bduffy007's VirtualTourist Home Page

Places I have traveled

-London, England
-Paris, France
-Dublin, Galway, Waterford, and Shannon, Ireland
-Canada (Montreal, Quebec City)
-Maine (Bar Harbor, Portland and Freeport)
-New Hampshire (Woodstock and the White Mountains)
-Vermont (Killington, Woodstock and Rutland)
-New York City
-Lake Placid, NY
-Boston
-Washington D.C
-Maryland (Baltimore and St Michaels.MD)
-Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard
-Ohio (Columbus)
-Austin, EL Paso, and San Antonio, Texas
-San Francisco and Napa Valley, California
-Las Vegas, Nevada
-The Grand Canyon, Arizona & Carlsbad Caverns, NM
-Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
-Miami, Fort Myers, Sanibel and Captiva Island, Orlando, Tampa, Key West and other parts of Florida.

TOP FIVE PLACES I HOPE TO VISIT

1. Japan-namely Tokyo
I have always been fascinated with the Japanese culture and its people and would love to spend a week in its largest city. This was only made more evident how hauntingly beautiful and exciting the city can be after seeing Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation.

2. Egypt
Since I was a child I have been interested in Egyptian antiquities, this was only further solidified when I was able to visit the Egyptian collection at the British Museum in London. I would love to view the Sphinx and the great pyramids in Giza as well cruise the Nile and visit the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Cairo.

3. Vienna
Another film, have wanted to visit ever since seeing Before Sunrise.

4. Praugue
My sister and a good friend visited Prague and raved about it, so much history to see and culture to soak up.

5. Rio De Janerio
Beautiful beaches and its exotic locale and culture have had me wanting to visit this city for years.

NOTES FROM MY JOURNAL

Another project I have been working on travel related has been my attempt to transform the journal I kept while in Ireland on the trip with my father into a workable piece of writing.

The following is a portion beginning with the renting of our car upon our arrival in Dublin:

"We signed our lease and headed via shuttle out to the lot to rendezvous with what was to be our rental car for the week, the aptly named Nissan Micra. Many words in the English language would seem to convey a sense of size and luxury, the word "Micra" does not seem to be one of them. I Immediately attempted to get into the left side of the vehicle, only to be told the steering wheel was on the right. This would mark the first of 48 times I would make that mistake over the course of the trip".....

"There have been many awful expiriences in my life but the drive from the rental lot to our hotel in Dublin's Temple Bar district ranks right up there with my first root canal and the first time I tried petting a bumble bee as a child. At least twice my father and I decided we were no longer speaking to one another, once more that we no longer were interested in pursuing a father/son relationship of any kind. We passed the National Bank of Ireland at least 14 seperate times and saw the same gentleman standing on Parliament Street at least 5 different times. If you can envision Clark Grizzwald remarking to his family "I can't get left" in European Vacation you have a pretty good idea what it was like."

TRAVEL IS AN AFFIRMATION OF ALL THE GREAT THINGS LIFE HAS TO OFFER.

In the end life is all about the experiences and travel plays a huge role in that....one of my favorite quotes in reagrds to that occured in November 2002 when Warren Zevon appeared on the David Letterman Show. Zevon was ill with a terminal illness and was given mere weeks to live when Letterman posed a question that Zevon answered with one of the most beautiful and simple answers I have heard in regards to the question of life and death..

Letterman asked Zevon if he knew something about life and death based on his situation that either he or the rest of us did not know.

Zevon in his best deadpan style did not miss a beat and replied "How important it is to enjoy every sandwich".

No truer works to be spoken especially from the man who coined the equally likable line "I'll get all the sleep I need when I'm dead".

I have always enjoyed travel especially when meeting my hero, Spiderman at King's Dominion in the mid 1970's.

Even then I was showing my true fashion sense. What other 6 year old could pull off a white button up cardigan and a visor while touring a theme park.