Month: January 2026

1/16/26

Hello again from the Orlando suburb of Lake Nona. I have spent a very quiet indoor week here with this wonderfully snuggly kitty Lucy.

There isn’t much nature near where I’m staying, and bike-friendly infrastructure is scarce, so I only made one nature excursion this week. I’ll share the pics at the bottom of the post—Split Oak Forest was a beautiful and quite varied nature preserve.

First, though, a few pics from my arrival here from Sarasota. As I mentioned in my last post, I took a combination of bike, bus, train, and carpool to arrive here. The bus took us across Tampa Bay, which was predictably gorgeous.

And here at this apartment complex, I did take a nice evening stroll one night along the path next to Lake Whippoorwill. I liked the “exotic” trees, and the pink sunset light on the lake.

Even at an upscale apartment complex, though, this is still Florida: there were several of these reptile-warning signs along the path.

The main excitement I’d like to share with you now, though, is my upcoming bike tour, which will begin tomorrow! I plan to spend the next week bicycling as much as I can—about 25%—of the Florida Coast to Coast Trail.

I will be staying with Warmshowers hosts along the way. The weather looks to be pretty favorable—highs between 57 & 73F (14-22C) with varying sun, clouds, and maybe occasional rain. The trail itself is car free, though there will be times each day when I will need to travel on roads to reach my hosts. I’m not sure what to expect in terms of scenery, shade, etc. I’ll post as many pics as I can along the way.

It will be a bit of an athletic stretch for me—I don’t believe I have ever cycled a full week before, with daily mileage ranging from about 24 to 42, I think (39-68 km) depending on where I can confirm hosting. Some days I will combine the riding with transit. I do have one “rest day” built in, during which I hope to hike in a nearby nature park.

I’m excited for the challenge and a new adventure!

Meanwhile, I’m dreaming up the next month and a half or so of my Florida time:

After the bike week, I plan to take the train to Tampa and continue on a bus to St. Petersburg (or possibly bike across that endless bridge, as I did four years ago—but back then I didn’t know about the bus!) and possibly stay with a local host for a few days or up to a week. Then I want to bike another good chunk of the western half of the Coast to Coast Trail—maybe another 25%—up to Spring Hill, then take a Greyhound to Tallahassee.

I plan to stay with a Servas host couple there for two nights, then make a brief stop in Quincy, where my paternal grandmother grew up, and then continue by bike to Florida Caverns State Park! I’m excited to see the caverns. I will meet there with a woman who lives in Graceville, who will then host me in her home for a night, and then drop me off the next day after we explore another nature park to the south, Econfina Creek Water Management Area. Then I’ll do some combination of cycling and transit to work my way through Panama City, and maybe Destin or Navarre, to Pensacola, where I’ll stay with a host for a couple of nights.

Then I plan to return to Tallahassee for another couple days, then ideally Gainesville for about a week, then Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and then possibly Miami in early March. After that… who knows? I expect I’ll slowly work my way back north until I reach Virginia in mid-April. I may stop again in Tampa/St. Pete, Orlando, Jacksonville, Savannah, Richmond, and possibly even Norfolk and/or Newport News.

Whew! I’m excited to think about all this. If you know of any magical connections in any of these places—or for that matter, anywhere else in Florida—please let me know!

I’ll leave you with the pics from the Split Oak Forest Wildlife and Environmental Area.

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1/13/26

Hello from Lake Nona, Orlando! This is primarily a week of rest for me, with not much nature nearby, and infrastructure not conducive to cycling nor transit. So I am going to use this time to catch you up on the rest of the incredible natural beauty I experienced in Sarasota.

My cat sit was situated near a lovely little local nature park called Red Bug Slough Preserve. I spent several peaceful visits sitting on benches under trees or next to the water there. On the final such visit, I met a really cool woman named Barb (Barb, I hope you’re reading this!) and we chatted about life and travels for quite some time.

The place was also just about a five-minute bike ride away from the Legacy Trail, the 20-mile (32 km) paved car-free path that runs from downtown Sarasota in the north to the Historic Venice Train Depot in the south. I made ample use of this trail in both directions, covering every mile at least once. Once I even saw a tortoise next to the trail!

On two occasions, I visited Oscar Scherer State Park, right along the trail to the south of town, and soaked up some classic Florida nature scenes.

