Following The Stones

Travel Along

We retired early to save our physical and emotional health. We chose to jump into our Go-Go years with gusto and invite you along our stone pathway. We will bring you authentic information from our lived experiences and hope you find some useful stones for your own life journey.

touching old stones around the world

New this week...

Happy Holidays to All of You! We know you are busy and we are traveling faster for the next month, so we will keep posts simple throughout this busy season.

• Take a peek at our Lifestyle page to see new foods and drinks as we wander through Christmas Markets and new countries.

• Do you need a stocking stuffer for someone who travels? Give them one of these 10-Surprising Travel Tools

• Why is December 6th an important day in many countries? Our "Did You Know" Section this week will tell you.

• 'Tis the season for many celebrations. Our Would You Rather Quiz, will highlight some holiday fun. Vote now for yours.

• We have several destinations this wintery season. Follow us in real time with Google Maps!

• The newest city page is Sarandë, Albania, a neat beach town with growing tourism and expat living. Stay tuned for the Portugal and France pages which are coming soon.

• Read or picture-walk the last 2 weeks of stories, if you missed them during this busy season:

  • Musings

  • From Wars to Tourists

  • Pre-historic Portugal

  • A Home with a Name

  • The Hardest Part of Nomad Life

  • The Secret Side of Dublin

• Leave A Stone (comment) at the bottom of this page to spread holiday cheer. Your email addresses are confidential and internal to only us.

A: frolicking in the snow until your fingers freeze?

B: relaxing in the sun by the beach?

C: queuing in lines for shopping and Saint Nick?

spend the holiday season...

A: at a classical philharmonic concert in a 200-year-old church?

B: at a carnival ride that looks like a decorated Christmas tree?

C: at a decorative light installation?

Last week's Results:
Would you rather have holiday joy...

Track Our Adventure

Our Live Location

Previously, we outlined a change in our travel plans, and why. We dropped our plan to stay in Alicante, Spain for one month and changed to Malaga, Spain. Then local and national public sentiment in Spain, coupled with a few security incidents in that region caused us to pivot away entirely, for the time being. Further news of large-scale flooding, as has been the case in recent years in that region, also helped confirm our decision as being prudent.

So, our last update stated it was on to Dublin, Ireland after our day layover in Corfu, Greece. We stayed a week in Dublin and will report on that at some point. Hint: Loved It!
We are now in Portugal for a total of 29-days and have over two weeks left here. The Algarve in Autumn is a MUST for any traveler! We have now finalized and solidified the remainder of our trip. It is as follows:

We will depart Portugal November 12th and arrive in Nice, France the same day.
We will stay there until December 10th and then fly to Prague, Czechia for a shorter stay and visits with an old friend.
December 14th we are traveling by train to Budapest, Hungary for a 3 week stay that will take us through Christmas and the New Year.
Jan 4th, we will travel by train once again, to Vienna, Austria for 4 days.
Jan 8th we will fly to England, and will stay a few days in Southampton, a well-known cruise port destination.
On Jan 11th we will embark on the Queen Mary 2, the only remaining Ocean Liner for an 8- day Trans-Atlantic crossing back to the United States.

We decided not to remain abroad for a full year this time for a handful of reasons, not the least of which is checking in with and visiting family. We are 100% going to return to long-term travel once our visits are done and new travel plans are finalized. Destinations? Departure date? Length of travel? Undetermined as of today, and as always, we remain ready to pivot along the way if necessary.

Travel Situation Report -Updated Oct 2025

What is the Schengen?

Leave a Stone

Throughout history stones have been used for housing, streets, cooking, jewelry, art, and weaponry. When you leave a kind comment on our website, you leave behind a stone for all to see and learn from. Feel free to ask questions, make suggestions, or tell us how much you miss us. Once a kind stone is cast, others can roll your stone along the path by replying to your comment.

Although we are enjoying ourselves completely in this new nomadic lifestyle, we miss our friends and family significantly.

Greg