Ewingjr98's VirtualTourist Home Page

February 2008 President's Day Weekend in Los Angeles.

December Visits to Pittsburgh and Tampa, just like last Christmas!

Oct & Nov 2007 nada

September 2007 A contrast in environments: a short hike up arid Fremont Peak, the coastline and redwoods of Big Sur's Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, the coastal marshes of Elkhorn Slough, the Henry Cowell Redwoods near Santa Cruz, and my second visit to Pinnacles National Monument. I also wandered about Monterey's Santa Rosalia Festival.

August 2007 Monterey Turkish Heritage Festival; Giants vs Pirates in San Francisco; Monterey County Fair, Monterey Greek Festival.

June & July 2007 My summer vacation: 16 June through 22 June I was in Pennsylvania. On 23 June we drove through San Francisco on the way to Berkeley, then stopped in San Rafael the next day before watching the NASCAR race at Sears Point. We stopped for dinner in Sonoma, then spent the night in Santa Rosa. On 25 June we drove up the California coast on Highway 1 with the highlights being Bodega Bay, Point Arena, and Humboldt Redwoods, then Eureka. 26 June found us at Redwoods National Park, wonderful Crater Lake, then the night at Eugene, Oregon. The next day we stopped at Oregon's capital Salem, Mount St Helens, then the next 2 nights at Seattle. We arrived at Vancouver on 29 June for 2 nights then moved on to Portland, Oregon on 1 July with a stop at Olympia, Washington. Our last 2 days were spent along the Oregon Coast, a night of camping near Grants Pass at Valley of the Rogue State Park, then a long drive back to Monterey via Mount Shasta and Napa on 3 July.

See my Travelblog Archives for my previous journeys from 2004 to 2006.

I have set foot in 33 countries on 3 continents. I have also visited 48 of 50 states of the US (minus North Dakota and Arkansas). My friends and family often ask me: why do I spend my money and time visiting these far-flung places on the globe when America has everything? Here's why:

* Visit famous/beautiful sights -- nothing beats a beautiful sunset when no one else is around
* Meet new people -- ever spend an afternoon in a Vietnamese farmhouse or eat pork intestines with a local dude in Cambodia?
* Experience different cultures -- like the cafes of Paris, the temples of Angkor Wat, and the noraebang of Korea
* Find new off-the-beaten-path restaurants -- I avoid Hard Rock Cafe like the plague...be just a little bit original, people!
* Attempt to understand the world - It never works, but I enjoy trying!
* Better appreciate what we have in America that we often take for granted!

Best vacation: Vietnam (Sept 2003)
Most beautiful scenery: Switzerland (Fall 1999)
Favorite city to visit: London (Fall 1999) and Bratislava, Slovakia (Jan 2006)
Favorite city to live: Seoul (2003-2004)
Best food: Seoul (2003-2004) & Italy (Summer 1999)
Worst food: Hong Kong (May 2004)
Friendliest people: Bangkok (May 2004)
Least friendly locations: Johor Bahru, Malaysia (May 2004) and Budapest, Hungary (Jan 2006)
Most beautiful women: Singapore (May 2004)
Worst place in the world (for a Pittsburgher): Cleveland, Ohio

Near-term trips, now that I am here on the west coast include travel to Sequoia national forest & Kings Canyon, the southern California Missions, and back to San Diego.

A few other places in the US that I have always wanted to see are Miami & Key West FL, Yellowstone National Park, Charleston SC, Memphis & Shiloh TN, and Vicksburg MS. I'm sure there are other great places, I just can't think of them right now.

I'd love to take a trip to Central America and/or South America. Right now I am thinking at least Brazil and Argentina. Mexico City is also intriguing...

I am also considering a trip to Australia. China, India & Russia are also dream destinations.

I need to add Africa to my list as well...safari? WWII battlefields of North Africa? South Africa? Egypt?

For the first time ever, I have nothing new to say. I have gone through all my old albums and added tips for all of my travels that I have evidence from.

Since many of my early pages were created when VT only allowed one photo per tip (especially my Asia tips) I plan to go back through my old photos to scan and add more. I'm sure at the same time I'll clean up and improve these older tips.

Sep 2006 - Present Monterey, California
Sep 2005 - Aug 2006 Dover, Delaware, USA
May 2005 - Sep 2005 Ali Al Salem, Kuwait
May 2004 - May 2005 Dover, Delaware, USA
Dec 2002 - May 2004 Seoul, Korea
Nov 2001 - Dec 2002 Nashua, New Hampshire, USA
Nov 2000 - Nov 2001 Billerica, Massachusetts, USA
Aug 1999 - Nov 2000 Dudeldorf village, Germany
Apr 1999 - Aug 1999 Capitolo, Italy
Nov 1998 - Apr 1999 Dudeldorf village, Germany
July 1998 - Nov 1998 Biloxi, Mississippi, USA
May 1998 - July 1998 Lucinda, Pennsylvania, USA
June 1994 - May 1998 Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
Nov 1975 - June 1994 Lucinda, Pennsylvania, USA

Forget canned travel guides like Lonely Planet that are full of cliche advice about only the most touristy locations... try my favorites.

Lately I spend a ton of time on Google Maps and Google Earth. Google maps not only gives maps, aerial photos, and driving directions, but can also find businesses and attractions near an address and search a map for various key words. My favorite feature on Google Earth is the measure function which allows you to zoom in on an area and accurately measure distances on a line or a path.

Travel Intelligence gathers the best collection of stories about interesting locations around the world. I love their "Before You Die" section of must-see places.

Tales of Asia is another great site full of stories about Asia. The Cambodia section is packed with information all visitors to Angkor Wat need to know!

Travel Adventures is another great website with fabulous photos and detailed personal adventures from all over the world.

Get great driving directions in Europe from Michelin

A German site called Hot Maps has a huge collection of maps of major cities all over the world. A little Deutsch helps here!

National Geographic's Map Machine has street maps, topo maps, and aerial photos.

If flying interests you, take a look at these two links... Aircraft Charter World has info on 13,000 airports throughout the world while Great Circle Mapper will show you the most direct great circle route between airports.

I just got a tip about Panorama Explorer so I haven't used it much, but it's a cool concept!

1000 places to see before you die.

Yahoo Travel's Dream Maps allows you to input your home airport and budget to see where you could fly on the cheap.

And of course Virtual Tourist!