"Travelling isn't fun without a friend." Personal Page by aphrodyte

Front and center...The Mascot.

Fred is my new travelling companion after the desasterous massacre of my old travelling companion, Fred.

Fred hails from a quaint kiosk in an airport in Detroit, Michigan. Fred is not exactly a seasoned traveller, YET, but I am sure that he and I will have amusing stories to tell in the future.

Pure angst OR not enough butter on the toast.

Enter...The Navigator.

For pure humor we decided to name ourselves after the travelling group in the poorly scripted, highly disappointing Dungeon & Dragon's movie. (Great effects, star studded cast members, but I would not have paid theater prices to see it.)

This is my sister, co-traveller and co-conspirator. Despite the fact that we are only 2 years apart and have similar tastes in books and movies, we are as different as strawberry cheesecake and banana nut bread.

I am very thorough in my research about people, places, customs and whatnot before our travels. I tend to saturate myself and everyone else around me with lots of information. My sister usually breaks the info down and keeps it reasonable so that we all don't go insane.

My sister, along with my brother are the resident shutterbugs. She has an eye for capturing the best and worst moments from our travels. Many of the photos in my travel pages come from her albums' archives.

My sister's favorite thing to bring during our trips is the handmade overstuffed pillow that our mother made for her and the pillowcase with the roulette wheels on it.

My Little Stinker!

Stage Left...my back seat driver, The Thief.

Our youngest and well seasoned traveller has been travelling since she was a month old. I as well as my siblings grew up travelling Europe, the US and Canada with my parents and not once have they ever left us behind. I plan to do the same with her.

She has developed her own sense of adventure and looks forward to our annual family vacations and mini trips. She has told me that she is saving up her money for a trip to Disney World. I had told her that was a very ambitious plan and asked her if she thinks she will be able to have enough money to go. She replied as 5 year olds usually do, "Probably not, but YOU do."

Her favorite things to take with her on trips are puzzle/activity books, crayons, and her stuffed animal Blue from Blue's Clues.

To move or not to move...that is the question.

Stage right...Laid back but not lazy, The Stick-wielding Dwarf.

Don't let his size fool you, get him in front of a net on a lacrosse field and he is one mean Goalie with a stick.

My once small and slender built youngest sibling, has grown to become this giant that towers us all. I remember when we were younger, I would smack him on the head in a fit of pique, and run like the wind knowing that I can out-sprint him. I had made the mistake of doing that quite recently thinking that I can still out run him. I whipped out my hand and smacked him on the head and just as turned around and took 2 steps, he grabs me by my shirt collar hauls me over his shoulders and spins me around 'til I can't see straight. Since then, I've learned my lesson...I use a long stick and run as if I've just escaped from a Mary Kay cosmetics party.

During our travels, my brother plays the role of the 2nd driver/alternate driver and simplifies everything by following the KISS method (Keep It Simple Stupid). He is also the proud owner of a new Sony digital camera and play photographer every chance he gets.

Other than his camera, his other favorite thing to bring on trips is his wit.

Lunch with Flat Stanley

Orchestra Seating...the tokken...sidekick.

What started out as a 2nd grade school project turned into a great subject for photo ops.

The story about the Flat Stanley project came about from a book written by Jeff Brown. A story about a little boy who by sheer accident was smushed flat by a bulletin board and survived. Because of his compact and unusual shape his life is marked with interesting travels and creative transportation.

I realized Stanley's potential as a great travel companion in march 2006 on our trip to San Antonio, TX. Using Stanley in various and often funny photo ops gave myself and my daughter new ideas and creative insights into the places we like to get to know.

Stanley has started travelling with us since 2006.

FRED my bobbing turtle travel mascot

***Poor Fred...my loyal travelling companion...was massacred by my malamute...May he find that great big dashboard in the sky!***

We found Fred and a few of his litter mates on the table of a vendor at the River Market in downtown Kansas City.

He is a handpainted one inch shelled bobble head. No two turtles were alike. It was very difficult to choose the perfect one, they all seemed like the partying sort. After some soul searching, "eeny meeny minee mohs" and the high price of $1 each, Fred and three of his buddies were all ours.

Fred accompanies us on our travels and has a coveted spot on the dashboard of my silver Saturn. His mission is to scope out the territory and warn us of any forseeable dangers, like long distances between potty breaks, slow drivers in fast cars, and sightings of the elusive Big Boy.

His value as a travel buddy increases ten-fold when everyone in the car is asleep and he and I have wonderful conversations together. Actually I talk and he usually nods in agreement to everything I say.