From the Columbia River to Costa Rica, from Ireland to Iceland, from Spain to Patagonia and beyond, the 2020 Traveler’s Journal takes vicarious world travelers to some of the Earth’s most far-flung locales.
Traveler’s Journal, a presentation hosted by the Peninsula Trails Coalition, sees local globetrotters share their stories and photos with the community.
The annual series takes place over eight consecutive Thursdays (assuming no Snowmaggedon-like weather interruption) in the late winter and early spring. This year’s series kicks off in mid-March — about one month later than normal — because of renovation to the host venue, the Guy Cole Events Center at Carrie Blake Community Park, 202 N. Brown Road.
Shows start at 7 p.m., with admission a $5 suggested donation at the door.
Money raised is used to purchase project supplies and food for the volunteers working on the Olympic Discovery Trail — a multi-use trail that when complete will span 126 miles from Puget Sound to the Pacific Ocean, from Port Townsend to LaPush.
For more about the series, call Arvo Johnson at 360-301-9359. Read more about each presentation in the following Sequim Gazette editions.
The series
The 2020 Traveler’s Journal series includes:
March 12 — “Paddling the entire 1,243 miles of Columbia River for kids” with John Kuntz
In August of 2018, Kitsap County native John Kuntz, a described “modern day voyageur,” embarked on a mostly solo kayak trip, paddling the entirety of the Columbia River — all 1,250 miles.
Hear his story in words and video of high adventure as he runs whitewater rapids in the steep walled Red Grave canyon, dodging lightning strikes and forest fires, long open water paddles amongst some of the most spectacular and varied scenery on the planet, portaging around 14 dams, enduring a 5-mile hike around the U.S. border, and sharing his adventure along the way in the classrooms of a suburban Chicago school.
• March 19 — “Coast-to-Coast in Costa Rica” with Mike Barton
Mike Barton and his wife Chris participated in a tour of Costa Rica sponsored by Oregon State University, sampling the natural riches of the country on a 14-day journey that started on a stretch of the Caribbean coast.
The region is perhaps best known as a destination resort for sea turtles, but is also home to an array of plant and animal life in the coastal streams, lagoons and estuaries.
They followed with a visit to San Jose to commence exploration of the central highlands, exploring Irazu Volcano National Park to view topographies at about 11,000 feet created by volcanic activity as recent as 25 years ago.
In the following days they were hosted by a local elementary school that treated them to traditional Costa Rican dances, visited a local biological preserve and the cloud forests of Monteverde, explored the hot and dry plains of Guanacaste on the country’s Pacific coast, and finished by cruising the Tempisque River.
• March 26 — “Exploring Underrated Poland, With a Little Slovakia Tossed In” with Arvo and Christiane Johnson
Arvo and Christiane Johnson, Sequim residents since 2009, love to explore and travel. They’ve been to more than 60 countries and still continue their sense of adventure while introducing their two pre-teen daughters to a life of exploring and adventure.
In 2018, the couple spent 20 days on an adventure to” underrated” Poland and Slovakia, lands that surprised them with beauty, history and affordable travel.
The Poland portion of their trip took them from beautiful dunes along the Baltic Sea, the bourgeois architecture and unique markets in Gdansk, to Malbork Castle (the largest brick castle in the world), the various sights of the ancient town of Krakow and the nearby Auschwitz II-Birkenau prison camp.
In Slovakia, the couple focused on hiking in canyons to explore a few of the more than 2,400 caves the national boasts.
April 2 — “Spain: A Jaunt on the Camino” with Maridee Bonadea
The Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Northern Spain, Maridee Bonadea, says, was one of the most rewarding trips she’s done in a long time. Over the years she’d bicycled all over the world — “so I know what long distant travel under one’s own power takes.”
What made the Camino walk different, Bonadea says, was the infrastructure in place to accommodate walking travelers, the quaint Spanish villages and the people she met along the from all over the world.
A self-professed “late bloomer,” Bonadea did the walk this past February before she turned 70.
April 9 — “Thailand – Where the Sun (and Lessons) Falls Out of the Sky” with Hilary Powers
After more than a year spent saving and planning, Hilary Powers traded the hustle of Denver, Colo. for living and teaching English in Soem Ngam village, Thailand.
Gaining insight and wisdom during an experience that included a motorbike accident, Muay Thai fights and the grief of the death of one of her students, Powers says, “Thailand grabbed a hold of my soul and forced me to slow down and to simply be.”
April 16 — “Ireland: Wherever Green is Worn” with Ron Strange
Ron Strange has mountaineered and backpacked hundreds of miles throughout California, the American Southwest, the Cascades, the Olympics and Baja, California. Currently planning a long walk in southern Scotland and in the Lake District of northern England for this spring, Strange details a trip to Ireland inspired by a previous trip..
Having traveled with his wife some 20 years ago in Ireland on a one-week Neolithic archeology quest, Strange says he looked forward to planning a return trip for four friends that would expand the itinerary. They had 18 days to explore and a group that was amenable to being on the move, so he (with input) put together a driving itinerary to circumnavigate the Republic counter clockwise, staying fairly close to the coast.
April 23 — “Iceland: Land of Fire & Ice” with Kim Brooks
Iceland, a land Kim brooks describes as hard to describe “without sweeping hand gestures,” is familiar European charm on top of a landscape so alien that astronauts practice moon-walking there.
Brooks calls is “Montana with an ocean: sky and mountains everywhere, plus a ridiculous surplus of waterfalls and fjords.”
In 2019, Brooks — a tech project manager and mom of two who lives in Poulsbo — got to visit her 14-year-old’s dream destination because it checked all of the introverted adventurer boxes: uncrowded, waterfalls and not too hot.
April 30 — “Backpacking in Patagonia” with Roger Drake
Roger Drake’s first camping trip was in the Olympic Mountains in 1955, and he’s been camping, hiking, backpacking and mountain climbing fairly regularly ever since. He’s also had 27 years working for the National Park Service as a utilities operator, bicycled Seattle to Miami in 1969, once spent a month walking through the Swiss Alps, and — for his “trip of a lifetime” was with an Everest environmental project expedition to Mount Everest.
In 2011, his 30-year-old son Peter proposed that they look for an adventure in South America. So began a three-week adventure to Fitz Roy group of mountains in Argentine Patagonia, the Torres del Paine area in Chile and Tierra del Fuego, at the southern tip of Argentina and Chile.
Maridee Bonadea details her adventure on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage at the April 2 Traveler’s Journal presentation titled “Spain: A Jaunt on the Camino.” Photo courtesy of Maridee Bonadea
Hilary Powers details her year of living and teaching English in Thailand. Photo courtesy of Hilary Powers
Explore the Domica Cave in Slovakia during Arvo and Christiane Johnson’s presentation at the March 26 Traveler’s Journal event in Sequim. Photo courtesy of Arvo Johnson
Kim Brooks takes attendees of the April 23 Traveler’s Journal presentation on an exploration of Iceland. Photo by Kim Brooks
Get up close to an eyelash viper at Mike Barton’s “Coast to Coast in Costa Rica” presentation at the March 19 Traveler’s Journal. Photo by Oliver Acosta
Learn about John Kuntz’s mostly solo, 1,200-mile kayak trip on the Columbia River at the March 12 Traveler’s Journal. Photo courtesy of John Kuntz
View scenes likes this from Carrick-a-Rede, Co. Antrim, Ireland, at Ron Strange’s Traveler’s Journal presentation on April 16. Photo courtesy of Ron Strange
