>John:

>I'm curious. You seem to be traveling somewhere nearly all the time. What
>kind of a great life do you have?

I'm not quite sure how to answer this. I must say that I feel very fortunate to travel as often as I do. But, on the other hand, my wife and I make the effort. Like many of the Ziners we have made the decision to just do it. To travel now and not wait to do it in our golden years. That isn't to say we won't continue traveling throughout our lives. But, as has been recently discussed on this list, our bodies will eventually force us to slow down.

If your question is how do we find the time? I'm able to adjust my work schedule very easily. I am a captain (waiter) in a high-end restaurant here in San Diego. I've been doing this type of work for over 25 years. And even though along the way I completed my education ( a B.A. in Spanish) I cannot reconcile myself to working more than 20 hours a week. My wife is the one in the family with a real job. She is a lobbyist for the University of California. She works the 40+ hours a week and has a set amount of vacation days per year.

I make sure that we utilize those days to the maximum. I also see to it that we take advantage of any business trips that might be extended into pleasure trips, e.g. the trip to San Antonio. I do alot of research to find deals on airfare, put together an annual group trip to Mexico that brings costs down for everyone, and generally make every effort to stretch our travel dollar. And I do all this because I enjoy it. That is why I enjoy the Travelzine. Others share my common interest and help me to continue to enjoy travel.

Of course, the big kicker is... No, we don't have children. Two dogs and an 88 year-old California bungalow home which I've been restoring (I also spent ten years building custom homes) fill our time but don't keep us from pursuing our love of travel. In fact, we've felt so guilty about leaving the dogs for our overseas trips that we now try and make at least two separate week-long camping trips (usually to Baja) for them each year. In two weeks we'll be heading down to San Felipe, on the Sea of Cortez, so they can get in a few days of beach time.

Now that I think about it; you're right Corliss, it is a great life!

John Rule San Diego, CA