[speaker001:] [Beep]. So where was your last vacation? [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Uh, actually my last vacation was in Connecticut. Uh, we went home to visit family. Before that we were in Hawaii.
[speaker001:] Oh, I, I'd, well actually I did visit Hawaii once but I never made it off of Oahu,
[speaker002:] Oh.
[speaker001:] which I've heard is not the nicest of the islands.
[speaker002:] It wasn't actually. It, w-, when we were in Oah-, Oahu, uh, I couldn't wait to get off [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] We, we took a cruise and we went to four different islands and it was a really nice, Kauai was nice and Maui was nice. We had, we had a great time.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] We were there for ten days.
[speaker001:] Oh that's, wow. Yeah.
[speaker002:] Yeah, yes. So where have you been?
[speaker001:] Oh I've be-, [LAUGHTER] I've been lots of places. My last vacation was actually in Morocco I guess we, that one would count,
[speaker002:] Morocco. Really.
[speaker001:] Uh, that was about a year and a half ago, and,
[speaker002:] No kidding. An-, what, what, did you just decide to go there or,
[speaker001:] Uh, well my husband is French and we were living in France at the time
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and we decided that I, I've never been to Africa and I needed to get that continent since I [LAUGHTER],
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] hadn't been there yet. And it, it's, actually it's a fairly common vacation place for French people to go and they speak French and,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] so, uh, you know, in that sense is just a little bit easier and it just seemed like it would be a fun place to go. And,
[speaker002:] Yeah. Oh I'm sure it was wonderful.
[speaker001:] So we, we didn't really have enough time. We had about, a little bit less than two weeks.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And as always, it don-, it seems a bit, uh, rushed. We do a lot of traveling around. We rented a car and drove pretty much everywhere.
[speaker002:] Was it hot?
[speaker001:] No, in fact some of the days we froze. It was,
[speaker002:] Really?
[speaker001:] well we were there in the winter.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] In Jan-, uh, January or February, I don't remember which,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh. I was born in Saudi Arabia and, uh,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] when my father worked there we, they used to travel quite a bit, all around you know,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] in, in Europe and whatnot, but I was very young so I don't remember that and,
[speaker001:] At wha-, at, [cough] excuse me, at what age did you,
[speaker002:] I was three when we moved back here.
[speaker001:] Oh, that's too bad because,
[speaker002:] So I don't remember but we have all these wonderful pictures of all these great places that they have been [LAUGHTER],
[speaker001:] Uh-huh [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] and that I was when I was a baby but so,
[speaker001:] [Throat clearing].
[speaker002:] Morocco I think would be wonderful because that's, you know, that's, that area of the world I think would be great.
[speaker001:] Yeah. It was a very interesting vacation. The only thing I didn't like was in some of the more touristy areas
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] uh, um, the, it would just be besieged by people wanting to be your guide and you, there were some places,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] where people, defini-, there would be kids there that were excellent at ripping you off,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and we had nothing taken because we knew and we had things in inside pockets and in, you know, in jacket underneath a coat type of thing.
[speaker002:] Really.
[speaker001:] But,
[speaker002:] We, we found that in Jamaica. It was the same way,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] that people would come up and try and sell you, well try and sell drugs and things like that but they, they were so destitute and I guess they, they make all their money on tourism and, and they would come up and ask you, you know, if, if you want to buy different things and really, after awhile it really gets annoying,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] you know, it, it's a little scary too when they're coming up and they're all over you.
[speaker001:] The, the worst place was in Marrakech
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and the other cities it wasn't nearly as bad and a couple of them it was, what we did in some of the other cities and they tell you to do that is to hire a local guide
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] it doesn't matter who it is and they keep everyone else away from you.
[speaker002:] Oh really.
[speaker001:] And it's worth it and it's like ten dollars a day or something and its worth it just to keep everyone else away from badgering you
[speaker002:] Really.
[speaker001:] and you feel stupid doing that but we did it,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and we were much happier,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and you also get in to see things that you might not get into
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] if you were alone, uh,
[speaker002:] Well that's great. Where else have you been?
[speaker001:] Uh [LAUGHTER],
[speaker002:] Well you lived in France,
[speaker001:] Yes.
[speaker002:] so you've been all through Europe.
[speaker001:] No actually I haven't been all through Europe,
[speaker002:] No.
