Road Diary - Mike's Road Trip

From Bandung to Central Java

Mike Shubic September 30th, 2016 Comments Off

[Click here to read the previous Road Diary update] Yesterday I boarded a flight from Bandung to Yogakarta in Central Java with my fellow travel bloggers. From there, we boarded a bus en route to Magelang where we would stay the night at the Atria Magelang Hotel. It was a...

Busload of bloggers head to Bandung

Mike Shubic September 28th, 2016 1 Comment

[click here to read my previous road diary post] Yesterday, in a bus full of bloggers, we drove from Jakarta to Bandung where we began to get to know everyone. There are bloggers from around the world on this trip, small groups from France, UK and the US. Then, there...

Made it to Indonesia

Mike Shubic September 25th, 2016 1 Comment

After 27 hours of travel, I finally made it to Jakarta, Indonesia. I flew from Phoenix to San Diego where I had a five hour layover, which wasn't too bad since I got to spend a few hours with my sister Susanne. I then boarded a flight to Tokyo, Japan...

Final days in Central Newfoundland

Mike Shubic August 31st, 2016 2 Comments

It was so quiet at 6am in the fishing village of Triton. Not a ripple on the water, the boats so still that the scene looked like a painting. The sky was a brilliant blue without a cloud breaking its saturation. I had woken far to early, but my reward...

Most overrated apple pie ever!

Mike Shubic August 30th, 2016 Comments Off

I had heard countless comments about how great the apple pie is in Julian, California...a small mountain town outside of San Diego. So, on a recent trip to Southern California, I thought I would take a diversion to check out the apple pie in Julian. I was told that Moms...

At The Gathering in Burlington, Newfoundland

Mike Shubic August 26th, 2016 1 Comment

Actor, comedian and local Burlington, Newfoundland resident Shaun Majumder and friends are in their fifth year putting on The Gathering, a fire, food and music festival in rural central Newfoundland. Shaun's objective is to help put his hometown and the surrounding area on the tourist map with a festival that...

Saw Trump at ‘THE GATHERING’ in Burlington, NL

Mike Shubic August 25th, 2016 1 Comment

The other day while in Central Newfoundland I attended THE GATHERING 2016, a food, fire and music festival in Burlington, Newfoundland. On the first of the four day festival some of the areas top comedians brought down the house, including Canadian comedian Mark Critch whose impression of Donald Trump was...

Made it to Newfoundland

Mike Shubic August 24th, 2016 Comments Off

A few days ago I made it to Gander, Newfoundland. It was a bit of a long journey, I flew from Phoenix to Toronto, then after a layover flew directly into Gander. I didn't arrive until after 2am local time, which was a 5.5 hour time zone change. After a...

A taste of Grapevine, Texas

Mike Shubic August 21st, 2016 Comments Off

I love it when my impressions are dispelled. It's a human characteristic to form opinions whether based on fact or not. My initial opinion, or assumption of Grapevine, Texas was that it was just a suburb of Dallas—while that may be true to some degree, I learned they actually have...

Jay Allan and the Uncommon Good band bring down the house!

Mike Shubic August 20th, 2016 Comments Off

The Scottsdale Center for the Arts has a summertime concert series called "Live and Local Fridays." I attended the show last night which featured Jay Allan and the Uncommon Good band...whoa, were they amazing! The concert was only $12, which I think was an insane value for such a top-notch...

How I survived being stranded by a flash flood while camping

Mike Shubic August 8th, 2016 3 Comments

I was on a road trip through the Southwest, driving along scenic highway 95 in southern Utah—a road carved from a sandstone canyon taking the driver off-guard with breathtaking views around each bend. The scene was so awe-inspiring that time slipped past much faster than I realized due to the...

Now a Travelocity Gnational Gnomad

Mike Shubic August 7th, 2016 Comments Off

I very excited to announce that I have been selected to be a Travelocity Gnational Gnomad. I'm sure you're familiar with the Travelocity Gnome campaign, it's one of the most successful travel branding campaigns ever! To expand the Gnome campaign, Travelocity has built a Gnational Gnomad team, an exclusive group...

Made it to Orcas Island in the San Juans

Mike Shubic July 21st, 2016 Comments Off

The other day my sister and I boarded a ferry from Friday Harbor and took the scenic ride to Orcas Island. Our home base has been the Lodge on Orcas Island, which is centrally located for all of our road trip excursions. Our first evening on the island we went...

Now in the San Juan Islands

Mike Shubic July 19th, 2016 Comments Off

After several days in the Seattle area, my sister Susanne and I road tripped to the northwesterly part of the state...to the breathtaking San Juan Islands. As soon as we got off the ferry at Friday Harbor and looked at the sight before us, a sense of enthusiasm overcame us....

After two years, I’m back in Seattle for a short spell

Mike Shubic July 16th, 2016 Comments Off

As some of you may know, I am originally from Seattle and occasionally spend time in the area since I have family and friends in the Pacific Northwest. The last time I was in town was over two years ago for my father's memorial. This time, it was for a...