Keeping Houseplants Happy While You Travel

If you have indoor houseplants, they require care when you are away. Unlike cats and dogs, there is no kennel where you can take them and pay a set fee for someone to make sure they get the light and water they need. If you have good neighbors, you may be able to make arrangements for one of them to come in and do some watering once or twice while you are away. If you are going to be gone several weeks or a month or more, this may not be the best solution. Often, and we’re not sure why, neighbors seem to overwater our plants.

There are lots of gizmos on the market that claim they will keep your plants hydrated and some work and some do not. We’ve learned what works and what doesn’t the hard way over the years.  The best solution we’ve discovered is a self watering pot with a bottom reservoir. Manufacturers claim these pots will keep your plants watered for up to two weeks but, the truth is, they may not work that long if you have the air conditioner running (more evaporation) or the pot is too small.

A great solution we’ve found is to fill the reservoir and then stand the plant in a large plastic container. We use large plastic storage tubs and place them in the bathtub. Put enough water in the plastic container to go several inches above the top of the reservoir opening. This will keep the plant happy for a month or more and, if it is kept in a well lit environment, the plant will be alive and happy when you get home.

There are lots of self watering planters on the market but one of the better choices is Misco (available at Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot and other fine stores). They offer several different sizes and colors so you can mix and match for all your plant needs.

Images On Jerusalem’s Streets

Photographic impressions from our travels…

The light is stark and the sky is a flawless expanse of bright blue. The streets and alleys of old Jerusalem are a maze, alive and teaming with people.

Jews, Muslims and Christians alike are drawn to these narrow streets, each seeking to find and feel the presence of God.

Vendors and the faithful alike mix in the maze of passageways and narrow alleys where time is measured in centuries.

It is hard to visit this city and not come away unchanged. A place where saints, prophets and armies have all had their times under the intense blue sky.

Are Bloggers Victims of Social Media Algorithms?

Blogging & Are We Being Played? There’s a lot in the news lately about the social media companies manipulating our children online to keep them engaged and how much harm it may be doing. It is obvious that these entities know a great deal about human psychology and how to take advantage of people online.…

by The Intentional Traveler

Standing Watch Above The Rhine

People, places and captured moments selected from The Intentional Travelers photo collection. Marksburg Castle on the Rhine River Marksburg Castle, a majestic fortress located above the town of Braubach in Rhineland, Germany. This castle holds the unique distinction of being the only hilltop fortress on the Rhine that has never been captured or destroyed. Originally…

by The Intentional Traveler
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Travel For Its Own Sake

Often there are negative costs in traveling, like jet lag or becoming irregular but don’t let that stop you as the major benefits way outweigh those minor issues.

“See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories. Ask for no guarantees, ask for no security.” Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

What happens to you when you start traveling the world?

  1. Nothing will knock you down faster than jet lag. As a rule of thumb each time you cross a time zone and lose or gain an hour it will take a full day for your body’s natural rhythms to adjust. For tips on beating jet lag click HERE.
  2. Your diet changes. The first area of short time concern is your eating habits change. This is a common cause of irregularity and the best course of action is to try and stay on a somewhat normal schedule, especially if you’re jumping multiple time zones. Take a few days to adjust to local time. It’s also a good idea to indulge in the local foods in moderation until you get acclimated to the new schedule.
  3. Your exercise schedule will probably change too. Today most hotels, resorts and cruise ships have gyms and with a little effort you can adapt your exercise routine to their facilities. Also most people traveling do an amazing amount of walking while sightseeing. If that is the case realize that you can overdo and end up having to slow down.
  4. Changes in latitudes causes changes in attitudes. Travel gives you a new perspective on almost everything. With things you previously didn’t understand or appreciate you now begin to see in a whole new light. Not only do you relax more but you also better appreciate the similarities and differences between your culture and others.
  5. Flying contributes to fatigue and headaches. Changes in air pressure in an airplane as well is traveling to high altitudes deprives your body of its normal oxygen levels and it takes time for your system to figure out how to adapt. That reduction in oxygen can cause you to get winded quickly and can also cause fatigue. While recovering from a flight can be quick, staying at high elevations can require a week or more for things to begin to feel “normal”.

“To travel is to live.”

― Hans Christian Andersen

Travel is great way to stimulate your mind.

