Quick links: [Schedule] [Viking TV] [2001: World trip] [2009: 160-mile walk] [2012: South America] [2014: 180-mile tandem bike] [2015: Mountain home] [2017: Princess lecture cruise] [2018: Mississippi River cruise] [2019: Viking lecture cruise] [2020: Regent world cruise] [2022: Viking Europe river cruise] [2024: Viking world cruise]
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Please scroll down to read about all of our adventures!
We are currently enjoying an exciting retirement lifestyle, where we spend most of our year sailing around the world aboard cruise ships! Russell is an Enrichment Lecturer, specializing in cultural insights (or as he calls it, “storytelling with humor”). Gail is a Workshop Host, specializing in 3D needle felting and genealogy. Click here for our schedule of upcoming cruises.
We are on TV! We have hosted several programs on Viking TV, the online channel for Viking Cruise Lines. Click here to watch replays!
In January 2024, Gail and Russell were contracted to lecture and teach for an entire 121-day world cruise. Our vessel was the Viking Neptune.
In April 2022, Gail and Russell set out on a 14-day European river cruise from Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Budapest, Hungary. Our vessel was the Viking longship Vili.
In January 2020, Gail and Russell set out on a 131-day world cruise. Two months in, the coronavirus outbreak brought the cruise industry and the entire world to a standstill. Instead of world trippers, we were suddenly world wanderers.
In April 2019, Gail and Russell were invited to lecture aboard a 14-day Viking Ocean cruise around the western coast of Europe from Barcelona, Spain, to Copenhagen, Denmark. Our vessel was the Viking Jupiter, on its maiden-year voyage.
In August 2018, Gail and Russell celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary (four months late) by taking a one-month cruise all the way up the Mississippi River from New Orleans, Louisiana, almost to Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. Our vessel was the American Queen, a modern-day paddle-wheel steamboat.
In May 2017, Russell was invited by Princess Cruises as a guest enrichment lecturer aboard the Pacific Princess, as it made a 17-day journey through the Panama Canal from Los Angeles, CA to Fort Lauderdale, FL. Together, Russell and Gail presented a series of lectures titled “Adventure of a Lifetime,” about our family’s many adventures.
In the Spring of 2003, Russell, Gail, and our children Cameron (12) and Joss (10) purchased 50 acres of property on a mountain top in California’s gold country. In the fulfillment of yet another crazy fantasy (i.e., mid-life crisis), we decided to build an entire house by ourselves – without a General Contractor, and without any previous knowledge of house building. After two years of planning and waiting, we finally began construction in the Spring of 2005.
In May 2014, we shared a birthday adventure! Five years before, Russell made a 160-mile solo walk from our mountain home in California’s gold country to our primary residence in the Bay Area. This time, Russell and Gail made the trip together in celebration of both of our birthdays. And this time, we did it on a tandem bicycle.
In February-March 2012, Russell and Gail celebrated being empter-nesters by taking a 30-day cruise aboard the Star Princess. We flew into Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The ship cruised down the east coast of South America to Cape Horn. It cruised back up the west coast through Central America and Mexico before landing in San Francisco, California.
In May 2009, Russell celebrated his 50th birthday. In honor of this event, he walked from our mountain home in California’s gold country to our primary residence in the Bay Area – a total distance of 160.18 miles – over a period of 12 days. (As Gail said: “At least it’s better than him buying a red sports car.”)
In July 2001, Russell, Gail, and our children Cameron (10) and Joss (8) embarked on a one-year trip around the world. For this "once-in-a-lifetime" adventure, we took one suitcase and one backpack each, walked out of our front door, and did not return again until twelve months later.
We hope you have as much fun reading about our adventures as we had experiencing them!