Lake Lucerne, Switzerland

Deep in the darkest depths of winter and now nearly two years into the seemingly never-ending pandemic, my wanderlust yearnings have been calling to me, urging me to take to the road again while at the same time filing me with nostalgia for the places I have been. Call this post a tribute to the travels of the past and a hopeful gesture toward the travels perhaps yet to come.
Continue Reading An Incurable Case of Travel Nostalgia

The Palace of Westminster

It is with a great deal of pleasure that I finally get to say this again after a long wait: The D&O Diary was on assignment in London last week. With two COVID vaccinations under my belt and a booster shot to boot, I just decided it was finally time to start traveling again. It was great being back in London and re-acquainting myself with one of my favorite cities. Pandemic precautions made some parts of the trip awkward, but in most other ways it felt almost normal to be traveling again.
Continue Reading London Again (Finally)

Winged Victory of Samothrace at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

I miss travel. No, I don’t miss the crowded airports, the delayed departures, the missed connections, or the lost luggage.  I miss the experience of discovering a city for the first time, tasting new and delicious foods, and learning about unfamiliar languages and cultures.

I also miss art. I miss encountering painting, music, architecture, and sculpture, as I do when I am traveling. For me, exploring museums, visiting cultural sites, and attending concerts are all such important parts of travel.

In the day-to-day work-from-home life that we are all now living, I often find myself reminiscing about the many rich cultural experiences I have enjoyed over the years during my travels. Although my cultural travel nostalgia encompasses many pleasurable memories,  for now it has a bittersweet edge. It seems likely that it will be many, many months before we may once again travel freely.
Continue Reading Art, Travel, Nostalgia

Berlin Cathedral

The D&O Diary was on assignment in northern Europe last week, with stops in Berlin, Hamburg, and Paris. I know from past experience that traveling in northern Europe in January can be a formidable experience. On this trip, however, mild and dry weather conditions generally prevailed, allowing for some really pretty enjoyable travel experiences.
Continue Reading January in Northern Europe

The D&O Diary is on assignment in Europe this week, with the first stop on the itinerary in London. I have been to London in November many times before and I know that the weather can be OK or it can be lousy. On this trip,  I had a pretty even mixture of both. But even if there were no single full day of sunshine, there was also no single entirely rainy day. In between the intermittent rain, I had several chances to enjoy some late fall sunshine in London.
Continue Reading Autumnal London

The D&O Diary’s overseas assignment continued this week with a stop in Mumbai, India’s financial capital. I was in Mumbai to participate in the annual Bima Gyaan Symposium, an educational and networking event for the professional liability insurance industry in India. As reflected in the pictures below, the event was once again well-attended and was a great success.
Continue Reading Mumbai Professional Liability Insurance Symposium

Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem

The D&O Diary is on assignment overseas this week with a lengthy itinerary including multiple stops. The first stop on my schedule was in Israel, where I had business meetings in Tel Aviv. My timetable while I was in Israel also allowed an opportunity for a first-time ever visit to Jerusalem. As reflected in the pictures below, the Jerusalem stopover was a truly extraordinary experience.
Continue Reading Jerusalem and Tel Aviv

The D&O Diary’s European assignment last week concluded with a weekend stopover in Paris. With the warm, sunny weather that prevailed, the visit to Paris was every bit as wonderful as you might suppose. In addition to the obvious draw of visiting Paris in July, another reason for the visit was to check in on an old friend who has been going through some tough times lately.

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Continue Reading A Visit to an Old Friend in Paris