Virgin Galactic’s Mothership Eve, also known as WhiteKnightTwo, will make its world debut at EAA AirVenture 2009 when it arrives Monday, July 27 as part of the opening day air show. Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites, the designers of WhiteKnightOne and SpaceShipOne, which won the $10 million X-Prize in 2005, will fly the space launch vehicle into Wittman Regional Airport on July 27. Visitors to the Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual convention will be able to view the aircraft up close on the AirVenture grounds through Saturday, Aug. 1.

The aircraft will depart on Saturday, Aug. 1, but only after it flies as part of the day’s air show. Virgin Galactic officials also hope to arrange showcase flights during the week.

I’ve been blogging about Virgin Galactic’s suborbital space flights for 2 years (hence the blog name “Space Goddess—and other worldly pursuits”) and now I have more news! You will soon have a choice of departure locales—New Mexico’s Spaceport America or Sweden’s Spaceport Sweden in Kiruna, Sweden. If you choose Sweden and depart in the winter, you could combine the space flight with some nifty (don’t you love using ’50’s words?) activities such as sleeping in the famous Ice Hotel (yes, the rooms are actually made of ice!), going dog-sledding, or catching a whale safari. If you choose New Mexico, you can travel year-round, co-ordinate your flight with the annual Balloon Festival, and have an easier time getting to the Spaceport if you live in the continental US. Also, predictions are that Spaceport America will be operational before Spaceport Sweden.

So, it’s choices, choices, choices—what’s a person to do?

I admit it—-this city girl (okay–suburban girl) has morhped into an adventure-travel afficianado! To be honest, I am a lover of “soft” adventure—where I can soak up the beauty of nature, all types of flora and fauna, as well as being able to sleep “off” of the ground, take a hot shower, and eat yummy food!

I’ve traveled through:  Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia—in the footsteps of Captain Cook; Antarctica; Alaska; Costa Rica; Peru; Ecaudor; the Galapagos; Argentina; Chile; Egypt; China; Indonesia; India; Fiji; the Amazon; Kenya; Tanzania; Botswana; South Africa; Zambia; Zimbabwe (when it was safe); Mauritius; Colorado; Arizona; New Mexico; northern Wisconsin; and southern Missouri (actually slept on the ground on the canoe trip—years ago!). 

I’ve sampled many wonderful adventures and now I want to let you know about one of our exceptional partners, Natural Habitat Adventures. NHA knows adventure—from soft to adrelin-flowing! They follow the same philosophy as Great Getaways, which is “Cookie cutter vacations are great if you are a cookie cutter!” We both specialize in experiential travel and both companies are committed to sustainable travel. NHA guides are experienced, well-trained, knowledgeable and professional.

The trips they offer are unique! Let me give you an example: I’ve been to the Galapagos twice and hope to go back again soon. Both times I was on a wonderful expedition ship with great naturalists and guides. What I’ve discovered is that I like “small” and that is what Natural Habitat provides. The yacht they use for the Galapagos holds a maximum of 20 people and they offer something quite special and unusual—you can elect to spend the night in the highlands of Santa Cruz in a safari tent or “tree house” amid an area known for its giant tortoises! Another special offer from NHA is their new land-based Galapagos expedition, in which you stay on 3 different islands, almost unheard of, don’t you think?

This year they’ve added a few new adventures—including the Wild Colorado, Alaska’s Secluded Southeast Coast, Yosemite and the California Coast, and the remarkable San Juan Islands.

Next month I’ll tell you about an exciting opportunity to win a journey to visit the Polar Bear Capital of the World, Churchill, Manitoba, courtesy of NHA, Great Getaways and Lifetime Fitness!

So, if you are an adventurer of any kind, from soft to rugged, contact me today to experience the amazing journeys we create with Natural Habitat Adventures!

I know of so many occupations that develop their own lingo and the travel industry is no exception. Maybe these words, often acronyms, help us communicate within our chosen careers; however, when we inflict this type of communication on the unsuspecting public, we’ve left our good manners behind, and, flaunting our egoes, we open the door to misinterpretation and misunderstanding.

Here are some examples:

Travel Advisor: Do you want a cruise with air?

Customer: Do I need to supply my own oxygen?—or—Aren’t most ships air-conditioned these days?

Travel Advisor—using an airline software program to reserve seats on airplanes: Let’s see here. Okay, you want to fly into San Francisco and return from Los Angeles. I’ll have to enter an ‘arnk’. (pronounced “arrunk”).

Customer thinks–Arnk? Are they dangerous? Do you enter alone?

