Lesleyanne was born and raised in St. John’s, Newfoundland. A retired veteran who served in Bosnia in 93/94, she graduated from the University of Manitoba with a BA in History/Political Studies in 1988 and from Memorial University with a BA in English and Diploma in Creative Writing in 2008. Her short stories have won four times at the NL Arts and Letters Awards and three have been published. Her first novel, Braco, won the 2011 Fresh Fish Award for Emerging Writers, and in 2013, it was shortlisted for the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award. Today she spends most of her time babysitting her sister’s dogs and traveling the world.
I have read your several tour tales and reviews in Trafalgar website several years ago. I have known you as “Chack” hopefully I spelled it correctly. As I recall, you were lover of cats, retired early from Navy, paid off your mortgage and became a world traveler. You were a superb writer and your photos were outstanding. You were never in the photos that you posted in Trafalgar website. I still remember that you went to Copenhagen (Scandaniva tour) and you couldn’t see the Little Mermaid as it was moved to China Worldfair. You wrote that you will go to China in fall to see the Little Mermaid statue. I found it humorous, probably you were very upset.
I and my wife have taken several tours with Trafalgar, Cosmos, Insight vacations & Gate 1 Travel. Now we are running out of countries in Europe to visit. I live in U.S.
Lesleyanne, if you are not “Chack”, please ignore this message and accept my apology for writing you.
Hi Satish,
Yes, you got most of that right. I was Chech on the Trafalgar board. 🙂
And I actually got to see the Little Mermaid when I did the Norway tour (it started in Copenhagen). Wasn’t upset about missing it – it was pretty funny. I loved the irony that I was going to China four months later…but I never did see it at the Fair. The photo of the guy dressed up as a mermaid to stand in for the Little Mermaid is still one of my favourites.
I pretty well saw most of Europe before I started spreading out. South America, Australia, South-east Asia, South Africa, Egypt are all great destinations. I’m off to Argentina again next month. This time to drive up through the central part of the country, dropping into Bolivia and ending at the Atacama. That one will be with Eldertreks.
And I’m still a lover of cats. My two passed in 2014 at the ripe old age of 19.
🙂
Hello Chech,
I too ‘met’ you on the Trafalgar site before I traveled to Japan, about five years ago. That’s where I was able to meet you in person. We were in different tour groups but had the occasion to run into each other. I have often wondered where your travels have taken you since. I kept in touch with a friend from that tour, Carole who resides near London. In September 2017 I traveled to London with Carole as my host for about five days. I then went on to Israel, staying in Jerusalem for two days. This September I will be joining another tour group by Trafalgar and visit Spain and Portugal.
Sorry to hear about your kitties.
I wanted to attach a photo to refresh your memory of who I am. But you can find me on Facebook. And I still have the magnet you gave me on my refrigerator! Take care –
Hi Sally. Yes, I remember you. I’ve been storm chasing for the last couple months and just got back. I’ve sent you a friend request. 🙂
I just found your travelogue while I prepare for the Adventure Canada Ocean Endeavour tour coming this Saturday- the Going into the Northwest Passage. I have read most of your postings & saw the photos on your Flickr photo site. I am most impressed.
I hope I do not have the 2 storms that you experienced. I am bringing with me the Zofran & the Transderm V patches. I will definitely wear them as I get seasick very easily. Did many of the passengers get sick on your trip? What’s your advice for me?
I am a serious photographer & I am bringing a full frame Nikon with one single zoom lens to 300mm. I also have a Fujifilm XT1 with a kit lens. I will bring an ultra wide angle lens for that. Also I bought for this trip a Lumix DC-FZ80 which has a fast zoom up to 1200 mm. I think I need this for the polar bears. The question is whether I should put all of them in my waterproof backpack to go on shore? I also bought a waterproof 20 L bag to hold them outside the backpack.
Appreciate your advice.
Hi Norman.
It sounds like you have everything in hand. For the seasickness, during the worst of the storms, 1/3 to 1/2 of the dining room was empty. The staff had sea sickness bags all over the ship. People I knew who had the patch did better than those without. Can’t remember if I noted it in the blog, but the storms were unusual for that time of year, so the chances you have one or two are pretty remote.
That 1200mm zoom will get the polar bears for sure. The hardest thing is keeping the zoom lens level on the moving ship. The wide angle will come in handy if you get some northern lights and when you go ashore. When we were on the zodiacs, the waves were never that bad. I think I only got wet once. I didn’t have a waterproof bag, but I had everything in my backpack in plastic bags/ziplocks. Some people would carry their whole bag inside a garbage bag until they got ashore. It was the easiest, lightest solution to that. Anything extra you bring can be left with your life jacket and boots on the shore.
Generally, you don’t take pics from the zodiac. When you can, it’s calm enough to take them out and not get them wet.
Enjoy the cruise. It’s an amazing experience.
🙂