You Can Travel Vicariously During the Coronavirus Era!

Let’s all travel vicariously during the coronavirus era, and to start us off, I’m going to start posting photoblogs of my January/February trip to Indonesia!

My trip to Indonesia had been planned a year in advance. I planned a dive trip with Ray of Hope Expeditions, and looked forward to seeing good friends and diving Raja Ampat in Indonesia on a new liveaboard, the Coralia. Most people that love the ocean dream about playing a more active role in education, research or conservation. As you know, I am passionate about teaching others about the ocean and our ocean creatures. To that end Dr. Andrea Marshall, Queen of Mantas, has always encouraged people to take a proactive approach to their travel or ocean hobbies. Her organization, Ray of Hope Expeditions, is the way to assist scientists while having an amazing dive trip. I join an expedition every year, and I hope 2021 will not be an exception.

Getting there was the issue. I usually use award miles on these long, long flights because with my chronic back pain and other issues, I just cannot fly coach. Thank goodness I travel so much that I have plenty of miles for these trips. I flew from Dallas to Narita (Tokyo) on Japan Airlines (they are an awesome airline), Narita to Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur to Depensar, Bali (on Malaysian Air, another great airline), to Makassar, finally arriving in Sorong on Garuda Indonesia, the official airline of Indonesia. A very long trip. The Garuda (Sanskrit: गरुड़ Garuḍa; Pāli: गरुळ Garuḷa) is a legendary bird or bird-like creature in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain mythology. He is variously the vehicle mount (vahana) of the Hindu god Vishnu, a dharma-protector and Astasena in Buddhism, and the Yaksha of the Jain Tirthankara Shantinatha. Garuda is the symbol of Indonesia.

It took 3 days to travel to Sorong. 5 flights. After arriving, I stayed at the Swissbel Hotel in Sorong for a night, and spent the day in my room, resting, sleeping and eating. I really enjoyed hearing the prayers all day from the mosque located near the hotel. I opened my balcony so I could hear them.

So, welcome to the start of my fabulous trip, and the next blog will be the introduction to the Coralia and diving in Raja Ampat!!! As I said, we need to travel vicariously during the coronavirus era!

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