BATW Clips & Pics
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Bay Area Travel Writers and Photographers clips & pics Featuring travel writing and travel photography from seasoned pros ”The best education for a clever man can be found in travel.” — Goethe “Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” —Miriam Beard . CAROL CANTER JOHN MONTGOMERY LAURIE McANDISH KING ANN JACKSON About BATW President’s Message Established in 1984, in San Francisco, California, Monthly meetings, held since 1984, provide a Bay Area Travel Writers, Inc. is a not-for-profit, lively exchange of information among our widely professional association of journalists with traveled colleagues. Speakers from tourist boards outstanding achievements in the field of travel. and destinations make presentations to inform These professionals share their unique stories in members of travel trends and news. We also hold newspapers, magazines, broadcasts, blogs, videos, panel discussions on such subjects as marketing, “A traveler without observation is a bird without wings.” books, internet publications and travel industry publishing and photography. —Moslih Eddin Saadi publications. BATW encourages the highest professional BATW members travel and report locally and all standards among its members. Up-and-coming over the world. Some specialize in guidebooks, journalists may join as Provisional Members and At BATW, our job – indeed, our passion – is to foster a love of travel. others in golf, travel for singles, families, or seniors, may participate with veteran journalists. Travel Our mission, outlined on our website at batw.org, is to “seek to present or in photography. Each writer and photographer industry professionals are invited to become the world in ways that enrich, inform and fascinate, and to expose readers seeks to present the world in ways that enrich, Associate Members and profit from a mutually to the people, culture, arts and natural splendors of each destination.” inform and fascinate, and to expose their readers to beneficial relationship with our journalists. the people, culture, arts and natural splendors of BATW began circa 1984 with a handful of aspiring travel journalists. This each destination. Ultimately, BATW promotes high professional small group of writers took turns hosting meetings and critiquing one standards within the field of travel journalism. another’s work. Three decades later, we are widely considered the most respected regional Member Listings travel journalists’ organization in the country. We hope you enjoy the travel stories and photography in our new e-book. We’d also like to invite you to check out “Travel Stories from Around ALPINE, Lisa MILLER, Joanne the Globe,” a juried anthology of discoveries, insights and adventures ARAGONE, Joan MISURACA, Karen from BATW members. You can purchase this book at www.batw.org BUTLER, Jacqueline Harmon MONTGOMERY, John CANTER, Carol NEVILL, Jim —Ginny Prior COOPER, Bob OLDER, Effin President DALEY, Lee OLDER, Jules Bay Area Travel Writers DEINZER, Erin Caslavka POIMIROO, John DINGUS, Ginger PRAMIK, MJ FOSTER, Lee PRIOR, Ginny GREITZER, David RATNAPALA, Lakshman HANSEN, Carolyn RODRIGUEZ, Suzie HESSE, Georgia SCHUR, Maxine ITOI, Nikki Goth SCOTT, Alec JACKSON, Ann SCULL, Bill JACKSON, Don SHUBIN, Jim KAUFMAN, Robert SIMS, Sandy KING, Laurie McAndish SINGH, Gary LAWS, David Van RHEENEN, Erin LEBOW, Diane VanHATTEN, Wendy LEVIN, Stephanie WILMER, Tom MEDINA, Audrey WILSON, Janet MEYERS, Carole Terwilliger WILSON, Stu 4 5 Lisa Alpine is the author of Wild Life: Travel Adventures of a Worldly Woman and Exotic Life: Travel Tales of an Lisa Alpine Adventurous Woman (Best Women’s Adventure Memoir BAIPA Book Awards). She is the winner of many awards, including the 2014 Solas “Best Travel Story of the Year” Silver Award for “Fish Trader Ray.” www.LisaAlpine.com Polka Dot Bikini The next year we returned to Anthony’s as usual. In amusing. Until it hurt. Suddenly, his smooth skin had there gaping at me. No one asked if I was all right; my suitcase was my hot new bikini that I was a bit self- a razor-like edge to it. I looked down and he was now they just stared. Looking down, I noticed my bathing “Polka Dot Bikini” originally appeared in conscious about wearing, but I also kind of felt like sideways against me, and there was something oblong suit was completely askew. Not only had Señor Randy Wild Life: Travel Adventures of a Worldly Woman strutting my stuff. Closing in on 40 years old does this protruding from his belly. It was about 10 inches in Fish been getting a rub-on on my leg, he had also to a woman. length and pointed. And rough like sandpaper. Could