Hobbies

My sister and I are both working on blogs now and I just finished reading her new “About Me” page. https://tamistravelandadventures.com/index.php/about-me/ It definitely sounds like her! She is a tough cookie maybe because she grew up more around my brother than she did around me. I remember her telling me that she used to leg wrestle with him all the time, which is a crazy thing if you knew my brother because he was a football player with huge muscular legs.  I am sure he was no easy person to leg wrestle! Suffice it to say, she knows how to take care of herself and has always babied me. So what does this have to do with all the comforts of home? It’s about our different styles of vacationing. No long way around there!

Photo by Alice Donovan Rouse on Unsplash

Hiking and Camping – My Sister’s Way

I imagine my sister’s backpack would look something like this photo. It would be sturdy, minimal with all the necessary accoutrements like food, water, matches, I don’t know! I’m guessing at this point! But it would definitely contain some type of photo taking equipment.

Photo by Tom King on Unsplash

Camping My Way

My style would be more like this photo only worse! Did I tell you I have a travel bidet that would be a must-pack for me? http://a.co/d/exsdfC8

That’s right or how about those 100 vitamins I take in their own little travel case http://a.co/d/bMezmbf Are you getting the feeling yet that you wouldn’t want to go camping with me?

Then there is the Wekapo. What brilliant person came up with this? I would sink into this thing and it would take an act of Congress to get me out. http://a.co/d/2pvNXG4

I would have one practical thing with me that would make my sister proud. Check out this hammock! I am in love with this hammock. I would like to install it in my bedroom! http://a.co/d/4IYexlP

Photo by Chris Holder on Unsplash

Do You Camp?

Now, this looks enjoyable to me as long as the chairs weren’t too low! I hope you know that I am exaggerating a little. I actually love the outdoors and would be happy to be like my sister, able to leap small forests in a single bound. I have grown soft in front of my computer and I do like my creature comforts.

Photo by Blake Wisz on Unsplash

Camping Compromise

My sister is convinced that there is a solution to our dilemma. She and her husband have been looking at motorhomes that she can stuff us all into and take us on the road. I love my sister. She’s like me in this way. She wants to explore and have adventures, but she wants her family with her along the way, even when we are pains in the patootie (as my mother used to say!)

Photo by Samuel Sianipar on Unsplash

Heading Off For the Sunset

So someday if you see a line of camping vehicles crammed to the gills with people and stuff all wobbling down the road following each other to the beach, or the forest, or the desert or who knows where you might want to wave a hello. It will probably be me and my family! You might also enjoy https://indulgentaging.com/index.php/2018/10/16/traveling-light/

I don’t like beer, really. Occasionally I have enjoyed an icy cold Corona with carne asada or an equally frosty Kirin with Japanese food but mostly I prefer to eat my calories.

So why am I writing about beer? Because I do enjoy doing the craft beer crawl, which consists of going from one brewery to the next enjoying the company of my sister and her husband and anyone else that we meet along the way.

I like the casual atmosphere of the places we go, sampling the appetizers we order and being able to relax and people watch. No one seems to mind if I drink water or tea!

It’s a very social activity which is not something that I have a lot of time or inclination for. I never was much of a bar hopper but whether it is because I am with my family or we mostly prowl during the day I find it strangely comfortable.

According to The Brewers Association as of 2017 there were 2,252 brewpubs, 3,812 microbreweries and 202 regional breweries in the USA. 190 or so of those are in San Diego county with about 22 being within a stone’s throw of where my sister lives. Breweries across the state contributed $7.3 billion dollars to the state economy in CA in 2016.  That’s a lot of hops!

I think you could plan a trip around the world by plotting your course via microbreweries and you would probably come back a more relaxed and possibly plumper person!

You could start your tour in San Diego with what Thrillist calls, “The 13 San Diego beers that everyone who professes a love of beer should try at least once before they die”. Cheers! https://www.thrillist.com/drink/san-diego/best-beers-in-san-diego