This celebration happened to be in Valladolid, the de facto capital of Castilla y Leon, Spain, also known as the garden city, and the city where Christopher Columbus died. The celebration was incidental to the trip, and something I didn’t expect, but my friends carefully planned to surprise me with a party – and they succeeded!

Let me give you two intriguing books to consider. One this month and, in May, a truly remarkable tome about Field Marshall Rommel, and why you should consider buying both the Churchill and Rommel books.

This is the third installment of Ed Boitano’s series on Pilgrimages. In the second installment, Places I’ll Remember, Part 2, Boitano covered Vincent van Gogh’s final days in Auvers-sur-Oise, the Leaning Bell Tower of Pisa and Princess Grace in Monaco. Still quarantined at home in Southern California, Boitano is doing even more reminiscing these days.

In early 2015, a group of my friends decided to hike up Mt. Whitney, a peak of 14,505 feet in the Eastern Sierras of California. The idea came from our buddy John Marsden. He often was the catalyst of our adventures, and he liked it when his friends could join him on these trips. Many of us in this circle of friends were hikers, and have even done hikes together.

Forty pairs of eyes scan the countryside looking for movement, any movement. With binoculars and cameras at the ready, we hoped for a bear or a moose, but were willing to settle for some Dall sheep high up the mountain.   Not a passenger aboard the bus maintained a semblance of composure.

You may not be traveling to far-away places in the immediate future, but we can bring them to you. Here's a series of T-Boy’s virtual trips, and we hope you'll be able to go there and to other distant destinations soon.

On the morning of February 28, 2020, the T-Boy Society of Film & Music met in Studio City, CA for the final vote on our top 20 Road Movies of all-time. It was one of those beautiful Southern California mornings where the sun was out, the air was fresh with just a hint of dampness on the world-famous Los Angeles River ‘s concrete riverbed.

This is the second installment of Ed Boitano’s series on Pilgrimages. In the inaugural installment, Pilgrimages: Places I’ll Remember, Boitano covered Dylan Thomas – Laugharne, Wales, Antoni Gaudí – Barcelona, Catalonia, Frida Kahlo & Leon Trotsky – Coyoacán, Mexico and The Barbary Apes – Gibraltar. Now quarantined at home due to the coronavirus, Boitano is doing a lot of remembering these days.

Like a war correspondent, The Palladian Traveler files his last dispatch in this series from a platform overlooking a re-creation of the Battle of Borodino, the bloodiest battle of the Napoleanic Wars that signaled the beginning of the end for Emperor Napolean I.

Seasoned travelers all have their own personal methods for packing, rituals for pre-trip routines, and even ways to use time efficiently while airborne on a long flight. Here are some of my favorite gizmos and gadgets for the road… and this assumes that soon, after COVID-19 has burned itself out, that we will all be back on the road again. Stay safe out there!

The Palladian Traveler heads far outside the city limits of Moscow to reach the spiritual center of the Russian Orthodox Church and pays his respects at a cemetery where Russian history sleeps as he files his penultimate dispatch in the Easy Pace Russia series.

T-Boy Society of Film & Music's collection of the funniest, most heartfelt and damnedest moments in last year’s movies.

Looking at this photo you might wonder not only how you pronounce this word, but also what on earth it means. As kid growing up in London I remember hearing about a train station in Wales that was famous because it had the longest name of any station in the world.

You don't have to be a gambler to have a great time at San Manuel Casino. While the place does have some of the best gaming in Southern California, it also boasts great restaurants, exciting nightlife, and a comfortable hotel. And best of all, the casino is only about an hour drive from downtown Los Angeles and minutes from LA-Ontario International Airport.

Quicker than you can say “Doctor Zhivago,” The Palladian Traveler satisfies his craving for some Odessian fare as he tucks in and files his 15th dispatch from a table at one of Moscow’s most popular restaurants.

I had only two days' layover in Amsterdam and wanted to make the most of it. I had a long list of "stuff" to see and do, destinations that I had not had the time to see and experience the year before, when I had a short trip to this charming city of canals, tulips, and bicycles, among its many draws.

A pilgrimage is defined by Oxford Dictionary as (1) A journey to a holy place for religious reasons, or (2) Journey to a place that is connected with someone or something that you admire or respect.

The great ship designed for transatlantic crossings is negotiating a heavy Atlantic sea with white caps appearing like melting snow flickering atop curling 20-foot waves. There is muscle in the wind as an enormous stream of strength converges on the ship twisting the light in tight Picasso-like curls.

Do you know what a NARROW BOAT is? You might well wonder why I pose such a question – I mean it should be obvious: a boat that’s very slim and trim. Well, you’re almost right. A Narrowboat (notice NO hyphen) epitomizes the often weird and many wonderful ways of tourism in Great Britain.

The Palladian Traveler crosses over a short bridge, passes under a stone archway and enters the largest fortress in Europe as he files his 14th dispatch from inside the Kremlin.

Depending on where you travel, you may come to realize that leaving home was a terrible mistake. That's because every destination with a public relations budget endeavors to attract tourists and drive revenue. Yet every destination doesn't deserve a visit from you.

After years of long winter months of Seattle's nonstop stop rain and a sun which refused to shine, I packed up my car and followed the sun to the warmth of San Diego. I was not disappointed; the city was blessed with 12-months of sunshine with an an average temperature between 55 to 75 degrees.

Santa Fe, New Mexico is more than a place. It is a spirit, an energy that enters your soul and takes residence in your worldview as well as your inner vision. A state of mind more than a city; a way of life more than a place to live. It’s a lifestyle, not a destination.