Four heartwarming events and a culinary competition got the family going to a one-of-a-kind four-night reunion in Temecula, California. We had two birthdays, a photo shoot of four generations of women, and a Filipino tradition: asking for a hand in marriage. The Wine Valley The valley is in southern California between Los Angeles and San Diego. With nearly 50 wineries, its microclimate produces high-quality grapes and award-winning wines. Farmhouses, spas, and views abound, as well as dining places. My husband’s 80th birthday dinner was at the Restaurant at the Ponte Winery. The Corbeaux Wi ..read more

My husband and I have traveled together since the time we met in July 2007. We began as tourists, traveling for pleasure, visiting places out of curiosity.  We became more serious travelers when we bought an RV, rented out our condos, and cruised through forty-nine American states, nine Canadian provinces, and six Mexican states. It’s all chronicled in the book Carolina: Cruising to an American Dream. The RV gave us the wherewithal to become more than tourists. We became explorers, adventurers, and even pilgrims. An Explorer is defined as a person who combs an area for discovery. When ..read more

Last week we hopefully established the scientific case for adopting the Longevity Diet by referencing the “Live to be 100” Netflix documentary and the books, Nine Hallmarks of Aging and The Longevity Diet. This part discusses its ten principles (divided into three sections, what, how much, and when to eat) and how we implemented them. What to Eat We know the first two principles well:                                                            ..read more

There are currently several billionaires bent on reversing their age. But we ordinary folks don’t have to have big money to do it. This first part will try to establish the case for adopting the longevity diet so that we can approximae our body’s potential of 120 years. Part 2 will describe its ten principles and how we implemented them at home. It isn’t a diet per se. It’s a paradigm of nourishment so that we can stay young as long as possible. In other words, we should not only seek to increase our life span but also our health span. Studies have shown that, on average, in the last nin ..read more

Part 1 was about Lessons #1-5; and Part 2, #6-10. Here is a more detailed discussion of Lesson #6, “Using the Net,” and Lesson #8, “Using the 7Qs.”   Using the Net to Find Him The majority of relationships are now founded on meeting on the Net, whether general or special dating sites or Facebook and other social media platforms or games, Many are still afraid to look for him there because of the high-profile horror stories on true crime shows. But I found two good ones. If you do it the right way, it does not have to be about luck. How you conduct yourself determines who ..read more

This article was originally published in Travel Awaits on July 27, 2022. I have restructured and updated it for my blog.  When I review the retirement goals I set, I realize I have achieved them. Maybe that is why I am happy. Burned out by a hectic (but fulfilling) computer career, I retired early, way ahead of today's trends great resignation or quiet quitting. These were my five goals: “Teach a little, paint a little, travel a little, write a little, and love a little.”  That last one was a must. I was teaching at a university and two colleges. It ballooned into ano ..read more

  This article was first published in Travel Awaits. I have updated it here. A 2017 article from AARP says that people over 65 think that “old” means being closer to 74. Well, my husband is turning 80 in two months, and I turned 75 two months ago! Luckily, people tell us we look young! I am Asian so that may be a reason, but my husband is Caucasian. The secret must be something we are doing together. Here are some possible explanations. 1. Keeping An 8-Hour Day After we married, he sold his business, I retired from teaching at the university, and we went on an 8-year honeymoon running ar ..read more

This article was first published in this blog in January 2013. Then I developed it for Travel Awaits last May 2023 .  I used that article to update this blog today. At 60 I met an American businessman who took me RVing right after our wedding. Crossing North America six times reaching 49 American states, nine Canadian provinces, and six Mexican states, we lived in it full-time for eight years. Here are the top ten lessons we learned. I have added three notes at the end. 1.   Follow the sun; maximize the fun.         &nbs ..read more

  This article was published first in Travel Awaits on Oct. 13, 2019. It was republished in this blog on March 26, 2021. I have updated it today.    Franklin D. Roosevelt once said: “I think we consider too much the good luck of the early bird and not enough the bad luck of the early worm.” Yes, unfortunately, luck has two sides to it. For travelers who put themselves in foreign or new lands and in the middle of many unfamiliar activities, luck comes into play many more times than normal. Sometimes a travel day turns out good. Sometimes it turns out bad. How do we navigate suc ..read more

  It’s almost the beginning of another year, the time we think about priorities and how we want to move on. You may be preparing for retirement or want to make a change in how you work from home, especially since there are many portable careers available now. It’s time to make another pause. My husband and I have used such pauses well over the years. In 2007 we met and married more than a year later. We retired embracing one retirement lifestyle; in 2013, made a change; and in 2017, went through another. Now it’s time to do it all over again. Here are the lifestyles we tried and what we ..read more