[speaker001:] like I haven't been to Italy yet.
[speaker002:] Really.
[speaker001:] Uh, we're going to go for a conference in September and so, hopefully, we'll get to travel a little bit too.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] Uh, my more exciting spots have been, I've been to the Galapagos Islands.
[speaker002:] Really?
[speaker001:] Uh-huh, that was one of the most wonderful vacations I've ever had.
[speaker002:] Lots of wildlife huh? Yeah.
[speaker001:] Yes. If you like wildlife, it's a fabulous vacation.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] If you don't like wildlife it's probably not of interest [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] But it, that was really, really fabulous and just the photos I have of it and gosh, incredible and be so close,
[speaker002:] Now when was that, when were you there?
[speaker001:] Um, August, eighty-eight.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And then, actually, after there I went to um, Hawaii, a lot of my travel has been sort of based around conferences or business meetings
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and so, I went to Hawaii and then to Australia
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and Japan and China,
[speaker002:] Did you go on the Barrier Re-, did you see the Great Barrier Reef and, and go snorkeling?
[speaker001:] I, I, actually I didn't go diving.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] I, I'm a diver and so,
[speaker002:] Oh diving.
[speaker001:] that's, that's actually been another of my favorite vacations has been taking little diving trips
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] but, uh, no I didn't get to the Great Barrier Reef. I drove from Sidney down to Melbourne and over to Au-, Adelaide.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] It's gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous. The coastline was just incredible. It's huge.
[speaker002:] Is it really?
[speaker001:] Australia. Yeah.
[speaker002:] Yeah, yeah.
[speaker001:] Uh, but,
[speaker002:] Did you have shrimp? I've seen in, you know, they, they show all this wonderful seafood and, and great big prawns, you know the big shrimp and,
[speaker001:] I don't remember if I had shrimp.
[speaker002:] No? Didn't have shrimp there huh [LAUGHTER]?
[speaker001:] I don't think so.
[speaker002:] I remember food [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER] Oh, I like that too. But, uh, in fact I didn't eat out that much there because I was traveling by myself in a car, it would have been, I think, much more fun to do it like in the van,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] with a bunch of people.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] But, uh,
[speaker002:] Oh you're adventurous. You went by yourself.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Really.
[speaker001:] And I was by myself in China too.
[speaker002:] Really?
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] Oh wow.
[speaker001:] China was a little bit more, uh, of a challenge. But, it, it wasn't more of a challenge in a sense because I hired a guide all the time,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and so I never, you know, got out by myself, or not much,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh. Was it very expensive?
[speaker001:] No, actually I paid about either a thousand dollars or a little bit, no maybe it was about a thousand dollars, maybe a little bit less, I don't really remember, for ten days including all my meals, a guide, a car, the airfare and,
[speaker002:] You're kidding! No kidding!
[speaker001:] but this is from Hong Kong,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] because I was already in Hong Kong and, um, but it only cost you about a thousand dollars to go there and I went to Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and actually then I took a train up from Shanghai to a little, Quingdao I think is the name of it. It's a little, uh, sort of getaway retreat village not far from Shanghai. It's just a train ride.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And that, I had two internal, one, yeah, two internal plane flights and a couple of other things. It was really,
[speaker002:] All for a thousand dollars?
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Wow! That really surprises me.
[speaker001:] Around a thousand.
[speaker002:] I guess I relate it to, to Japan where things are very expensive, aren't they?
[speaker001:] Oh, Japa-, Japan's ridiculous.
[speaker002:] Yeah. Yeah.
[speaker001:] And I stayed, I didn't stay in the top of the line hotels but I stayed in, they were all completely clean,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and, you know, they were newly built and they were sort of the lower end of the top of the line, hotels,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] because they said you can't stay in the cheap stuff.
[speaker002:] Yeah, yeah, and you don't want to stay in the very, very, very exclusive,
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] because you don't really even get a flavor of the country if you're,
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] Yeah, yeah. Wow.
[speaker001:] Uh, but yeah, that was, tha-, I highly recommend that way to go. If you're ever interested in going the route, I dealt with this woman, her name was Rita at China Tours in Boston [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Oh really.
[speaker001:] Yeah. Uh, and a friend of mine who had gone for a business trip to China and she just gave me this woman's name to contact and it would really be fun, I think ideally with like two couples because you have a car and a driver
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and a guide and then,