For those of you who read why I am doing this, a lot of it is about planning for a surprise visit to my sister in New Zealand. It began just over a week ago. I was bowled over by an email from my niece who lives in Tauranga, New Zealand where my sister and her husband have retired. We are from South Africa but I live in the United States and I haven't seen my sister for several years. She turns 70 this year (I can't believe I have a sister that old!) and so Jenni wants to surprise her at Christmas.

Of course I am going - the ticket is already booked for November 15, but I will go to Southern California a couple of weeks earlier to celebrate an early Christmas with my sons, their partners and my two adorable grandsons.

But because I live in a cold climate, I need to address the issue of summer clothes! So I am going to break out my old skills and start sewing! Yes, I still have my old Bernina sewing machine that is still going strong. And I discovered that I can download patterns from the pattern companies! No paging through the big old pattern books, just scroll through the designs online. Very cool! And I have dug out fabric that has been stored for years and will make skirts and tops that I would never have the chance to wear hear in the Pacific Northwest.

Perhaps my biggest hurdle to cross being away for 4-6 months is - what to do with the kitties? And the house? So I have already put out the word for a caretaker and will probably take out an ad on caretaker gazette. I need someone to take care of my two "boys" who are my daily companions.

With so many blogs and information out there in the world, I hope you will enjoy what I have to offer.

There are going to be short articles, long articles, articles about travel all over the world and close to home. You're going see lots of pictures of places and things. Most will be shots of my own, but sometimes I will, with permission, use other people's work. I'll be doing hotel, restaurant and location reviews, all from the perspective of a mature traveler.

I'm a grandma so I know a lot of what I write about and experience will be pertinent to the baby boomers out there. So there will be travel tips for people our age; what to take, what to wear, that sort of thing.

As the site grows, it will morph into something far different from these first pages. And with your help, it will grow in the direction that benefits more and more people.

Please feel free to contact me or leave comments. If you want to read about who I am, why I'm doing this, it's all on the site.

Here's to an adventure together.