Another day, I met up with a local woman who took me to Myakka River State Park, east of town. We saw some egrets and gators, and even got to walk a suspension bridge and climb a lookout tower—necessary in that flat area if you want to see any sort of view!

Toward the end of my stay, I took the Legacy Trail all the way to its origin point at the Historic Venice Train Depot. After that, another car free path continued a few more miles south to another nature park. Then on the way back, I biked through Venice, Florida, and enjoyed the pretty car-free path through the park blocks along Venice Blvd, some of which contained beautiful banyan trees.

On another of my last days, another local woman—a Servas day host, Dori—took me out to the beach at Siesta Key. Considered one of the most beautiful beaches in the country, its sand was white and silky, and it never gets too hot because it is made of quartz. I enjoyed watching the sun descend in the sky over 70-degree (21 C) temperatures.

My journey here to Orlando from Sarasota was a long one. First, I bicycled about an hour to the gas station that serves as an Amtrak bus stop. (Along the way, I passed a beautiful cloud reflection on a small creek. Florida is chock-full of waterways!)

Then I took that bus for more than two hours, through St. Petersburg, to Tampa. At the Amtrak station, I waited an hour, then boarded the train to Orlando. After about an hour and a half on the train, my cat-sitting hosts picked me up and drove me the remaining half hour to their home here in Lake Nona, southeast of the airport.

I was rewarded with the affections of this beautiful, snuggly kitty named Lucy.

In the next post, I’ll cover my brief time here in Lake Nona, and share my ever-evolving itinerary for the rest of my winter travels here in Florida.

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Do you have your own dream or project, and would like some support or collaborative brainstorming about it? Use the green “contact” button above to schedule a free, no-strings one-hour phone or video call with me!

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Want to support my vision financially? I am in a continual process of manifesting $50,000 per year in lieu of a “salary” for the unconventional work I do in the world. You can make a one-time or monthly contribution, or even become a Fairy Godfunder! (Heartfelt thanks to all my patrons, contributors, and godfunders!)

1/7/26

Well… our nation continues its descent into hell, with our government wreaking unspeakable havoc both domestically and internationally. It is hard to even find words to write about it at this point, but in the midst of my fun travelogues, I want to at least briefly acknowledge this deeply dark point in history. When I was learning about civics in high school in the 1980s, I could never have imagined the things that are unfolding in the White House and Congress today. I am hoping that this new year will bring some transformative changes politically and socially/culturally. I am holding a vision that we will collectively reach some sort of tipping point, where we soundly denounce racism, xenophobia, warmongering, sexism, homo- and transphobia, Islamophobia, antisemitism, destruction of the earth, and the wanton and crass dismantling of the many institutions, public and private, that have provided economic, social, and cultural support to millions of people, domestically and abroad. (I am probably forgetting some things in this list—there are too many to enumerate, but I trust you get my intent.) I am holding a vision that we are on the cusp of a new chapter of humanity, where people respect and care for each other, for animals, and for the earth and its ecosystems.

May it be so.

With that… here is another chapter in my travelogue, with some pretty pics to share of Sarasota so far.

I’ve been here for about three weeks, and I have just a few more days before I take a bike/bus/train/carpool combo to reach my next weeklong cat sitting destination in the Lake Nona area of Orlando.

I’ve got too many photos of beautiful places here in the Sarasota area to share in one post, so I’ll add another soon.

I always make a point to try to connect with locals wherever I stay, using a variety of methods. In this case, I have met up with at least five different local folks to see various sights.

One of these people, a woman named Judy whom I met in the local vegan Facebook group, took me to two beautiful destinations, which I’ll share here: the Marie Selby Botanical Garden and the Ringling Museum and Beach House. I have been loving all the banyan trees in this area—so magical!

And, of course, the reason for my stay here is the care of these two sweet kitties, the elder statesman Cat King Cole and his young compatriot Pinecone.

More Sarasota beauty to come soon.

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Do you have your own dream or project, and would like some support or collaborative brainstorming about it? Use the green “contact” button above to schedule a free, no-strings one-hour phone or video call with me!

Want to be notified of future blog posts? Use the green “sign up” button to subscribe!

Want to support my vision financially? I am in a continual process of manifesting $50,000 per year in lieu of a “salary” for the unconventional work I do in the world. You can make a one-time or monthly contribution, or even become a Fairy Godfunder! (Heartfelt thanks to all my patrons, contributors, and godfunders!)