Jamilla - my Camino Donkey

A work in progress

LeeGil asked how I'm going to make the donkey I'll be taking with me to carry my baggage on my Camino walk next spring. I thought she deserved a posting of her own, as there will be much more news about her in the coming weeks/months. So here goes:

Jamilla, my donkey (the name means 'perfection' in Arabic) will be about the size of a miniature Mediterranean donkey.

Her framework has been cannibalised from an old ironing board, which I've dismantled and cut down to size/shape. Oh, my poor hands! On top of the (now smaller) ironing surface goes Jamilla's body, which also doubles as my bag. This has been configured to hold 45+ litres, as I carry about 40 litres, summer or winter and, along with my research on donkeys, has determined her over-all size.

Her body and legs, etc. will be made from a pvc-covered fabric, which will keep her waterproof. Shape ... more »

Latin America travel report

Hi guys,
As usual I spent this past winter traveling in warm climes (I live in the drizzle/drear of the Pacific Northwest of the US). This trip was largely in familiar territory; but due to serious foot pain I didn’t want to stress, so the trip ended up being more ad hoc, more invent-it-as-you-go than usual.

Accordingly, this travel report is more scattered, and the product of a camera that manifested less inspiration than usual.

Nevertheless, enjoy.
Lee

Check it out

More Bad Karma

My bad karma is at it again! I really don't think I'm that evil to warrant all this nonsense.

I'm leaving for five weeks in Fiji in a couple of days and wanted to take 350 pds stlg I've had lying around since my last trip to London, as backup funds. Yesterday I separated the stlg bills from the coins, stored the coins in a wallet along with spare Euros and put the coins back in the drawer where all my left-over foreign currency bits and pieces are kept. This morning I decided to pack up my travel handbag, looked for the stlg bills only to find they had completely disappeared from the face of the earth. I am SO SURE I left them on the bureau along with all the other things that have to go into the handbag.

I have gone through every handbag and wallet I own, 2 or 3 times, including the foreign coin collections, unpacked and repacked both the checked bag and the carry on bag... more »

travelling companion

hi
well i am mahendra 54 from india. i am looking for travelling companion to travel in my country. any one of similar age who is keen to do budget travelling in next 2 months are welcomed. plan and dates are flexible.
love to hear soon
mahendra

Travel Companion.....

Recently, I had dinner with a friend who is into photography. She stated that the last time we went on a day outing, I stopped at various times to wait for her to take photographs of various sights that was of interest her which made her uncomfortable and therefore she would not invite someone out with her again unless that person has an interest in photography. So, I said, "fair enough" for I don't think I could travel with someone who takes 6000 photos during a three weeks trip. She looked astounded as if I had said something sacrilegious. lol

In a recent Journeywoman article, I read that someone travelled with a matched tc from hell. This woman actually bullied her and made her trip miserable. Perhaps it is better to bear the cost of paying a single supplement then allowing someone to ruin your trip.

So, what are the worst traits that you came across when you venture out with... more »

I am being cruel....

Yesterday, I was asked by work colleagues why I was frowning. My reply was that I couldn't make up my mind whether to visit Croatia, Greece or Turkey. Would love to do all three but as usual it is a matter of time. lol

So, I was asked if I wanted "a smack in the chops by one colleague and another saying "what a tough life" and that they hate me and to go away. Well, not in such polite words. lol

I really didn't mean to rub it in (says she gleefully) for I was getting stressed thinking about where I should go but I guess some would say that I was being. But, perhaps I was.

Couldn't wait till the day of the morning send off tea break. I am going to thank the CFO profusely for knocking my request for leave without pay so I can travel. Well, it is all thanks to him that I will now be travelling for almost 5 months. :)

#6 Morocco, May 7, 2013

Well, that didn’t take long. I walked all around the ‘downtown’ of Er-Rachidia and was back at my hotel in 45 minutes! The town seemed to be quite spread out, but the centro was just a few blocks each way. I stopped in at the covered market at 9:20 AM, but nothing was doing yet---everything was still covered with tarpaulins. Morocco does not get going very early! Still it was worthwhile to stay here two nights as it gave me a chance to catch up on my laundry. In the mountains where I had been it took three days for a tee shirt to dry---cool and damp weather. In the desert in Er-Rachidia it was hot and dry, so I had a chance to wash all my clothes!

At the bus depot, I waited quite some time before I got the bus for Tinerhir, the jumping off point to the Todra Gorge, which promised beautiful scenery. I struck up a friendship with some fellow waiters---one had lovely henna desi... more »

Ho...ho... ho... ho... home!

You know that old adage about it being better to travel hopefully than to arrive.
Well, I never expected to have problems getting home from a trip . But if you have an idle moment, read on ...

I expected to get home and roll into bed at around 2.30 am. Finally made it by 5.00 am.
First our plane was held up by an approximately half hour delay at Gatwick. We set off late but made good time and would have been only about 10 minutes late to land - except there wasn't a landing slot available just then so we had to circle around waiting for one.
The pilot was excellent, keeping us totally informed every step of the way - except he forgot to tell us we'd landed at the South Terminal, not the North one, from which my easybus journey was going. So I missed my bus. And because I'd allowed an hour's wait at the airport I didn't know how long I'd have to wait for another. Sod the e... more »