Mark grew up in Brooklyn, NY. His parents never traveled anywhere. He eventually settled in New Jersey. Judy was born in Lisbon, Portugal and traveled all over Europe with her parents, who emigrated to New Jersey when she was age 14. At age 28, her parents went back, but she stayed — an independent woman! Mark & Judy met at a “Single Gourmet” dinner/dance in Philadelphia in 2002 and the chemistry was instant! We’ve been together ever since, traveling the world. In 2004, we flew off to Las Vegas, waited on line at the Clark County Courthouse, and got married. We moved to Wilmington, Delaware and have lived here since. The best thing about Wilmington? It’s a quick 25 minute ride up I-95 to PHL Int’l Airport, and from there…. to the world!
Mark is the techno-guy (self-taught) and webmaster. I have loved photography and multi-media since high school (quite a while ago). I worked after-school to buy a Minolta SLR and learned all about ISO, f-stops, and shutter speed. I did my own photo developing in the garage (learned from my Dad). Eventually digital photography came along. I bought a Nikon DSLR, and taught myself Photoshop (hint: buy a book, start on page 1, and keep reading). That DSLR got heavier and heavier as the years went on, so now I own a Sony A6400 mirrorless camera. It is awesome.
I started making movies in 2006 because I didn’t want our fabulous vacation photo memories to sit in a box in the bottom of a drawer, or in a file on a computer. Why not view them on the big screen TV? My first attempt was “China 2006”. Judy was so impressed, she bought me a little Flip Video Camera for my birthday. Flip Video is long gone, so now I use my iPhone for video (like everybody else). I’ve been making movies with Vegas software since 2007, and I’m still learning! My movies continue to improve as the software, hardware, and my knowledge base advance.
One day back in 2016 I started playing around with the “Pages” app on my iPad and discovered I could make PDF travelogues to share with friends and family. It’s a lot easier than making a movie, and I can do it anywhere (in a hotel, on an airplane, or just laying in bed at home). And now, I am learning to build and manage a WordPress website, so bear with me if I make mistakes!
Judy is the artist and adventurous foodie. She learned painting from her Dad growing up, and has a degree in Art. She is an excellent artist in many media: pen-and-ink, watercolor, oil, and wood-burning. She knows so much about art and history, which (she has taught me) are so intertwined. She is a great person to have when visiting a museum! For photography, Judy is a point-and-shoot camera person (Canon PowerShot), but she takes great photos because she has an instinctive artistic eye for composition and lighting (this really annoys Mark with all his high-tech equipment, but he is thankful for her contributions!).
Growing up in Portugal, she’s multi-lingual, speaking Portuguese (obviously), English (like she was born here!), Spanish, and some French. She learned a few key phrases in Italian, Japanese and Russian before those trips. Being European, she has a much more eclectic palate and will pretty much try anything to eat. Who else would order stinky shark in Iceland, octopus in Spain, or fried haggis in Scotland? She’s also an accomplished home chef who loves to replicate our international dishes. And to top it off — every photo she’s in looks great because she’s beautiful!
Judy took me on my first cruise in 2003 (despite my doubts — “…. but what do you DO on a cruise? You’re stuck on a boat!”) and I discovered the joys of cruising. But we like to change things up. Sometimes we go by water, sometimes we go by land. Sometimes we go on group tours, sometimes we plan our own. Sometime we travel domestically, sometimes we go far, far away. But — we learn about the world — the people, the cultures, the natural and man-made wonders — and we always have fun! And if you want to follow along, we hope you enjoy our adventures and they inspire you to create your own. Live for Vacay!