Existing Member?

VagabondsUSA "TRAVEL IS FATAL TO PREJUDICE, BIGOTRY AND NARROW MINDEDNESS." MARK TWAIN

UNDERSTANDING THE ISLE OF MAN

UNITED KINGDOM | Monday, 16 Feb 2026 | Views [23]

  If you are traveling with a car, the only way to get from “mainland” England to the Isle of Man is by ferry. For us this meant a four-hour crossing from Liverpool to Douglas on the Steam Packet vessel “... Read more >


UNDERSTANDING THE ISLE OF MAN

UNITED KINGDOM | Monday, 16 Feb 2026 | Views [24]

  If you are traveling with a car, the only way to get from “mainland” England to the Isle of Man is by ferry. For us this meant a four-hour crossing from Liverpool to Douglas on the Steam Packet vessel “... Read more >


WHICH EUROPEAN CITY HAS THE MOST CANALS?

UNITED KINGDOM | Saturday, 14 Feb 2026 | Views [43]

A) AMSTERDAM B) BIRMINGHAM V) VENICE   I wore my hat and gloves as we walked along Birmingham’s Waterfront Walk on this Valentine’s Day morning. John followed sheepishly behind, shivering. As quiet and scenic ... Read more >


J.W. EVANS SILVER FACTORY—MADE IN BIRMINGHAM

UNITED KINGDOM | Friday, 13 Feb 2026 | Views [21]

  “There was never nothing exported from Britain that there wasn’t a factory in Birmingham that manufactured it, you know.” proclaims a sign in the Birmingham Museum. Late in the 18th Century Birmingham’s “Golden Boys,”... Read more >


BIRMINGHAM MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY

UNITED KINGDOM | Thursday, 12 Feb 2026 | Views [25]

  When Connie said there was an English Heritage site in Birmingham she wanted to visit, my mind pictured the steel mills and belching smokestacks of Pittsburgh. It took only one look at our penthouse AirBnB to dispel that notion; a full kitchen, ... Read more >


“RAPHAEL CARTOONS” AT THE V&A

UNITED KINGDOM | Monday, 9 Feb 2026 | Views [27]

  We braved the cold after lunch and walked to the Victoria and Albert to spend some time exploring the V&A’s goodies. As we worked our way down through rooms of furniture, ceramics, glass, ironworks and about a million other items, we ... Read more >


CHERRY-PICKING THE BRITISH MUSEUM

UNITED KINGDOM | Sunday, 8 Feb 2026 | Views [26]

  Maybe our time in Africa and the Middle East thinned our blood but I felt chilled to the bone as we walked from the Metro through Russel Park to the British Museum. It seems, though, that the crocuses and daffodils hadn’t gotten the word ... Read more >


LONDON REPRISE

UNITED KINGDOM | Saturday, 7 Feb 2026 | Views [22]

  Even though getting our visas for China isn’t in the cards, there is plenty to keep us busy in London. After all, nine million people call London home—and 40% of them weren’t born in the UK. Add the visitors from around the world ... Read more >


AL ZUBARAH FORT AND ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE

QATAR | Tuesday, 3 Feb 2026 | Views [33]

  Yesterday the hotel arranged for Faisal to drive us to the Al Zubarah Fort and Archeological Site about 100 kilometers from the city. The roads are amazingly good, traffic after rush-hour non-existent but there isn’t much to see. A thriving ... Read more >


TWENTY YEARS LATER

QATAR | Sunday, 1 Feb 2026 | Views [9]

The State of Qatar has been independent only since 1971. Along with Bahrain, Qatar decided against becoming another United Arab Emirate and the road less traveled has paid off royally. Like its Gulf neighbors, Qatar has grown rich on fossil fuels, especially ... Read more >


JEDDAH

SAUDI ARABIA | Friday, 30 Jan 2026 | Views [48]

  Our final day on the bus was relatively short—just over six hours from Al Bahah to Jeddah. I calculated the road distance between the cities that we visited from Riyadh to Jeddah at around 2000 kilometers. Adding in all the side trips and ... Read more >


THE HERITAGE VILLAGE OF THEE AIN

SAUDI ARABIA | Wednesday, 28 Jan 2026 | Views [59]

   The thirty-kilometer drive from Al Bahah to the Heritage Village of Thee Ain took us more than an hour this morning. The vertigo-inducing road has 25 tunnels, countless switchback turns, crosses 60 bridges and descends nearly 1500 meters ... Read more >


YANBU TO AL BAHAH

SAUDI ARABIA | Tuesday, 27 Jan 2026 | Views [45]

  Yesterday was pretty much a fill-in day—some swimming and snorkeling followed by an overnight in Yanbu on the Red Sea. Connie and I skipped the swimming—it was quite comfortable in the shade on the boat. There was nothing formal planned ... Read more >


MEDINA

SAUDI ARABIA | Sunday, 25 Jan 2026 | Views [42]

  It was bitter cold this morning when we gathered for a group photo before starting the long drive to Medina. Along the way Yannis organized a brief stop at an isolated station on the Ottoman-built Hejaz railway, interesting only because a similar ... Read more >


OLD TOWN AL’ULA, MARAYA THEATER AND SOME OTHER STUFF

SAUDI ARABIA | Saturday, 24 Jan 2026 | Views [44]

  In 1983, with the mud-brick buildings crumbling around them, the last inhabitants of “Old Town” moved to the new Al’Ula city center. Much of the old town is still crumbling but a few of the buildings have been restored for tourists.... Read more >


HEGRA

SAUDI ARABIA | Friday, 23 Jan 2026 | Views [45]

  The Saudi Arabia trip really began for me in Al’Ula, an oasis that encompasses both the old and new towns of Al’Ula, the UNESCO World Heritage site of Hegra and a few attractions we weren’t aware of. Think of it as Canyonlands ... Read more >


CARVED IN STONE

SAUDI ARABIA | Thursday, 22 Jan 2026 | Views [42]

  The UNESCO World Heritage Site at Jubbah may be the largest petroglyph site in Saudi Arabia but all it did was whet our appetite for AlUla. As with rock art we have seen around the world, the the artists will remain forever unknown and the meaning ... Read more >


BURAIDAH CAMEL MARKET

SAUDI ARABIA | Wednesday, 21 Jan 2026 | Views [48]

  Ushaiqer Heritage Village, about 120 mies north of Riyadh, is one of the oldest towns in the Naid region of Saudi Arabia. In its day Ushaiqer was a major stopping point for Kuwaiti, Iraqi and Iranian pilgrims on the way to Mecca to perform Hajj.... Read more >


SAUDI ARABIA: RIYADH

SAUDI ARABIA | Monday, 19 Jan 2026 | Views [25]

  As the plane banked over the airport it looked like we were landing on Mars. Brown—pretty much what I had anticipated. Welcome to Saudi Arabia. Connie was here with the Air Force twenty-five years ago but this is a new country for me, #173.... Read more >


KHALĀṢ

EGYPT | Thursday, 15 Jan 2026 | Views [22]

            (This is for those who think we’re “Living the Dream” every day.)   “Khalāş” is my go-to reply in Egypt. Enough! It works with touts, begging kids and even dogs. And it sums ... Read more >


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Next >

About graynomadsusa

The Vagabonds at Cobh, Ireland

Follow Me

Where I've been

Favourites

Photo Galleries

My trip journals


See all my tags