Travel Reports from the Mothership

I’m a writer by habit, a publisher by career, and a traveler by perpetual interest. I’m also a mother and wife, a reader and foodie, a sports fan, an arts aficionada, a map freak, and a fresh air fanatic.

You may think my life is all travel and glamour. That’s pretty accurate. Between photo opps, though, I write for a couple blogs, enjoys corresponding with various characters, and strive to contribute as a freelance writer for various periodicals. And then there are the secret projects which shall be revealed if ever completed. About twice a year, I head for home, an ever-fascinating, if not ill-defined, destination.

This site started as a travel journal in 2010 and continues to include essays, poetry, oddball photos, and impractical travel notes. My other regular blog is TRAVELPAST50.COM, a site devoted to the traveling life I share with my husband, Tom Bartel. In 2010, we divested ourselves of home, cars, company, employees, children and dog, to behave like 20 or 30-year-olds, only with fewer anxieties. We’ve been traveling the world since.

HMS Henning is inspired by my love of water and scuttlebutt (technically the freshwater container on-board 19th century ships), the social equivalent of the office water cooler.  I sail along eavesdropping on the debates at local watering holes, and soaking up the cautionary tales of other wayfarers.

So here I log our progress or lack thereof.  Not strictly travel-related, HMS Henning, like our travels, is a result of following my nose.

Ports of Call:

• Quito, Ecuador, plus Peru and Columbia (2010-11)
• Santiago, Chile (Spring 2011)
• Lake Tahoe, NV (Summer 2011)
• Spain (Camino de Santiago, September 2011)
• France, Italy, Turkey (Fall 2011)
• Bali (December 2011)
• Australia (January 2012)
• Thailand (February 2012)
• Vietnam (February 2012)
• Singapore (March 2012)
• US: Minnesota, Washington, Iowa (March 2012)
• Spain: Madrid, Valencia, Sevilla, Murcia, Mazarrón (April-June 2012)
• US: Minnesota and Iowa + Las Vegas (July 2012)
• US and Canada: Road Trip to Greenville, SC; Washington, D.C. and Alexandria, VA; Baltimore, MD; Boston, MA; Mohegan Sun Casino and Submarine Base, Groton, CT; Niagara Falls, Ontario; Iron Bridge, Ontario; and Ashland, WI (August 2012)
• US: Minnesota, lots of Iowa, a little Omaha, and a side trip to Austin, TX (September-November 2012)
• Cantabria, Spain, plus visits in and around Segovia and Madrid (December 2012 – mid-February 2013)
• US: Minneapolis, MN; Napa and San Francisco, CA (March 2013)
• Mexico: Ciudad de Mexico; San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato; Mérida, Yucatan; Tulum, Quintana Roo, Cozumel (April 2013)
• Belize, Guatemala (May 2013)
• England, Repubic of Ireland, Northern Ireland (June 2013)
• Iowa/Minnesota (July-Aug 2013)
• Hawaii (August 2013)
• Japan (September-October 2013)
• Barcelona, Girona, and Madrid, Spain (November 2013)
• Berlin, Prague, and Budapest (November-December 2013)
• Minneapolis, MN, and Council Bluffs, IA (January-March 2014)
• Napa, CA and Las Vegas, NV (February-March, 2014)
• Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland (April-July, 2014)
• Road Trip West, including these National Parks: Mesa Verde, Rocky Mountain (Colorado); Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches, Canyonland (Utah); (September 2014)

If you’d like to contact me, please email kristin (at) entropypub (dot) com