About Us
We are Eva and John Gill, traveling with our two children. Having sold Rock Springs Guest Ranch after two decades committed to it, we are wanderers on a new path. We have spent our adult lives tied to something that was at once splendid and also unforgiving, our focus on the experience of others. We are ready to move from the role of staying in one place as the hosts, to that of travelers, to those who receive the hospitality of others.
We are currently wandering slowly around the world. We began in February 2010 in France, and are drifting about, our plan evolving as we go. Follow our travelogue on our blog.
As travelers, we tend to avoid those places that are contrived destinations. Las Vegas and Orlando will probably never make it onto our short list. We did manage to take the children to Disneyland, after much begging, in Tokyo. They were delighted to finally visit the “magic kingdom,” even though all of the rides were in a language they don’t begin to understand.
We are far more likely to rent a house or apartment than to stay in a destination resort. Independently owned always has an edge over the large chains, and high rise hotels are for cities, not beaches. We like finding unique experiences, real ones that were not invented by a design department. Fans of neither the forced march tour nor remaining poolside for days, travel is about exploration. Cultures, nature, adventure, and history. Ourselves and our own perceptions. Wonder is waiting is some rather unexpected places.
It seems that the majority of travelers love sanitized experiences, resorts where the biggest differences are the shape of the sand traps and color of the lounge chairs. How else could it be that so many of these mega resorts can survive? This site is not about them, or the vacations they offer. We hope you enjoy our tales, whether your last vacation included a swim-up bar or class 4 rapids.
Finding ourselves at a point, mid life, were we have the opportunity to re-invent ourselves and follow new paths, I'll leave you with some words from Franz Kafka: "If we knew we were on the right road, having to leave it would mean endless despair. But we are on a road that only leads to a second one, and a third one and so forth. And the real highway will not be sighted for a long, long time, perhaps never. So we drift in doubt. But also in an unbelievable, beautiful diversity. Thus the accomplishment of hope remains an always unexpected miracle. But in compensation, the miracle remains forever possible."