[An itinerary containing an ARNK (arrival unknown, pronounced 'arunk') segment is one in which the traveler arrives at destination A but departs out of destination B. Since the arrival to destination B is unknown, hence the name arrival unknown. Without an ARNK, the computer software would respond with an error message]

Let’s go back to cruising one more time—Travel Advisor: Do you want an inside stateroom?

Customer: Yes, I want to be inside the ship and not sleep outside.

Last example is the travel advisor who tells you he specializes in F.I.T.s does not specialize in travel for the exercise buffs; rather, he focuses on Foreign Independent Tours (now also referred to as Fully Independent Tours).

I could go on and on but I think you get the point. As Professor Henry Higgins asked, “Why can’t the English learn to speak?”

Bye for now. I’m off to boot my computer and then ace a serve or two.

Virgin Galactic’s new mothership, the VMS Eve, took to the skies again on February 5th for her second successful test flight. She returned to her home at Scaled Composites after 1 1/2 hours in the skies over Mojave, California. Go Eve!

Consider this quote by Hilaire Belloc: “We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment.”

At first I saved this quote because I liked the concept of travel being fulfilling. Then I wondered, “And who is Hilaire Belloc?” According to Wikipedia:

“Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (27 July 1870 – 16 July 1953) was a French-born writer and historian who became a naturalised British subject in 1902. He was one of the most prolific writers in England during the early twentieth century. He is most notable for his Roman Catholic faith, which had an impact on most all of his writing.”

As I read more about Belloc, I learned that his meaning of “fulfillment” differs from mine. If something is fulfilling, it is both life affirming AND life changing. This led me to looking up the definition of and synonyms for fullfilled.

Here are some synonyms from dictionary.com: accomplished, achieved, actualized, attained, brought about, brought to a close, carried out, compassed, concluded, consummated, crowned, delighted, dispatched, effected, effectuated, executed, finished, gratified, made good, matured, obtained, perfected, performed, pleased, put into effect, reached, realized, satisfied.

Okay, are you still with me? Next thought that entered my head was that Belloc supported a type of capitalism popular in the Middle Ages and wanted to return to that. Is returning to the past fulfilling (using my definition of “life changing)? Next thought: Am I able to like a quote but not the quoter? Next thought: I don’t think I like this quote after. It sounds elitist, snobbish. Why can’t one travel for both distraction and fulfillment?

Oh my God, I’ve had way too much coffee this morning!

We just returned from an expedition to Antarctica with Lindblad Expeditions. It was so amazing that I am at a loss for words to describe the magic, the mystery, and the moods of this continent (me—at a loss for words???). So, please enjoy this slideshow.

We are now at Pourquoi Pas Island in Marguerite Bay on the peninsula of Antarctica. We weren’t able to land because of the ice shelf; however, we were able to take a zodiac ride and get up close to the coast. We saw lots of penguins, a squa bird (a predator of penguins) and a leopard seal (also a predator of penguins). The type of penguins we saw today are called Adelie penguins and they feed on krill, a shrimp-like organism. When we see pink snow in a penguin colony it means they’ve been feeding on krill—and it’s not a tribute to Susan Komen breast cancer awareness!

This morning we watched a “rolling” iceberg, an amazing image! Icebergs become shaped like a mushroom because they melt faster in the water than in the air. Eventually, an iceberg becomes heavy and will roll over and find a new balance point. It’s this process that sculpts the unusual shapes we see.

Temperature today is about 30 degrees and very little wind. This morning we were in a snow squall but now the sea is very calm and the sun is trying to  pierce through the clouds.

This afternoon we will move to a different site, more fjord-like,  and hopefully be able to actually set foot on Antarctica.

I never thought I’d “workout” at home and I used to steer clear of anything resembling a gym, fitness center, etc. Well, I finally succumbed to improving my fitness (in order to be able to continue to indulge in Good & Plenty guilt-free!). I had yet to commit to this insane fitness quest while on vacation. In fact, I believed that I’d workout in a hotel fitness center or on-board a ship only when pigs fly! Consider yourself warned that you may spot some flying pigs—yep, there been sitings of Barbara working out in Santiago and aboard the National Geographic Explorer. So, when you see some “bacon-to-be” flying by your window, you’ll now know why!

Finally, today’s factoid: the weather in Antarctica changes very rapidly. In fact, the “sun trying pierce” stuff I just wrote has changed to a small blizzard and back again!

are now at Pourquoi Pas Island in Marguerite Bay on the peninsula of Antarctica. We weren’t able to land because of the