Traveller

My poor sister. I can feel her excitement and exhaustion already. She is going on her first big trip outside of the country soon. Her need to bring back every goofy gift and soon to be covered in dust memento - is palpable. How can I help her? Should I help her? She is my older sister so she will do what she wants after all is said and done. However, we have had our moments, when she gets that sweet look on her face and she realizes that I, her younger sister, actually knows something important and useful. And is willing to share it, for free. Unlike our childhood when I would have demand money or at least some sort of labor like making me some cookies . However I am thinking about my sister, like many other folks out there who love bargains, love to shop and love to bring home stuff wherever they visit. How many ballcaps can one person wear? For my travel newbie sister and her two weeks in London, Normandy and Paris, I suggest she look for souvenirs like these: Dish towel – ...

Photo: Sharon Castellanos

In a couple of months of my sister will be leaving the country for the first time. I'm excited for her and nervous for everyone else she comes in contact with. Don't get me wrong, I love my sister but she can say and do things that make me squirm. My sister is a funny one. She loves to travel but won't go hardly anywhere without a companion. She will drive hundreds of miles to visit our mother or go to Hot August Nights vintage car shows in Nevada, but would never consider getting on a plane by herself even for a weekend in Vancouver, BC. Since her divorce I think she would be perfect for solo travel clubs and excursions for lone female travelers. She could be the next Travel Betty ! She is funny and personable, people love her down-home style. Our nieces laugh at her jokes. My thinking is that her inability to pack or have the right travel gear is keeping her stuck on the ground. Something us regular travelers take for granted, a good basic suitcase and a simple pack...

Photo: Sharon Castellanos

Okay so it is a little early for talking about Father's Day but since I was just speaking about my mother, it is only fair to consider the flip side. My father. My father lives on the Monterey Peninsula in California, a scenic gorgeous area on the coast. This photo of the wharf area was taken on one of our early morning (note: more like crack of dawn) walks together. He is a wonderful man who took his blue collar roots and added a flair that I admire. He has had the travel bug since I can remember and probably passed it on to me. He certainly passed on to me his love of traveling in style. He has more photos of him wearing his white dinner jacket, with hand-tied bow tie, sitting at the captain's table than anyone else I know. He proudly showed me his traveling min-bar once. It is a beautiful leather carryall that holds a shaker, a jigger, all the necessary bar utensils and two glasses. He savors traveling in comfort and seeing new places and meeting new people. I know he...

This is how I see my mom at San Francisco International terminal soon. She will be using her passport for the first time and flying with my brother to Normandy, Paris, London and Edinburgh. Given her advanced years, late 70s, I am both excited for her and worried. I like to see my mother as this statue is, arms strongly raised and in a posture of leaping into the unknown without fear. However since she has never traveled internationally and maybe because I want her first time to be memorable, I am a little worried. My mother is very down to earth and practical. However she has a tendency to follow rules so closely that her experience of something new can be very narrow. She is not spontaneous and her sense of humor is often missing, especially in times of stress. Traveling with my brother, sister, and two sister in laws and father in law could turn into a tough time for her. This group of six all have very different personalities. Also, only my mother and my sister have never tr...

Yesterday was the second of two gorgeous sunny days here in San Francisco. Today is a different story. However let's focus on yesterday since it clearly is more beautiful and a wonderful reminder of why San Francisco is a destination city. I was out taking my dog for a walk up and down our hills when I found this landscape. Isn't it out of this world? How does someone make an urban sidewalk feel like I'm in the middle of Avatar ? This is 3-D with only sunglasses! What makes this special too is that anyone is free to enjoy it. Just walk to Castro and Liberty Streets. These plants look indigenous to the Bay Area but I don't know for sure. However some looked like I had seen them at the florist shop or in a large vase in the lobby of an office building. I'm just so impressed and appreciative that we have San Francisco residents who decide to landscape around their home in a way that brings beauty to the public sidewalk, not just their own backyard. And you want t...