Recollections of a Vagabonde

This morning I had problems publishing my post. It did not appear in Google Reader. The original post is below. Please place any comments there, thank you.

Last week was the Chinese New Year. This would have been an excellent trip destination which I would have enjoyed, indeed, in China or anywhere the Chinese New Year was celebrated. But I was in Georgia, knitting and crocheting baby blankets. On 23 January 2012 (or year 4710 under the Chinese calendar) the Year of the Dragon began. It started 15 days of celebration by over 1.3 billion people in China, millions more ethnic Chinese around the world and many other nationalities. The Year of the Dragon is one of the most revered years in the Chinese calendar and considered the luckiest. Celebration picture taken in Beijing, China ( courtesy Feng Li/Getty Images ) In Chinese tradition the Dragon is not the demon from western literature but a symbol of intense power and good fortune. It is regarded as a divine beast. Those born under the sign of the Dragon are said to be innovative, enterprising, self-assured, passionate people who are free spirited, colorful, confident and fearless....

This is the second part of my post on my reasons for selecting some special travel destinations but, first, I’d like to thank all my bloggy friends who came to read the first part and commented. I am so pleased that you liked the paintings of Paris that I posted and also, that you like my hometown. Below is another painting of Paris. It is the Rue de l’Abreuvoir painted in the late 1800s or early 1900s. This street is behind the Sacré-Coeur of Montmartre. I could walk to this street from where I lived in Paris; it would have taken about 15 to 20 minutes. La Rue de l’Abreuvoir à Montmartre by Alfred Renaudin, French 1866-1944 I’d like to answer some questions asked by my bloggy friends. Jenny Woolf asked “ can you say whether you found the places you visited lived up to your expectations? ” I can sincerely declare that I have never been disappointed. I don’t have expectations I just go and enjoy each trip. Rosaria asked “ How did you manage to get away so often? “ The company...

Not long ago I read an article on the Internet written by travel marketers on the destination selection process of travelers. It said: “… How, and when, do leisure travelers decide where to go? What factors influence the decision to visit a particular destination? … for travelers everywhere, the destination decision itself is complicated and highly personal. ” This made me think about my travel decisions. When my parents were still with us a great majority of my travels were to visit them in Paris. (Click on pictures to enlarge them.) A Parisian Street with Sacré-Coeur by Luigi Loir, French 1845-1916 Starting in 1963 until 1982 I went to Paris every two years or 9 times. Then after my widowed mother was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease I traveled to Paris twice a year from 1982 to 1999 or 34 times. From 1999 until she passed away in 2002 I went to visit her 3 times a year or 12 times, and since then I have gone back about 4 times, so let’s see, that is a total of about 59 trips ...