I admit it. I sometimes carry the definition of travel to extremes. Hole In The Donut’s theme is “the inner and outer journey.” The outer journey – basically everything that has to do with travel – is broad enough to allow me to write about destinations, attractions, events, accommodations, and travel industry news.

The inner journey is where I deviate from the traditional view of travel. We all have different stories, but our common denominator is that we are all trying to find a way to be happy. So – and I know this is a stretch – I ask that you travel back in time with me to the early days of television. These two YouTube clips from The Art Linkletter Show and The Carol Burnett Show will make you roar with laughter. After all, any excuse to laugh is a good one. Enjoy.

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Last month, as I drove back home to Florida from my annual holiday trip to Illinois, I stayed a few days with my dear friends, Tom and Patti. They live in Atlanta and it is a great midway stopping point. Their house always feels like home to me and frankly, I hate to leave. Heck, their cat, who doesn’t like anyone, sleeps between my legs!

When I told my Dad I would be staying in Atlanta for a few days, he was quick to remind me of Benjamin Franklin’s famous saying: “Fish and visitors smell in three days.” (I’m not sure, but that may have been a hint, since I’d been at Dad’s house for more than three weeks by that time). I love visiting friends but always worry about overstaying my welcome. I’d been in Atlanta for two or three days when I broached the subject with Tom.

“You have to promise to tell me if my being here is ever too much,” I said as we were about to sit down to dinner. Read the rest of this entry »

My friend, Mary Jo, sent me this video. How absolutely delightful! I bet you can’t watch it without giggling:

If only I could be more like this dog, I’d be a lot happier during my annual Christmas trip home to Illinois.

Snow on the Outer Banks of North Carolina? Not a regular occurrence, but it’s been known to happen.

Three inches of snow in one day in Las Vegas, where they normally don’t get more than a half inch during an entire winter? Now that’s a bit strange.

But when I heard it snowed in Malibu yesterday – well, that’s just downright weird.

Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s the worst of it. This morning, my father poked his head into the living room to give me a heads up. “Don’t worry if you hear some noise. I’m just testing the generator.”

“Yeah, OK,” I replied distractedly. I was busy writing a travel article that was overdue and didn’t really pay too much attention. Even hearing the generator roar to life didn’t make much of an impression.

Several hours later I noticed a strong chemical odor in the house that reminded me of cleaning solvent or paint thinner. When the fumes had permeated the living room Read the rest of this entry »

I groggily emerged from my Dad’s guest bedroom around 8:15 this morning, after having slept less than four hours.

“If  you want to go grocery shopping today, you have to be ready by nine o’clock because there’s a snowstorm on the way,” Dad announced.

For the past week I have been driving through horrid weather, dealing with marginal hotels, struggling with a nasty sinus infection, and sitting in meetings. All I wanted to do was chill for a little while and write. “I’m not going anywhere at nine o’clock in the morning.”

“Well, suit yourself, but there’s nothing in the house for you to eat.”

“Then I guess I’ll just have to starve,” I insisted, as I plunked my rear end down in the recliner and opened my laptop.

For about three hours, coffee did the trick, but as noon approached I began to get hungry. I wandered into the kitchen and stood in front of the open refrigerator door, perusing my choices. Butter. White bread. One bowl that contained half a dried up  tomato and a hunk of deer sausage. And a stack of Read the rest of this entry »

Brrrrrr. I repeat. Brrrrrrrrrrrrr. I’m at my Dad’s house, freezing my butt off. Overnight it dropped to 9 degrees. The cold temperatures, coupled with a stiff wind off the river, made it difficult to keep the house heated to much more than 70 degrees last night. I slept under a mountain of blankets. The high today is expected to be 21 and the low 19, but at least the wind has died down, so it’s warmer inside the house today.

Since I’m a vegetarian and Dad’s a carnivore, the only thing in his refrigerator I can eat is processed cheese food slices and white bread, thus we’re leaving momentarily to do some grocery shopping. I am less than delighted to be going out in this weather, what with my persistent sinus infection and stuffed up head, but to make it even worse snow is on the way, with an accumulation of up to three inches expected. Several days ago I drove through a snowstorm in the mountains of Kentucky and yesterday I had to deal with freezing rain during the drive between Cincinnati and Illinois. I think driving through three inches of snow would probably Read the rest of this entry »

So, I’m on the road again. Headed north. Which is crazy, because I hate the cold weather. But my entire family lives in Illinois and I travel back home for Christmas each year, so it is what it is. This trip, however, has presented a few challenges.

Things started to go wrong while I was still in the Tampa Bay, Florida area. On day three the temperature plummeted to 57 and the wind kicked up. The next morning I awoke with my annual sinus infection – a behind the nose raw kind of hurt that made it difficult to swallow. Usually, standing under a hot shower helps a lot, but this was the morning that I had no water in that lovely hotel in Clearwater Beach. I needed new sinuses and a shower that worked.

By the following day I had reached the home of friends in the Atlanta area, who always let me stay with them when I am traveling to Chicago because it is a very convenient midway point. Atlanta’s cold, gray weather ruled out any extended outdoor activity, however I had to wash my car, since it was covered with salt spray from the beach. Within an hour of putting the finishing touches on my now sparkling car, it began to pour rain and it didn’t stop for two days. Spending an hour at the car wash in the cold weather made my sinus infection worse and Read the rest of this entry »

I had lunch the other day with a friend of mine here in Sarasota who is a real estate agent. I’ll call her Suzie (for reasons that will become obvious, I’ve changed her name). Midway through lunch she began to tell me the story of a situation that occurred with a new client last week. The previous Wednesday she’d contracted a bad case of the stomach flu that put her down for three days. On Friday morning, still flat on her back in her sickbed, she received a phone call from her friend, Clarice. The conversation went something like this:

“Hey, Suzie. I’ve got a new client for you. He wants to write an offer on a million dollar house.” “Hi Clarice. Can we do it tomorrow? I’m sick in bed with the flu.” “Nope. He insists it’s gotta be done today.” “Well, can we at least do it late this afternoon? Maybe about 4 p.m.? “Sure, I’ll set it up.”

Later that afternoon, Suzie dutifully dragged herself from her sickbed, gathered the necessary paperwork, and drove to the client’s house. They spent a couple of hours preparing a low-ball offer of Read the rest of this entry »