practically de-suited me. What a masterful horndog! I once had an hourglass figure that could sport bikinis. We dove with the rainbow parrotfish and whitetip it be? Why yes—it was a dolphin dick! This 12-foot-long male marine mammal took me right My most sexy suit was a black-and-white polka dot reef sharks during the day, and with the octopuses and Then things really heated up. As he enthusiastically back to my high school years and the reason I avoided number that fit like a glove and made the curves look spiny lobsters at night. On New Year’s Eve I danced on humped my leg, the female dolphins decided their drive-in movies. even curvier. Not only did I think this suit was hot, but the bar top, doing the windey-windey taught to me by homeboy was paying way too much attention to the “I have never seen them behave this way!” men did, too. a spunky teenage Honduran girl. The windey-windey wrong female. They rushed directly at me in a tight exclaimed the flustered trainer. “I’m giving you all Not only men, but males of another species took a is a dance that can get you pregnant. The hips are group, heads out of the water, pointy teeth displayed, refunds as this is the first time I’ve ever canceled a gander when I’d swim in this particular suit. I had no isolated and around and around they rapidly circle as and made a racketous, chittering noise in unison as dolphin swim experience.” He then looked directly at idea dolphins were fashionistas until one holiday visit you gyrate your way down the polished mahogany bar they charged. Now I was alarmed. I knew a jealous me, gave me the once-over, and pointedly said, “I to Anthony’s Key Resort on Roatan in the Bay Islands in an ecstatic Caribbean conga line of happy dancers. female when I saw one—it didn’t matter what species! guess in the future I will have to request that guests of Honduras, where my husband, son, and I had stayed It is hella good fun—unless you take a nosedive off the They stopped a few inches from my chest, glowered at not wear polka dot bikinis.” over many Christmas holidays. Scuba diving was the bar and break your neck (which, thankfully, nobody me, and then backed up with their tails and did it all main attraction, as the world’s second-longest barrier did due to our limber state of mind). Like I mentioned, over again. I felt like I was in a Flipper porn flick Author’s Note: I have come to realize it is wrong to reef system lies just off Roatan’s shores, providing some midlife crisis. drama. I froze, cornered by the male, who simply keep dolphins, or any wild animals, in captivity. I of the best diving in the Caribbean. We stayed up till dawn limboing our way into the ignored his harem’s choreographed terror attack on me believe dolphins should swim freely in the oceans with There is also a dolphin research station run by the new year. Even my young son got dance lessons from while busy trying to impregnate my thighs. their family pods and not be forced to live in isolation Roatan Institute for Marine Sciences on nearby the adorable teenage girl. Scuba diving was out of the A shrill, piercing sound broke the spell. The trainer in aquariums, theme parks, zoos and hotels with Bailey’s Key. It supports itself by allowing guests to question the following day—headaches do not mix stood on the beach blowing his whistle hard and fast, “dolphin swims.” No creature should have to leap swim with the dolphins for a fee, after a brief well with deep diving. So we went for our annual yelling, “Everyone out of the water NOW!” I batted through flaming hoops or swim backward on its tail to orientation by one of the trainers. dolphin swim at the research station. away my hard-on friend—and his agitated harem— get fed. Join me in boycotting all venues where My young son enjoyed these frolicking encounters, I donned the polka dot bikini and felt slightly then stumbled out of the water and onto the beach. animals are held in captivity to entertain humans. as the dozen Atlantic bottlenose dolphins were usually confident when I looked in the mirror and perused my Everyone else, including my husband and son, stood Find out more at www.dolphinproject.org. playful and friendly. The bottlenose dolphin is still-shapely body in the snazzy suit. common in the Caribbean, and is rather large. They Galen brought an underwater camera to photograph range in size from 6 to 14 feet, and their body is his marine mammal friends, many of whom he knew smooth like rubbery soapstone with a grey-blue patina by name. After the introductory etiquette talk by the that is pleasing to touch when they allow physical naturalist that we could, by this point, quote almost contact.