View from Anacapri

Although I've been to Anacapri before, I was eager to go back because of the memories of the Debussy prelude I payed long ago, "The Hills of Anacapri." I highly recommend seeing Anacapri if you're going to Capri. You can take a bus ride to Anacapri and then a chair lift to the tip-top for a spectacular view!

Thanksgiving Menu 2008

This Thanksgiving I decided to make 3 or 4 new dishes for our family feast of Thanksgiving. I had one major request to incorporate some recipes with pomegranate as an ingredient. I found a delicious recipe for cornbread stuffing with pomegranate and a salad made of sauteed shrimp, scallions, various seeds and pomegranate arils. This mixture is put on a bed of baby greens and was totally delicious! The cornbread stuffing also had chopped dried cranberries and raisins in addition to the pomegranate. Of course we had turkey, gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, poached, spiced pears and asparagus too! Hope your's was a good one. We all have so much to be grateful for despite the current economy!

More from the Italy trip 2008

Picture #1 on the left is a directional sign pointing to the red-light district of Pompei.

Picture #2 is me washing my hands in an outdoor fountain that now functions again on the streets of Pompeii.
Picture #3 is me standing in the garden of a Pompeiian home, long since destroyed but the garden still blooms.

One of our favorite trips within the Naples area was the day we went to Pompeii! This ancient city, oer 3000 years old was completely inundated by volcanic ash when Mt. Vesuvius suddenly erupted one day and killed nearly everyone in this very sophisticated city. I highly recommend a visit to Pompeii when you visit Italy!

Sarah Palin: This Boomer's Opinion

by Nataly Kogin (from her blog www.workitmom.com/blog)

We (too) rarely have women running for VP and seeing an unknown political figure catapult to the national stage is intriguing, whatever party you support. There is a lot to write about.
In this case, it’s about Sarah Palin blowing a kiss to the audience before VP debate last week. And winking during the debate. Numerous times. As I watched her do it, I cringed. I am no career expert but I know enough to understand the importance of body language in the workplace. If you want the job, start with a firm handshake. If you want to be heard, state your ideas sitting confidently and upright on the edge of your chair instead of slumping down and making your statement a question.
And if you want to be taken seriously by your coworkers and clients — or say, by 70 million people watching you on TV — don’t wink during a heated political discussion and don’t blow kisses to people you don’t know.
Now, I am no dummy. I know that this extremely casual body language, manners as well as peppering speeches with colloquial phrases like “You betcha!” is both part of Ms. Palin’s personality and the image that she is aiming to build of someone who is one of us, a regular person who just happens to be running for Vice President. But I don’t buy it. If you’re running for office you should not sound and act like a regular person in a casual setting. Because you’re not a regular person, you’re a Vice Presidential candidate and when you’re out there on some international mission, talking to world leaders as an American representative, I definitely don’t want you to act the way you might around your family.
Sorry to lecture, Ms. Palin, but after seeing women sabotage their success in the workplace by the way they talk and hold themselves, I care about this stuff. Fair or not, women have to jump over a higher bar just to be on par with men in professional settings, which means there’s no room for overly-girly body language or expressions that make you sound juvenile. When I was starting my career I was lucky to have one woman boss who took me shopping for a serious suit. “How you look matters, whether you like it or not,” she told me as I invested in my first-ever (and last-ever) Ann Taylor skirt suit.
Your suits are fine but in my not-so-humble opinion, you need to act as serious as they look.

Day 3 of our Caribbean Bahamas Cruise

This is Day 3 of our fantastic cruise we had last week. Day 3 was actually our only port of call on the trip and after a long day at sea on Tuesday, we arrived at Grand Turk, Bahamas around 8 a.m. on Wednesday. My three daughters, two sons-in-law and I were chomping at the bit to get off that big ship and into that gorgeous blue water. The girls and I signed up for a bike tour of the island in the morning and the guys did "Power Snorkeling." The weather was clear and sunny but also hot and humid and when we would stop on the bike ride to hear about an historic location the heat from the pavement was almost overpowering. Still, we really enjoyed the bike and hike and saw a beautiful little island.

This Babyboomer loves to travel!!

My parents instilled a love of travel in me as a child. My first big trip was at age 6 when our family went to Washington, D.C. and saw all the sights! We stopped in Virginia at the Luray Caverns and I remember being absolutely amazed at the stalactites and stalagmites. There were also beautiful pools of water down there where people had thrown coins and made wishes.