Even with the issues involved, traveling helps most people calm down and feel less anxious. Talk to seasoned travelers and you will usually find they are more open and ready to accept things as they come. New adventures are fun and exciting, causing you to take notice of absolutely everything around you. The feeling can be like you’ve been asleep and now you’re awake. In addition your brain gets more alert and seems to work faster especially when you’re involved in dealing with another language. Not sure you believe this, there are numerous studies to support these assertions.

“…I urge you to travel – as far and as widely as possible. Sleep on floors if you have to. Find out how other people live and eat and cook. Learn from them – wherever you go.” ― Anthony Bourdain

Travel breaks up normal routines and offers new experiences to engage your thinking. This improves memory and helps with the problem solving processes. You have to figure out how to get around new cities, how to use new modes of transportation, deal with new languages and understand alien customs. At first, changes can be frustrating, but eventually, your brain benefits from being more engaged. This leads to increased awareness and improved creativity that lasts long after the travel is over.

Images And Icons Of Yellowstone

Photographic impressions from our travels…

Above: Grand Prismatic Springs.

Right: The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and the lower Yellowstone Falls.

Mammoth Hot Springs one of the most unusual formations on Earth 

The Boiling River heated by large hot springs that pour into the Gardner River

Above: The Upper Geyser Basin at dusk near Old Faithful.

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher

The History Behind The Celebration Of Easter Without question the holiest site in all of Christendom is located in the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem. It represents the location where Jesus was crucified and where his body was laid to rest. Today there is a high level of certainty that the location has been actually identified.…

by The Intentional Traveler
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Chihuly Glass Compliments A Tropical Garden

Traditional glass art usually involves utility, tradition, symmetry. Dale Chihuly‘s work represents a departure from traditional glass art not just in concept but in scale. Chihuly created a new way of working glass, using gravity and spinning forces to work large molten glass. Even if you don’t recognize the name you’ve probably seen his work.

Be sure and check out his calendar of exhibits and shows on the Chihuly website.

A few years ago Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens in Miami hosted a garden wide show of Chihuly creations and the setting and combination was remarkable.

Kissing The Blarney Stone

Blarney Castle

When you have a limited number of days to visit a country you just keep going, even when the weather turns foul. Such was the case when we traveled to Blarney Castle. Not so much cold but a good on and off drizzle. I’m still not sure what brought us to pick Blarney over a dozen other famous Irish castles but I think it was the name recognition more than anything. The bonus in picking Blarney was also going to kiss the legendary Blarney Stone but I was warned that the last thing I needed was to increase my “gift of gab”.

Kissing the stone

Blarney Castle is a medieval stronghold in the town of Blarney, near Cork, Ireland. The keep was built by the MacCarthy of Muskerry dynasty in 1446. The castle is now a partial ruin with some accessible rooms and battlements. At the top of the castle lies the Stone of Eloquence, better known as the Blarney Stone.

The entrance to the property is well laid out and there is a nice stream flowing through the estate. The gardens surrounding the property are worth a visit provided the weather is accommodating and there are also a number of interesting out buildings and exhibits.

The grand hall

The castle itself stands about ninety feet tall with the interior mostly gutted. Upon entering the castle you find yourself standing in the cellar and looking up through the grand hall with its floor completely missing. You can see the stone supports that used to hold the floor just below the halls fireplace with remains of the two story vaulted ceiling above that

Getting to the top of the castle where the Stone of Eloquence is located is a climb up a narrow stone spiral staircase with only enough room for one person at a time to ascend. Before you start your climb they stress that it is a one-way climb (descent is by another narrow staircase) and once you start you cannot back down, so make sure you are up to the climb.

The castle top

As we ascended there were a number of small chambers off the stairs as well as defensive slits for fighting off attackers. Once we reached the top there was a pretty steady rain falling but people were still laying on their backs to stick their heads out to kiss the stone. There are two guides there helping those who want to kiss the stone. By that time I wasn’t keen on going through with kissing the stone in a pouring rain and had additional concerns that I didn’t have enough sanitizer with me considering the number of people that preceded us.

Once back down and wet we headed off to find a pub and an Irish Coffee. In the center of the town we found the Muskerry Arms – cozy, friendly and makers of great Irish Coffees.

Besides the castle the village of Blarney was home to the Blarney Woollen Mills built in 1823. In its day it was known throughout the region for spinning and weaving high quality wool. The mill closed in 1973 after which it was re-opened as an Irish heritage shop appealing to castle visitors.