Reset search
June 2022
  • Tui Snider
  • Tui Snider

June 2022

Arctic Circle, Midnight Sun, & Fjords Read more
FollowInsightsInsightsCalendarCalendarPhotosPhotosShareShareBucket list
Newest first
  • Tui SniderJune 2022Traveler

    Hardhat Diver’s Labor of Love

    June 13, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

    In the early 1900s, Winchester Cathedral was sinking. A man named William Walker singlehandedly save the building by donning his hardhat diving gear and spending hours underneath it in the mucky sludge to save it. This dangerous task was a labor of love.

    It took him five years, from 1906 to 1911, to complete this Herculean task. As you can see, there’s a bust in his honor as well as a pub named after him near Winchester Cathedral.    Read more

  • Tui SniderJune 2022Traveler

    Traveling Advent Calendar Style

    June 16, 2022 in Norway ⋅ 🌧 52 °F

    One of Larry’s many nicknames for me is “Planny Plannerton” because I usually do advance research about places we visit. To me, it’s a part of the trip, itself. I enjoy digging up offbeat and overlooked tidbits, whether that’s history or an actual place.

    I’m not rigid with my planning; I just like to get an overview of the place, its history and culture.

    This trip, however, is the traveler’s equivalent of an advent calendar. In the weeks before our trip, I was too busy prepping my latest manuscript for the publisher to research Larry’s planned itinerary. (Well, I did look into a few places along the way, but those stops were canceled, so there you go.)

    One thing about traveling during the pandemic is that plans change even more than usual. At this point, I’m pretty confused about where we are *actually* traveling this summer versus where I *thought* we were traveling this summer!

    For instance, I thought we’d be seeing Paris, Rome, Dublin, and St. Petersburg, but those places have dropped from the itinerary.

    Same goes for Spitsbergen. I was quite jazzed to be there on June 21 because they have quite the Summer Solstice shindig. (Looks like we will be at sea that day, instead.)

    I’m not complaining, mind you. It’s just hard on a Planny Plannerton to step into a new city or country without having places on my list to see, or knowing how to say please and thank you in the native tongue.

    Of course, I enjoy historic cemeteries everywhere we go, and this trip has delivered some beauties!

    On this advent calendar itinerary, each day is a new surprise to be revealed. And while I don’t intend to completely ditch my Planny Plannerton ways, I must admit this style of travel is quite fun, too. It forces me to let go of my expectations and focus on discovery in the moment. It’s probably good for me. Maybe it will even build character, as they say.

    What type of traveler are you?    Read more

  • Tui SniderJune 2022Traveler

    Pink Cameron Tam

    June 16, 2022, Norwegian Sea ⋅ ☀️ 50 °F

    I’m coming home with a very special souvenir this trip! Here’s how it came about:

    The more cruises you take with a specific line, the higher your status becomes. With each trip, you climb the ladder and earn different rewards. It’s a way to create brand loyalty, and every cruise line has their own spin on it.

    On the first leg of our cruise, we met a couple named Susan and Mike who have Elite status on Princess. This is the highest rank on the customer ladder and means they get all sorts of spiffy perks, such as free laundry service, a complimentary mini bar, and so on.

    One Sea Day afternoon, Susan and Mike invited us to their balcony suite for another Elite benefit, a complimentary High Tea. While chatting over tea and scones, we learned that Susan is of Scottish ancestry on her mother’s side. Not only that, but her family belonged to the same clan as my ancestors, the Camerons. Who knows? Maybe Susan and I are distant cousins!

    To top it off, literally and figuratively, Susan’s mom loved hats as much as I do. At her memorial, Susan displayed dozens of them in the church. After the service, she invited each attendee to choose a hat as a keepsake. Even though several years have passed, Susan still sees people wearing her mom’s hats around town.

    Isn’t that a great idea?

    Later in the cruise, Susan gave me one of her mom’s precious hats, a cute little pink tam upon which she added a Canadian flag pin. In addition to making a wonderful new friend, I feel honored to add her mother’s Cameron tam to my personal hat collection.

    p.s. I’ll add a pic of me wearing the tam later!    Read more

  • Tui SniderJune 2022Traveler

    Offline Travel Journal

    June 27, 2022, North Sea ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F

    Do you keep a physical journal when you travel? I do! It makes a nice keepsake, plus it helps me compost my experiences and keep research notes.

    Lately, I’m fond of these cheap 100-page, 9x6 inch spiral notebooks. On one side, I keep a daily scrapbook with a few brief notes.

    The ship issues a daily schedule, so I cut the date out of that and paste or tape it into the page. I jot a few brief notes with daily highlights and add anything pertinent, like small maps, receipts, and other ephemera. It’s a tidy little summation of our daily activities. (I also have a separate bag for naps I’ve collected along the way and may refer back to.)

    Pretty straight forward, right?

    Here’s my personal quirk, though. I also flip the notebook over and start writing in it from the other side, as well. This side is for random thoughts, research notes, possible blog post topics, observations, rants, to-do lists, doodles, daydreams, and so forth.

    It’s messy, but that’s fine. To me, this side is a compost pile for ideas.

    When the two halves of the notebook meet in the middle, I start a new notebook. Seems to take about a month.

    How about you? Do you keep any sort of physical journal or scapbook? What’s your technique?    Read more

  • 2026© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Help Center
  • Legal notice