Now I have traveled all over the world and even lived in Italy for a year (1974). My love of travel continues to grow and I am taking a cruise with my children in August (Carribbean) and then going to Italy for a couple of weeks in September. I even bought my own travel site! Now I can travel as much as I want and it becomes a business expense, I get free upgrades, and I get all the commissions that would otherwise be paid to someone else! If you're interested in getting your own travel site, just go to mine, http://www.cashfamilytravel.com/, or go to www.ytb.com/chantdoc and click on "view the presentation."

Hope your summer travels have been fun! Let me know!

Are you out there Boomers?

There's a lot in the news today about us Babyboomers! Some of it is good, some is a little scary. I keep hearing about Social Security running out and that is something that always stops me in my tracks. I've paid into this fund for a long time and was looking forward to having my future softened just a little with that eventual check!
Thank goodness I've gotten a fabulous travel site that my friends and family are using now to purchase airline tix, hotels, rental cars...even flowers, tickets and cars!!! I'm so excited by this www.CashFamilyTravel.com. It uses the same search engines as the big guys (Orbitz, Travelocity, and Expedia) but gives me the commissions instead of already-wealthy strangers in LA and NYC!
I think this stream of income will allow me to continue visiting the tropical destinations that I love so much! Please check it out...you can get one too!!!!!

Beauty at the North Pole

You know, I've never seriously considered going to the North Pole. I figured that's where Santa and all of his elves are busily at work and really should not be disturbed, but when I saw this picture I began to reconsider! What do you think?

A scene you will probably never get to seeThis is the sunset at the North Pole with the moon at its closest point.You also see the sun below the moon. An amazing photo and not oneeasily duplicated. You may want to pass it on to others. The Japanesehave a saying: 'When someone shares with you something of value, you have an obligation to share it with others.'

Boomers look for luxury and efficiency

PRINCETON, N.J. - Shea Homes, one of the nation's largest builders, believes Baby Boomers are looking for communities that make an environmental difference.

Last month, Shea announced the opening of Victoria Gardens, an "active lifestyle," or retirement, development sandwiched between Orlando and Daytona Beach, Fla.

The homes were advertised as having a carbon footprint that is 20 to 30 percent less than that of a typical household.

Billed as eco-friendly and energy-wise, the homes feature solar attic fans, green-fiber recycled insulation, motion-sensor triggered lighting, energy-efficient windows and appliances and garages with electric-vehicle charging stations.

Shea says it has focused on small, incremental green features that will add up to important energy savings.

Compassion Network: Think on those things up high!!!

Compassion Network: Think on those things up high!!! I love that picture of a bluebird of happiness Tony! Where'd you find that?

Chantdoc

Back home in Louisville, KY!

Well, this will be my last installment of my trip of March 2-7, 2008. I started out in beautiful, warm, tropical Florida and came back to the worst snow storm in about a decade!
Of course if you know me, you know that I love snow! Growing up in S.C. we had so little snow that it was always a big, big deal. My sister and I would get up in the middle of the night if it was snowing and go outside and play while our parents slept! I just told my mother than recently and she was appalled. Oh well, too late now. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed every flake and now it's in the upper 40's, sunshiny and lots of melting snow. Enjoy my little video and read the earlier installments on the http://www.travelwithchantdoc.blogspot.com/, http://www.sarasotaluxury.blogspot.com/, and http://www.cashfamilytravel.blogspot.com/. Enjoy and come back often to visit!

ANNOUNCING!!!

I am soooooo excited!! I finally have my own travel website, something I've been wanting for a long, long time. Do you like to travel? Would you like to go to the Bahamas, Europe, Asia, Niagra Falls, or the Grand Canyon? From this moment forward, you can go to http://www.cashfamilytravel.com/ and save really big bucks on aaalllll your travel needs. There's absolutely nothing that you can't get here. In other words, whatever any web travel site has, http://www.cashfamilytravel.com/ has too!! This is going to be soooo cool.

In the near future, I would like to plan some group tours that are music, healing music, and ethnic music oriented!. Let me know where YOU want to go, and I can get your plane, hotel, rental car or cruise ship as cheaply or even more cheaply than anyone else!!

