When I was younger, I traveled a lot. Work took me overseas, and whenever I could I made room for something besides the inside of a computer room. Some trips were vacations, some were business, and some managed to become a little of both.
The things I remember are not just the destinations. They are the people I met, the meals, the unexpected detours, and the occasions when a supposedly short assignment became considerably longer. I kept journals of some of these trips. Others I have revisited years later, scanning old slides and trying to put names and stories back together.
These days I prefer to stay closer to home. I have done enough flying, and Oregon gives me plenty of reasons to take a camera out without first taking it through an airport. But I still enjoy looking back at the places—and the people—along the way.
A few journeys worth telling
Paris, 1978: two days, approximately
My first overseas trip was with a Floating Point Systems team installing an AP120B at Dassault Aviation. The two-day assignment became about two weeks when the equipment did not cooperate. Between the troubleshooting, I met Michel Rouillard and his family, visited the Louvre, and fell in love with Paris. The friendships became part of later journeys too.
Read about my first trip to France →
Munich, 1982: an installation with complications
Another engineering assignment, another optimistic estimate of how long it would take. This report follows the troubleshooting, the setbacks, and the people working to get the system running. There were also excursions beyond the computer room, including time in France and a sailing trip.
Read the Germany trip report →
Around the world, 1991
This journey combined distributor visits and customer training with time off along the way. The itinerary began changing before I left Portland. My journal records the travel, the work, and the observations in between, with stops including Tokyo, Hong Kong, London, and Nice.
Around the world, part one →
Nice, London, and home: part two →
Travels with Jackie
Our first holiday together came after we had been dating for almost six months. I introduced the journal as a mission to explore other civilizations and survive the holiday with our relationship intact. These are the two parts of that account, from Britain to France.
Travels with Jackie, part one →
Travels with Jackie, part two →
India and Israel: work beyond the office
My 1989 India report records a trip with Jerry Peek to support our distributor, meet customers, and work through business arrangements. The 1983 Israel account comes from my time at Metheus. Both mix the technical purpose of the journey with my observations and experiences along the way.
Costa Rica with my sister, 1998
In March 1998, my sister Susan and I took a vacation in Costa Rica. It was our first real trip together and became quite an adventure. I kept a journal, beginning with the departure lounge and a deck of cards—apparently I could not even wait until we arrived to start doing magic.
Closer to home
Oregon has so much to offer, from the coast to the mountains. I especially enjoy visiting my cousin’s place near Condon. It is somewhere I can return to with a camera rather than another itinerary.
The places I have visited overseas are part of my story, but the places nearby matter too. These days, a trip does not need to involve a long flight to be worth making.
Places along the way
This is a fairly complete list, although I suspect I have forgotten a few places. Some have long accounts elsewhere on the site; others remain a name, a photograph, or a memory.
United States: Oregon—Portland, Eugene, Ashland, Condon, Bend, and the coast; New York—New York City and Rome; California—San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Sacramento; Nevada—Reno and Las Vegas; Arizona—Phoenix; Montana—Livingston; Florida—Orlando; Colorado—Denver, Colorado Springs, and Breckenridge.
Hawaii: Hawaii Island, Maui, Lanai, Oahu, and Kauai; Honolulu, where I was born, and Lahaina are among the places on my list.
Canada: Vancouver, Whistler/Blackcomb, and Ottawa.
Europe: United Kingdom—London, Ipswich, Stirling, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Newcastle; France—Paris, Nantes, Nice, Cannes, and Bordeaux; Monaco; Germany—Munich and Cologne.
Asia and the Middle East: India—Mumbai (then Bombay), Mysore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Bangalore; Japan—Tokyo, Osaka, Nikko, and Kyoto; South Korea—Seoul; Hong Kong; Israel—Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Central America: Costa Rica—San José, Jacó, Quepos, and Manuel Antonio.
Travel memorabilia
The old passports and their stamps are another record of those journeys. Look through my passports and passport stamps →