The Traveling Pancy

The flight from Luxor to Cairo was a quick 90 mins – speeding us across miles and miles of barren desert.  From the sky, the landscape was beautifully sculpted, the sun illuminating its many ridges, ripples and tracks . For much of the journey we followed the Nile, its banks a vibrant green with vegetation,…

We boarded a boat at our hotel dock at 4pm for a quick 10 min ferry across the river; then to a shuttle bus that transported us to the Valley of the Kings archeological site.  We arrived just before 5pm as the site was closing and security was escorting the last few straggling tourists out…

We lunched aboard a river boat our first afternoon in Luxor, enjoying a nice meal as we cruised the Nile.  We boarded the boat at our hotel waterfront – a flat bottomed wooden vessel powered by an outboard motor. Painted white, it was adorned with brightly colored wooden cutouts – blue, yellow, green and red…

We left London mid-morning and five hours and two time zones later, landed in Luxor, Egypt. As we boarded our shuttle, darkness settled in, and from the airport we stopped to visit Luxor Temple, its stone façade, five colossal statues and obelisk brilliantly illuminated against the night sky.    The temple was very crowded and…

I dreamt of exploring Egypt, when as a ten-year-old, my grandma brought me a souvenir from her trip to the Holy Land; a yellow gauzy veil with bronze coins dangling from the crown.  More than a half century later, I still have that veil and the accompanying postcard of the Pyramids at Giza, tokens of…

We arrived in London tired but excited to start our adventure.  Between retrieving our luggage, clearing immigration and navigating rush hour traffic, we arrived at our hotel, The Mandarin Oriental in Knightsbridge about 8:30 am, a good two hours after touchdown.  Not surprising, our room was not ready so we breakfasted in the restaurant, sitting…

After more than two years of planning, anticipating, delaying, waiting and rescheduling, we are starting our journey to explore nine ancient sites on some of the world’s earliest trade routes.  Crossroads is an apt name for this adventure; crossroads being places where civilizations mingle, ideas are shared and innovations flourish.  We often think that long…

I have always struggled to turn down work, enjoying what I do and believing that I can squeeze a few more minutes of productivity out of my day. So it’s not suprising that at times I overcommit myself and then scramble to prioritize what does and doesn’t get done. (Note: this is why I have…

It was a cold, misty morning, ideal moose viewing conditions. We were out walking before sunrise, hoping to spot that elusive Bullwinkle. Off in the distance we saw the dim outlines of grazing animals, approaching cautiously, only to discover horses foraging in the adjacent field. Perched on a wooden fencepost, a magpie watched as we…

Today our plan was to hike one of the iconic trails of Grand Teton National Park -South Jenny Lake to Inspiration Point. A moderate 5.6 mile in and out hike, we weren’t sure how complicated the trail would be with a foot of snow. One benefit of the snow – this trail, normally one of…