood dinner and laughed a lot. My last stop in Wales was in Abergavenny, where I spent the evening with my friend Maurine who came to the desert with me 7 years ago. Unfortunately I got to town too late to see the sites, but Mo and I talked for many hours and it was just so good to see her.
I spent the next day in Bristol with my friend Fiona who had worked with me in our L.A. office for many years. We have a ton of mutual friends, so it was particularly fun to catch up with her and meet her partner Simon. Fiona dropped me off in Bath in the morning, where I had a quick wander before meeting up with Barbara and Laurence who came on a tour to the Rocky Mountains with me in 2019. Barbara and I keep in touch via email and she’s definitely a kindred spirit and one of the must-see people on my list. They took me for a great lunch at a cool old cavers’ pub and then deep into the Cheddar Gorge before we came back to explore their current town of Frome. I loved hearing about Barbara and Laurence’s adventures and hope that I can be half as active as they are when I’m their age. Then I was off to Devon to catch up with one of my most special friends, Brenda. Brenda and her husband, Bob, came on one of the most memorable trips I ever ran, all the way back in 2004. We’ve kept in touch a few times a year via email since then and even met up once in person in Washington D.C. a few years ago. Seeing Brenda was at the very top of my list for this trip. We had a great two days together, exploring Devon’s beautiful landscape and looking through photo albums and chatting. I even got to see where Bob’s ashes are scattered which was very meaningful for me. Brenda’s house is very cool with all kinds of travel mementos and photos and giant map on the wall to show all the places she’s been. She even treated me to a cream tea, which was a great experience and apparently the cream goes on before the jam (a subject of much debate in that part of the country).
It was hard to say goodbye to Brenda, but I had to head on out to Cornwall to meet up with my dear friend Kat who had been on my Divemaster course with me in Honduras back in 2005. Kat is a documentary filmmaker and I got to tag along with her as she filmed a teaser for a new show about swords around the world. I ate real Cornish pasties, drank at some really old pubs and we even caught some live music in the evening. Another very special friend, Cath, came to scoop me up in Penzance and we spent the day exploring the sites between there and her home in Teignmouth. We even stopped in Plymouth to see where the Mayflower departed from. That night we got some fish and chips and then left her daughters with her godson so we could have a bit of a night on the town and really catch up face to face. The next day we all went for an awesome hike in Exmoor National Park and then out for a delightful dinner at the country pub where her boyfriend is the chef. Cath and I have been close friends for 18 years and it was so good to spend this time with her and to meet her family. I thought her stories about the seagull which knocked on their door every morning were exaggerated, but there he was, knocking on the door at 8am. That will keep me smiling for a long time.
The next day I headed on to Poole, where I caught up with my friend Rachel who came on tour with me in 2015. She took me to an incredible ghost town which had to be abandoned during WWII to make space for a military firing range. We also saw some cool old castle towns and sunset on the coast before heading back to her place for two kinds of pie and chatting into the night. From there I was off to Christchurch to visit with my friend Sarah who came out with me way back in 2001. We had an amazing day exploring town and the New Forest (which is actually quite old). We also stopped into an old manor house and poked around for a while which made the Downton Abbey fan in me almost giddy. I’m not a fan of the huge divides between the haves and the have-nots, but the architecture and the décor is pretty special to see.
After a quiet night in Southampton, I got on a plane to Guernsey in the Chanel Islands. Freya and Abi came on tour with me back in 2014 and convinced me that Guernsey was a great place to visit. They weren’t wrong. They showed me some fascinating WWII sites from the German occupation of Guernsey and some really awesome places around the island. Guernsey milk’s reputation is well deserved and is truly on a different level. I know these ladies had to do a lot of juggling with their husbands and kids and jobs to host me, but it was so good to see them and their beautiful island.
Then I was off to Paris for a long weekend with my very good friend, Gillian who had also come to Hawaii with me in 2019. We spent a few days there exploring the sites, eating delicious French food, and drinking coffee and wine. Gillian is an excellent conversationalist and it was just great to spend some time with her chatting and catching up. It was fantastic to be back in Europe and we even had some lovely weather.
From Paris I headed up to Belgium for a few days. I spent some time exploring the beautiful cities of Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp and Brussels, caught up with my friends Elisabeth and Jef, and drank a lot of delicious Belgian beers. I ate French fries and waffles and cheese and generally had an amazing few days in these wonderful places. I even saw a few bonus towns by visiting Mechelen and Leuven on my way between Antwerp and Brussels. I caught the Eurostar train from Brussels back to London and it was pretty cool to cruise through the tunnel and be back in England in just a couple of hours.
I spent my last few days in London catching up with a lot of friends from many different time periods in my life. I had some wonderful meals (and some jellied eels which I wouldn’t classify as wonderful) and even saw Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera in the West End. I dropped down to Etchingham to see my great friend, Iz, and she took me to see Bateman’s, Rudyard Kipling’s family home. I had one big night out in central London with a bunch of people I haven’t seen in a long time and it was one of the best nights I can remember. We drank some beers, chatted and laughed a LOT. Some brought photos and it was amazing to see the same places a dozen or more years apart. Thanks to Jamie, Seth, Danielle, Cath, Leyla, Andy, Jim, Lynne and Brad for making it such an amazing night. And then, just like that, it was over. It was time to hop a flight and head for home. Flying on Valentine’s Day night was brilliant as it was almost a completely empty flight. I left Europe with a full heart and a tremendous number of memories which I will carry with me always.
I spent this last week at home, celebrating Mardi Gras with my family and friends which was also pretty special. We threw a Mardi Gras party at our house and cooked up some really good gumbo and jambalaya and my mom made an excellent King Cake. We also went out and explored some interesting Mardi Gras celebrations around the D.C. area including a great night of beer and music at True Respite Brewing Company, a Lundi Gras (Fat Monday) jazz brunch at Dauphine’s, boiled crawfish and po’boys. It wasn’t a long visit, but it was a busy one and we made the most of the time we had. And then I flew back to California, where I am writing this from today.
My good buddy Dave has been watching Shadow Catcher for me while I’ve been off on my adventures, which is much appreciated. He kept her out of the flood waters and even got some work done for me when her alternator pooped out. I spent a few days with him in Lincoln and have spent the last couple of days cleaning and packing up my van and getting ready for the months ahead. The weather has been terrible – cold and raining non-stop – but it’s snowing up in the mountains so I’m not complaining. My plans to head up to see my friends in Lake Tahoe are probably not going to happen for a while, so I think I’ll head back towards the coast and south from here. I do still have some photos I want to edit and publish from last year in Arizona, but I’ll be taking some new photos as well – just as soon as this rain clears out.
It’s definitely been an amazing start to 2023, and I hope to keep this momentum and energy going as long as I can. I won’t be going back to work until late May/early June, so I have plenty of time to explore California between now and then. I’m looking forward to it, and I hope you’ll come along for the ride.
It was great to be away for a while, but it’s also great to be back. Thanks, as always, for reading.
-Mike