Check out my new site and sign up for my "travel deals" weekly newsletter! See you at the airport!!

Alice

Special Valentine's Issue of Boomeropia Blog

Special Valentines Day Gift Offer...Give Your Sweetheart The Healing Gift of Music This Valentines Day... For A Huge 49% DiscountFrom the desk of Dr. Alice CashDear Friend,This Valentines Day, why not give your partner the gift of healing music? I’ve recently written a Valentine’s eBook entitled “Creating Love and Passion with Music.” This little book is jam-packed with facts about how music affects your love life and exercises to use music to “heat things up a little!”
Music offers these benefits to those people in a romantic relationship.
· Brings back the feelings of euphoria that infatuation produces
· Gets certain kinds of energy and emotion stirred up
· Creates an immediate connection with your partner, based on past memories
That's why, to celebrate the holiday, I'm offering my customers and subscribers a massive 49% discount off one of our most popular eBooks, “Creating Love and Passion in Your Relationship with Music.”This ebook will offer you these benefits* Concrete steps to revive musical memories* New information on how romantic feelings affect the brain* New information on how music affects the brain and the neurochemistry of the brain.* Several sets of questions and exercises to give your relationship a “musical checkup” The entire package includes four of my most popular healing music products:

Item
Special Package Price
#1: Creating Love and Passion with Music
PDFeBook
$19.97
#2: Drumming for Health, Wellness and Fun
PDFeBook
$19.97
#3: Babyboomers and Music: Together Forever/A Live Workshop
Digital Download
$19.97
#4: Lullabies for Mother-Baby bonding/22 lullabies played by Dr. Cash on a Steinway Concert Grand
Digital Download
$14.97
Total Package Value:
$73.88
Valentine's Pricing:
$37.00

Save $36.88!!!
A Whopping 49.9% off the regular price!!
And while similar eBooks cost $49 and more, this entire package will be yours this Valentines Day for just $37, a package valued at $73.88!!And of course your satisfaction is guaranteed. If this book doesn’t deliver everything that I have promised, you have 30 days to ask for a complete refund, no questions asked!
So hurry, and claim your copy before it's too late. I can’t let these products go at such a low price but just a few days so

click here Now!

