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Trips
I like to travel and had the opportunity to travel all around
the USA, Europe and Asia while working for Texas Instruments and Litton
ATD. Then with the two million frequent flyer miles I accumulated, I was
able to take many more trips in the US and abroad. I usually saved my
vacation days and took a long trip to somewhere in the southern hemisphere over
the Christmas holidays. Listed below are some of these trips:
Fiji and the east coast of Australia. A friend of mine, Milt, mentioned
he was going to Australia for Xmas to visit a friend. I joined him and
we first stopped in Fiji for three days where we rented a car and stayed at
a big resort. Next we flew to Melbourne and stayed a few days with his
friend that showed us around. Then we drove up and stayed in Sydney
for a few days and then headed west through the outback for 3 days and next to the
beach for a few days at Surfers Paradise. Then we flew from Brisbane
to Cairns where we took a boat trip and went snorkeling at the Great Barrier
Reef.
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Xmas 1987 -
New Zealand. Went again with my friend Milt. Flew into Auckland and
went my car via Rotorua down to
Wellington, then a ferry to the South Island down the west coast to Te Anau.
We then hiked the Milford
Track. From Milford Sound we took a bus to Queenstown where we took a raft
down the Shotover River's grade 5 rapids and a ride in Shotover's famous jet
boats. Then on by bus to Mt Cook National Park and Christchurch for
New Years.
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Xmas 1988 -
Mexico City, Lima and Machu Pichu Peru, and
Quito and the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Three days in Mexico City
with tours around the city and to the Pyramids. Then a couple of days
in Lima and Cusco before taking the train and staying at Machu Pichu.
This was during the days of the Shinning Path and there were very few
tourists, now there are thousands everyday. Then to Quito for a couple
of days and on to the Galapagos. There we took a boat and visited a
dozen different islands. What a trip, snorkeling with the seals and
hiking around the islands with iguanas and sea birds so close you had to be
careful not to step on them.
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Xmas 1989 -
Argentina, Uruguay and Chile. I
flew to Buenos Aires where I did the city tours and a tour to a gaucho
ranch. Next I flew to Terra Del Fuego, and took a bus and boat
tour. Then I flew up to Montevideo, Uruguay took a city tour and a bus
tour to Punta Del Este where all the rich Brazilian's and Argentinean's have
their villas. Next I flew to Bariloche in Argentina's Lake District in the
Andes. There are many large lakes similar to Lake Tahoe, but like Lake
Tahoe was back in the 30's, undeveloped with only dirt roads around them. Took a few tours and
hikes, really awesome scenery with all the flowers, lakes and Andes mountains.
From there I took an unforgettable journey by bus, boat, bus, boat, bus, boat and
bus across the Andes to Puerto Montt, Chile. Then I went on a tour to
Chiloe Island and then by bus to Valparaiso, then Villarrica, and next by
sleeper train to Santiago. What a trip, the sunset over the ocean on one side
and the Andes on the other. Did day and night tours of Santiago and
took a tour to Vina del Mar. Flew home from Santiago
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Xmas 1991 -
Singapore and a 11 day bus trip around the perimeter of
Malaysia, and a one day boat trip to Banta Island, Indonesia.
Took a
Spanish immersion course in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Was a lot of fun,
lived with a Mexican family in a big house with a pool, studied during the day, hit the discos
with the other students in the night and made
weekend school sponsored trips to Acapulco and Mexico City.
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Xmas 1993 -
Cali and Bogotá, Colombia. Traveled with my then Colombian girlfriend
and her kids to visit her brothers and sister and their families. Stayed in
their homes and got
a lot of personal tours.
In December 1993, I took a bridge to retirement package from
TI after 26 years service and consulted on a part time basis, went on a trek and mountain expedition in
Nepal and studied more Spanish in Costa Rica
and Uruguay:
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July 1994 -
Spanish immersion course in Costa Rica. Lived with a family in a small
house and went on school sponsored trips to the mountains and coasts of
Costa Rica.
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October 1994 -
Spent 3 weeks trekking through the Khumbu
region in the Himalayas of Nepal. Spent two of the weeks above
15,000 feet, going up to 18,000 feet over two passes and climbing Gokyo and
Kala Pattar. Highlight of the trip was climbing Island Peak at 20,300
feet, the same as Mt. McKinley in Alaska. Total vertical feet climbed
taken from our guide's digital watch was 66,000 feet, the same as climbing
Mt. Whitney, the highest mountain in the continental US, from its trail head
11 times and we were starting from an altitude higher than the top of
it. Lost 22# in 22 days.
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Xmas 1994 -
Buenos Aires and a Spanish immersion course
in Montevideo, Uruguay. I first spent a few days in Buenos Aires where
I looked up a family I met in Bariloche in 1990. Then I took the ferry
to Montevideo rented an apartment and took Spanish lessons during the
day. In the evening I went out with Magda, a lady from Peru and her
friends. I had previously met Magda on a night tour of Santiago in 1990
and we had corresponded by letter. She had moved to work in Montevideo because of all the problems they
were having in Peru at the time.
In March 1995, I was hired full time by Litton ATD as their
Technical Director for SE Asia and in July 1995 relocated to Bangkok,
Thailand. I took many trips in the region as well as back to the US.
Unfortunately in December 1995, Litton ATD reorganized and got a new
president. His directions for the company were different from his predecessor
who saw the company's future in overseas sales. He proceeded to close
all of Litton's overseas offices in 1996, which has just been recently opened.
Since I had sold my cars, motorcycles, appliances, furniture and moved what was
left
to Thailand, I decided to stay here for awhile to see more of the region.
Then the Asian crisis hit in 1997, the local currency, the baht, dropped and so
did local prices in baht like rent. I could easily live off my investment income
without touching my IRA or 401K, so I am now retired and enjoying life in
Thailand. Having more time I also started writing up reports on my trips
to send by e-mail, which I have included in the Web pages with hyperlinks listed below:
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Xmas 1995 -
Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa. I took advantage of living a
lot closer to Africa living in Thailand. Spent three days in a
suburb of Johannesburg and toured the gold mines, and black township of
Soweto. Johannesburg is a scary town. There are car jackings and
people are killed for their cars. A lot of people pack guns, some
concealed and some on their hip. Restaurants and bars keep their doors
locked and check you out through a small window before letting you in.
Cape Town was nicer. Took tours
to the Cape of Good Hope, and the wineries, and a trip up the tram to the
top of Table Mountain and hiked down. Then rented a car and drove along the southern
coast to see all the beaches and up to Oudtshoorn to see an ostrich farm.
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March 1996 -
Australia's Gold
Coast. I spent three weeks in a condo in Surfers Paradise while
looking at a small company in the Smart Card business that was interested in
expanding their business into Thailand.
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Sept 1996 -
Trekking in the
Annapurna region of Nepal.
April 1997
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August 1997
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June
1998 -
December
1998 -
Xmas 1999 -
Thailand Laos
Cambodia Russia/China
Nepal
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