As a military brat, I flew often during the first twelve years of my life. I was never afraid to fly, but my stomach did not relish the experience. It escalated to the point where, once old enough, my little brother would walk the plane’s aisles, collecting those heinous little bags from the empty seats and announce “Here you go, Lizzy, for when you get sick!” loud enough for the ground crew to hear. Great.

In December of ’81, I flew to West Africa to visit my family for Christmas break – my first flight since ’74.… continued…

Alva, Oklahoma

Becky McCray is a small town business owner, with a retail store and a cattle ranch in Woods County, Oklahoma. Through her consulting firm she helps small town governments, and promotes entrepreneurship and tourism in small towns. You can find all her online projects from www.beckymccray.com… continued…

I was reminded of a day trip to Tangier in December 2008 when a friend pointed out an etched, graceful, Moroccan teapot on my bookshelf. It was a completely impractical purchase — I doubt I’ll ever make tea in it — but besides being beautiful, it reminds me of a great day of traveling.

Soaking up the sun in Andalucia was a great way to start off the winter. One day, we hopped in the rental car with a basic map towards Tarifa, the southern-most point of Europe, a tiny tip pointing due south off the coast of Spain.… continued…

I didn’t have a book about Morocco, I was learning about Morrocco as I was experiencing it, I was also learning about things through my other travel partners who had ample books on Morocco. Yes, I was too cheap to buy my own book.  After the first week, someone in my group read in their guidebook something about Moroccan goats that climb trees.

“What?, What did you just say?”

They proceeded to show me a picture in their travel book of 14 goats hanging out high in the branches of a tree like birds.
 I was astonished.  Was this photo-shopped?… continued…