Seven Illusions, Delusions & Downright Lies about Retirement

You've heard most of them before. They seem like well-meaning retirement advice. But, BEWARE. The following illusions, delusions and downright lies about retirement can be dangerous to your retirement well-being:
1. If you have enough money, your retirement will take care of itself.WRONG. WRONG. WRONG. This is the biggest and most dangerous lie about retirement. Of course, money is important. Yet, money is only one of 15 "must haves" for a thriving retirement. Focusing only on the tangible financial aspects of retirement and ignoring the other, less tangible, "must haves" is a prescription for disaster. While taking charge of your life, having dreams for the future, and a purpose that pulls you out of bed in the morning are not as quantifiable as, say, $1.3 million in assets, they are just as crucial.
2. You lost your shirt in the stock market and you'll have to work seven years after your dead in order to afford to retire.Maybe, if you're buying into the conventional wisdom that you'll need 80% of your current income to maintain your current lifestyle. But, honestly, are you that crazy about your current lifestyle?Don't delude yourself into thinking you have to keep doing what you're doing just because you don't have enough money. Jump out of that narrow box you're in. Be bold. Think big. There are lots of great ways to supplement your retirement income (i.e. seasonal employment) and/or create new revenue streams beyond your wildest imagination (i.e. packaging what you already know and selling it).Not feeling especially bold? Then answer the question: "What's enough"? and you just may find you can retire on a lot less and enjoy life a lot more.
3. You can't afford to live a meaningful life.Understand this. You can't afford NOT to live a meaningful life. In fact, it's essential to a thriving retirement -- right up at the top of the list with the "must have" of money. And, it doesn't matter if you're rolling in dough and have all the free time in the world, or if you need to get financially creative in the "third half" of life and create new sources of income.Figure out what would be the most fulfilling and invigorating for you, follow your heart's desire, and pursue your goals with gusto. Write that book, start a business, get behind a cause, or (fill in the blank.)You owe it to yourself to take the time in your retirement planning to discover a clearly defined purpose -- one that enriches your world and puts a great big smile on your face.
4. You've worked hard all your life and now you deserve to rest and play.Research shows that the traditional "all play, no purpose" retirement can be deadly. Sure you enjoy your leisure time and need your rest, but are you ready for that proverbial pasture quite yet? Remember, in order for leisure to be leisure, it must be a diversion. So, if that's all there is in your life, what (and where) is the purpose?Instead of designing a life of only leisure, design a leisurely lifestyle that not only rejuvenates your spirit, but fills your life with meaning. (See #3)
5. Your partner will be thrilled to join you in traveling around the country in an RV, playing golf 24/7, and/or...Think again, because it's highly likely that you're not even remotely on the same wavelength. Again, it's really important to take time in your planning. Find out what your partner expects from retirement long before you retire. And while you're at it, make a commitment to the health and growth of your relationship, now, before you retire. It's impossible to have a happy retirement if you're in a dismal relationship.
6. Retirement means the end of life as you've known it.Don't be fooled into thinking that what you do in your present life is more important than who you'll be in your retirement. How will you spend the precious gift of the next 30+ years? You could crawl in a hole and pull the dirt in over you. Or, you could make each day a grand new adventure.Seize the opportunity to grow and stretch into the best possible you. By moving away from the materialistic "What am I", of your pre-retirement life and moving toward the more spiritual "Who am I", you'll be traveling on the path of a rejuvenating and revitalizing retirement.
7. You're too old to make a difference.Baloney! Okay, you're not as young as you used to be, and the world is a great big mess. But, don't just sit there. Dare to dream. You may not be able to end world hunger, but you could end hunger on your block or in your community. And, if you happen to stumble upon a way to end world hunger in the process, more power to you.What's important is that you harness your amazing wisdom, resources, creativity, brilliance and ingenuity to impact your small corner of the planet. What are you waiting for?Copyright (c) 2007 Lin Schreiber
Article Source: http://babyboomerarticles.com
Certified Retirement Coach Lin Schreiber, author of The Retirement Re-Tool Kit, helps baby boomers revolutionize and redefine their ideas about how they will live life in retirement.

Little Dix Bay--tropical beauty in the British Virgin Islands

I could not possibly do a blog on tropical travel for babyboomers without telling you about Little Dix Bay in the British Virgin Islands! Just beyond a colorful barrier reef, lapped by gentle blue waters on a softly curving crescent beach, lies Little Dix Bay - a truly authentic destination, tamed for sophisticated tastes. The timeless boutique resort on the island of Virgin Gorda offers tranquility found nowhere else in the Caribbean. Little Dix rewards its discerning guests with an instantaneous retreat from their fast-paced lives. In the absence of the commercialism, Little Dix connects one to the surroundings.

This is actually where my husband and I went on our honeymoon back in 1971. Is was (and is, I'm sure!) a fantastically romantic destination with private beaches and private thatched roof huts for each couple! If you're thinking of a second-honeymoon destination this is the place! Feel free to email me with questions!

Where is the Boomeropia picture?

Several people have already written me to ask where the gorgeous picture at the top of this blog was taken. Well, I took this picture a little over two years ago on a trip between Cancun, Mexico and Chichinitza ruins a little to the south of Cancun, still in Mexico. This was a bus trip sponsored by the hotel we stayed in and we stopped at the little motel/restaurant for lunch. After lunch, I wandered out to the pool out back and took this picture!!

If you're contemplating going to Cancun or Cozumel, I highly recommend both places. I've cruised to Cozumel on a Carnival cruise and have flown to Cancun twice. Te scenery is as beautiful and dramatic and awe-inspiring as any I've ever seen. Will be writing more about that in a few weeks, I imagine. Stay tuned!

Welcome to Boomeropia

Are you a Baby Boomer? Well I am and I'm proud of it. I was born in N.C. in 1948 to a WWII veteran attending Duke University and his blushing bride of almost two years. I can't remember when I first heard the term "babyboomer" but it was many decades ago I'm sure. Most people define that babyboomers as those born between 1946 and 1964, so that includes a LOT of people!

Since I'm into blogging anyway, I thought I'd start a blog to complement my article site, http://www.babyboomerarticles.com/. Ill keep you informed of any and all issues affecting babyboomers with a heavy emphasis on travel, retirement issues, and second careers! Stay tuned and pease let me know your comments and questions!