TravelswithCharie

Update: Odette Aquitania Ricasa just completed visiting all 193 UN countries on August 24, 2022 in Erbil, Iraq (her last country). She is the first Filipino to visit all 193 UN countries. She has also visited 301/330 TCC countries and territories. Congratulations! Odette Aquitania Ricasa Odette Aquitania Ricasa is poised to be the first Filipino American to travel to all 193 United Nations recognized sovereign countries. She has visited 189 countries, just four countries shy of 193. These travels have been rigorously validated by NomadMania. She is also a member of the Travelers Century Club (TCC) having visited 295 of 325 countries and territories on the TCC list. Odette is the author of six books*, an accomplished painter, a motivational speaker and a pianist.  Odette Ricasa has received numerous awards including First Prize in an International Speech Contest sponsored by Toastmasters Club and several Best Speaker awards from the Los Angeles Toa

  After months spent at home all bundled up in sweaters and shawls, it was refreshing to go out to the orchards and see the blossoms invade the once dried up trees. Ahhh, spring is only three weeks away but in California, it’s here. What a lovely day! Sound the flute! Now it’s mute Bird’s delight, Day and night, Nightingale, In the dale, Lark in the sky, Merrily, Merrily, merrily, to welcome in the year.... Excerpt from William Blake, Spring And since to look at things in bloom, Fifty springs are little room, About the woodlands I will go To see the cherry hung with snow... Excerpt from A. E. Houseman, The Loveliest of Trees ***** Images by TravelswithCharie

Riza Rasco with the Latoka tribe in South Sudan Riza Rasco describes herself as a bioengineer/biological scientist, an intellectual property professional and a world traveler. After working at DuPont Company for 17 years, she quit her job, took a long break from corporate life and started traveling full time. She is the co-founder of Philippine Global Explorers (PGE) and the founder of Explore Africa for Impact. In 2020, Riza hosted the Pandemic Traveler Series where she interviewed some of the most prolific travelers who shared their personal experiences, observations and stories during the Covid-19 pandemic. This is a project she initiated through PGE and can be watched on the PGE YouTube channel. Having traveled to 165 United Nations sovereign countries, Riza is on track to visit all 193 UN countries in the near future. Her travels have been validated by NomadMania through a rigorous verification process and she now carries a NomadMania verified UN traveler badge. You can follow h

Josefa Villanueva Reyes (Josefa Arnaldo) started her ballet training in the Philippines with Roberta and Ricardo Cassell (a student of Vincenzo Celli, an acclaimed ballet master, teacher and choreographer). She was formerly a member of the San Francisco Ballet Company, the San Francisco Opera Ballet and the San Francisco Ballet Celeste. Her performing experience includes multiple principal roles from the classical repertory.  Villanueva Reyes received a Certificate for taking part in the International Vaganova Conference/Demonstration in St. Petersburg, Russia which featured the entire 8-year system including Classical Dance, Character, History Dance and Variations. She has taken master classes from renowned Russian teachers including Sergeyev, Dudinskay, Golovkina, Kirsten Ralov and from Dina Bjorn. Further, she has taken classes under distinguished teachers in New York City including Valentina Pereyslavic, Leon Danelien, Frederic Franklin, David Howard and Juergen Schneider. Villanue

  Check out Christian’s Chronicles on Friday nights for some tips on writing. Charie Albar from TravelswithCharie.com will be the guest writer on Friday, January 29, 2021.  http://christiangeorgeacevedo.blogspot.com/2021/01/fridaynightwritersseries-charie-albar.html Excerpt from the interview: How did you discover that you have the passion and the talent for travel writing? There’s a quote that explains how I started writing. Ibn Battuta, a medieval Moroccan scholar and explorer once said, “Traveling leaves you speechless and then turns you into a storyteller”.  I became a storyteller after traveling a few times to Europe. My blog, TravelswithCharie, was and still is my journal and travel guide. When my travel articles were published by Fil-Am newspapers in the San Francisco Bay Area, I was more motivated than ever to write about my travel experiences. *****

Can’t wait to go back to Paris Dare we plan? Definitely! After a year of staying at home, many of us are eager to go somewhere and with the increasing availability of Covid-19 vaccines, we are seeing some hope of healthier days ahead. It will take some time to vaccinate billions of people worldwide and unfortunately, not all countries have the means to purchase these vaccines. But with adequate preparation, the possibility for travel in 2021 is looking up. There are many things to consider before you’re airborne or on the road. Among these are travel restrictions, covid testing, quarantine and vaccination requirements, travel insurance, travel cancellation fees and where to go. Travel Restrictions For international health and travel advisories, check  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/map-and-travel-notices.html   and travel.state.gov .  The Board of Tourism of the country you’re traveling to will usually list travel restrictions for visitors. These are the countries

Mackerel Sky (cirrocumulus clouds) I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o’er vales and hills When all at once I saw a crowd, A host of golden daffodils. Excerpt from Daffodils by William Wordsworth Lenticular cloud  I am the daughter of Earth and Water And the nursling of the sky; I pass through the pores of the ocean and shores; I change, but I can not die. For after the rain when with never a stain.  The pavilion of heaven is bare, And the winds and sunbeams with their convex gleams Build up the blue dome of air. Excerpt from The Cloud by Percy Bysshe Shelley “Clouds come floating into my life,  No longer to carry rain or  usher storm But to add color to my sunset sky.” Ravindranath Tagore “I think I will be able to, in the end, rise above the clouds and climb the stairs to heaven, and I will look down on my beautiful life.”  Yayoi Kusama “I owned the world that hour as I rode over it. Free of the earth. Free of the mountains. Free of the clouds, but how inseparably I