Most take short trips: According to recent data, the average vacation trip away from home is around   5.5 days   based on global leisure travel statistics, with most people staying for 4.5 nights in the United States specifically.   Key points about average vacation length: Global average:   5.5 days   US average:   4.5 nights   Statistica has a more complete summary, showing that people in South Africa go for 10.6 days and Brazil for 7.8 days.   Reddit  indicates the sweet spot for a perfect vacation is between 18-21 days. Thus, our 60-day journey is about ten times longer than most trips, and three-times that of a perfect vacation. You can read 60 postings, beginning on October 9, to December 8.  Or this summary today of what will become the whole thing. We live in Honolulu, so flew to Seattle. Caught the Norwegian Encore (a ship that holds up to 4000 passengers) in Seattle, transited the Panama Canals and ended up 35 days later a...

  Our 35-day Norwegian Encore cruise from Seattle to Southampton was both very good and very bad.  The ship, service, food, drinks and entertainment were wonderful.  Probably best ever of any cruise. The bad had to do with me.  Maybe it was the traveling east, or that I'm more of a landlubber.  My body is old, and could not adjust to the constant time changes.  I found in the past that flying east was terrible for me.  So all my global journeys have been in the westward direction.  It's possible that I will in the future avoid anything going east, including on ships.  The worst thing is that I had difficulty sleeping.  Sleep is very important.  Last night, for example, I was in bed for 14 hours and slept only 3 hours, at most.  On land.  I'm worried about the remaining days.  We don't return to Hawaii until December 7, which is 16 days away.  I hope I can ultimately recover at home. With that dire thought, let me...

'Twas a simple day yesterday.  Only went to Din Tai Fung for an early dinner.    Have written about this Taiwanese restaurant many times here .  First one started in Taipei  in 1958, and the 181 restaurants worldwide today are still mostly fast food pick-up places.  However, the one that opened in   New York City   this summer sits 450.  The Seattle chain I went to is huge.  Showed up around 3:30PM and had to wait 15 minutes to get in.  It specializes in Shanghai Soup Dumplings, or Xiao Long Bao. Very large restaurant. Beef and pork noodles, plus pork/shrimp dumplings. Shanghai Soup Dumplings. With Johnny Walker Black and ginger/vinegar sauce. Saw two  great NCAA football games  yesterday: Oregon edged Ohio State. LSU never led until the end, and beat Mississippi in overtime.  I every two years particularly identify with this match because my Chemical Engineering Department is adjacent to  Death Valley .  If...

If you've never been to Seattle, chances are you never heard of Chihuly.   Dale Chihuly was born in Tacoma, Washington, and is an 83-year old glass sculpture artist.  In 1962, he dropped out of the University of Washington to study art in Florence, Italy. Went back to UDub in 1965 for a BA in interior design. Experimented in glassblowing, studying in 1966 under Harvey Littleton at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who established the first glass program in the U.S. Earning a Master of Science in sculpture, he enrolled at the Rhode Island School of Design, gaining a second masters degree. On a grant, went to Murano in Venice to learn more about glass-blowing. Came back to the U.S. to practice glass works. Helped found the Pilchuck Glass School in 1971. In 1976, was involved in a head-on car accident in England, which propelled him through the windshield and blinded his left eye. In 1979 dislocated his right shoulder while bodysurfing. Was successful in his glass works, ...