Pack your bags/We’ll leave tonight. (Eddie Money, 1977) On the Wednesday before our Saturday departure from Rarotonga, someone at breakfast dares to raise the subject. “Well, back to real life in four days.” No one says anything for several seconds. “I won’t mind,” says one woman, looking up from reading the newspaper. “Time to get …
If you vacationed with your parents when you were a child, you might have fond memories of the kids you met in the campground play areas, the motel swimming pool, or the beach near the trailer park. You bonded with them for no other reason than they were kids too. You rode your bikes together, …
A couple of days after Christmas, I decided to explore the Cook Islands’ National Museum and Library, located on a side street in Rarotonga’s main town of Avarua. As I veered off the touristy main road that looped the island, I met few vehicles and even fewer people: the only sound came from the open …
On the patio closest to ours, a father is having an earnest chat with his pre-school daughter. “But of course Santa knows where you are,” he tells her. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re in Calgary or the Cook Islands. Santa always knows just where to find you. That’s the cool thing about Santa.” His little girl appears …
It’s December 20, and I’m sitting in the Edmonton airport with three boarding passes in my pocket. I’ll land first in Vancouver, not an unusual destination for me at this time of year. My enthusiastic family has often greeted me at the domestic arrivals baggage carousel, and together, we’ve anticipated the fun we’d have and …
Wise Woman Travel 