Vacation Videos
One of the consequences of a combined interest in both travel and photography is the huge stack of photos that accumulate after each and every trip and the inevitable guilt associated with inundating your friends with the photographic evidence of yet another great trip. People smile politely, but most just don't share the same enthusiasm for the photos as those who lived them. A solution to this problem arrived in the form of a long delay at the airport in Norfolk, Virginia following a cruise that we had just taken to Bermuda. I was sitting in the airport with my laptop, which had all of my downloaded trip photos along with my editing software and several CDs of music I had taken for the trip. To kill time, I started stringing what I felt to be the best photos together and then put the whole thing to music. My first vacation video was born and soon evolved into a regular occurrence. My friends loved the idea of seeing our trip photos in the space of a few minutes rather then sitting through hundreds of snapshots.
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Bermuda - May 2004The video that started it all. I combined the cruise to Bermuda with a visit to Raleigh, NC to visit my friend Fraser. It was during that visit that we began The Lost World Trailer Collection Project that can be seen over at The Lost World Videos page. Download Video |
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Chicago and Wisconsin - August 2004We combined a trip to see my husband's aunt, who lives in Chicago, with a trip up to Wisconsin to spend some time in the farmhouse she rents. We also timed the trip to coincide with the Padres visit to Wrigley Field. Lasting impressions? The beauty of Wisconsin and the praire land surrounding Judy's farmhouse. The insane dedication of the Cubs fans. The coolness factor of the Wisconsin Dells. The fascinatingly weird House on the Rock. A trip to downtown Chicago to buy jackets due to the freak cold snap in the middle of August! Download Video |
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Ft. Lauderdale and the Caribbean - April 2005Our third cruise combined with a pre-cruise visit to Ft. Lauderdale to spend time with my hubby's nana. The cruise visited Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Key West. Highlights, at least for me, were SCUBA diving in Cozumel and kayaking in Key West. Download Video |
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Yosemite National Park - June 2005My first ever visit to Yosemite, this trip was sponsored by my hubby's folks. Yosemite is one of the most gloriously beautiful places I have ever visited in my life. I hope my photos do it justice. Download Video |
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China - September/October 2005My hubby visited China with his family back in the 80's, so when I had the opportunity to go with some girlfriends, he bowed out. We toured Hong Kong, Guillin, Xian and Beijing. It was an incredible trip full of amazing history, fascinating people and beautiful scenery. Download Video |
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The Eastern Mediterranean - September/October 20072007 was a year full of important milestones. I celebrated my 40th birthday, and my hubby and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. We had decided some time ago that a major vacation to celebrate both events would be in order, and planning began around mid-2006 for this trip. We spent 2 1/2 weeks touring Greece, Turkey, Rhodes, Cyprus, Israel, Egypt, Corfu, Dubrovnik and Italy. Because I get more vacation time then the hubby, I spent an extra week at the end touring Santorini with girlfriends. It was the trip of a lifetime, full of sights, sounds and experiences that I will never forget. Close to 1500 photos were condensed down to this 12 minute video, making it the longest video I've ever done. Don't be surprised if it takes a bit of time to download. Download Video |
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Eastern Canada and New England - June/July 2008Early in 2008, we were treated to the great news that the hubby's family wanted to do a group vacation to celebrate his Nana's 85th birthday. I couldn't have been more excited when the destination choice was eventually made. The family decided on a cruise that would take us from Montreal to Boston by way of Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and Bar Harbor. For me, this trip was a dream come true. Having grown up reading L.M. Mongtomery's Anne of Green Gables books and then falling in love with Megan Follows' portrayal of the same character, Prince Edward Island has always been one of those destinations that I assumed I'd never get to see. Taking in the scenery that inspired some of my favorite books of all time was a truly momentous experience. The trip was a blast, and it was a wonderful way to celebrate an amazing woman's special birthday. Download Video |
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Australia and New Zealand - March 2009About a year and a half ago, one of my travel buddies and I began discussing the possibility of a trip to New Zealand's Marlborough wine country. What started off as a lark (interestingly enough, over a bottle of wine) slowly began evolving into something much more. I threw out the idea of the Queen Charlotte Track almost as a joke, not thinking that anybody would really take me seriously. A 71 km hike. Me? Well, take me seriously they did. Over the course of more then a year of planning, this trip suddenly included a brief stint in Sydney, Australia, and a visit to the north island of New Zealand prior to beginning our hike on the southern island. I don't think I ever seriously considered that I'd be able to finish the hike, but finish it I did. All 71 km. It was an amazing experience with incredible scenery and something I'm confident will remain one of the most significant moments of my life. Download Video |
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Alaska and Seattle - August/September 2009Based on the majority of videos on this page, it should come as no surprise that the Hubby and I love to cruise. The first cruise I ever went on was an Alaska cruise shortly after my Hubby and I were married, and we've enjoyed every one we've been fortunate enough to vacation on since. Two things, however, that we've always wanted to do were the opportunity to cruise with my family and an opportunity to cruise with my best friend, her husband and their daughter (our god daughter). The opportunity for the latter came in the form of our second cruise to Alaska. We stopped in Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka, Victoria and ended our trip in Seattle. While the guys headed home early, the girls spent a few extra days in Seattle seeing the sights and visiting with mutual friends. We had a blast and look forward to the opportunity to do it again some day. Download Video |
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Western Mediterranean - February 2010I'm sure that most people keep a mental list of those all important places they want to visit while enjoying this life. I feel very fortunate that I've had the opportunity to visit so many glorious places. This cruise, our 9th together, gave my Hubby and I the opportunity to knock two locations off my bucket list.....Morocco and the Alhambra. Both are places I've wanted to visit since I was a child, and both were as beautiful and exotic as expected. We were also given the opportunity to spend some time in Barcelona, the Canary Islands and Madeira along with 2 ports in Morocco (Casablanca and Agadir) and Malaga in Southern Spain. Amazing sights, amazing people, amazing culture and another amazing trip. And yes, that is snow in the pictures from the Alhambra. According to the locals, it was the first time it snowed in Granada in 52 years! Download Video |
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Caribbean - February 2011Went it came to time to plan our vacation for 2011, we only knew two things; we wanted to go somewhere warm, and we wanted to do some diving. This cruise intinerary with Princess gave us the opportunity to visit a number of islands, most of which were ones we had never visited and also islands famous for their Scuba opportunities. Armed with an underwater housing for our camera, we did our best to capture the incredible beauty of these islands, both above and below the water. Download Video |