Baños de Santa Agua!

Courtesy WikiMedia.

The only reason I choose Baños is because you need neither heat nor air conditioning there. Travelers report the wonderful weather, friendly natives, and natural hot springs. What they fail to mention in much detail is the local volcano and that Ecuador is a volcanic country. They also fail to report on the conservative Christian culture and government. While it's lost some of it's charm for me (including the myths about cheap and/or free housing*) I still would like to visit. And right now would be nice.

*A search on airbnb turned up only really expensive places to stay. None of them in Baños.

Bahamas! Anytime!

Such a deal! It hurts to be penniless.

Where shall I go? Follow the river ...

Not sure where I would go if I were allowed a vacation right this minute to anyplace I wanted to go. Probably I would stay here. With someone I love. And we would laze about and pick at the things that need doing here. And we would do them with whimsy and lack-a-daisicalness. Splotching and poking and gathering and winnowing and toodling and doodling. Nothing would be serious except our love. And we would be happy making this our home for those springs and autumns that are heaven in Richmond VA.

If I have to choose, and I know I must or I wouldn't be writing this, I would choose Maine or Northern Idaho or possibly Seattle or maybe even Bandon by the sea in Oregon. All lovely cool places. No. Wait! I have it! Germany! Back to my home town of Höchst in Hessen. To visit relatives and relations. To relish the cool misty days and warm connections. Yes. That's it.

The house will have to wait.

A Vacation Out of This World!

What a great way to get away from it all! All I need is $200,000 and a way to get to all the VIP events. Let's both go. I'm sure we can come up with a mutually enriching barter.

Or you can work your way there by applying to be a space pilot.

Wealthy Spirit - Just what I NEED!

This lovely retreat is right up my aisle, along my path, in my way, and what I need. Especially, as I am always saying, at this time of year when I wake up to a house that's 62 degrees and relies on the fireplace and a rising sun to make it warmer. All day I strive to raise the temperature to a toasty 68 so I can avoid dipping deeper into cold overnight and thus, as the days of winter pass, avoid freezing my assets off. Let's both go – you and I – while the sun is anesthetized in the sky to visit the heat where it hides.

And, oh, yes, to deepen my spirituality. Which is where the "rich" comes in. (This has nothing to do with the reasonable fee or the fact that I am only a 12-hour flight from Bali.)

Dancing in the Dark

Lots of dancing in the dark in lots of lovely romantic places. Maybe even some moonlit woodsy options and a few mountain tops. This is what I need right now. Perhaps a SL vacation is just the ticket. There are certainly tons of available and willing partners.

Song of the Moment: Dancing in the Dark - The Look of Love

Improving your photography while sight-seeing in the Nation's Capital

This is a sort of cross-over post. I could easily add it to "Just Another Artist" but I won't. Mostly it's a vacation to Washington DC. Yes! For a mere couple of thou and a laptop you too can sit at the feet of the National Geographic wizards and learn to create exciting photos of stuff we all look at every day. While I would love the luxury of joining this expeditionary workshop, I believe the money could be much better spent on a semester-long professional photography class. After all, this workshop teaches you how to put the NG spin on your work, not how to improve your personal vision.