After thirty six years of escorting active adults, (often referred to as Senior Citizens�), on numerous destinations throughout the world, including day trips or short �getaways�, throughout Washington State or British Columbia, I have been encouraged to �Write a Book�. Now I know what you�re thinking: �Not another boring travel book�. So, what I intend to do is to share some of the experiences my wife, Diane and I have experienced, hoping you will enjoy the journey with us. Therefore I dedicate this book to Diane, who has been the spark that ignited many of the ideas that culminated in making so many dreams come true for hundreds of people in many different ways. This was more than a �job� for us, but rather a �calling� that resulted in us forming �DON-DIANE FUNTOURS� which ultimately became our �Travel Family�. If you are one of our �Travel Family�, or have been, we hope you will relive a memory or two. If you are wondering what this is all about, I thank you for reading, and hope you will be rewarded with a smile, or a laugh as you discover for the first time that being on an escorted tour can reward you with much more than a few days or weeks exploring a new or revisited place, but perhaps be, �Just what the doctor ordered� as you have fun and �let go�, opening up yourselves to new people, places events, and yes, food! Come with me as we visit our friends throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Alaska, Mexico, South America, New Guinea, Turkey, the Orient, United States, Africa, Canada, numerous cruises on a variety of ships sizes, and so much more! I hope you will discover the fun of travel as you enrich your own journey in life!

After thirty six years of escorting active adults, (often referred to as Senior Citizens�), on numerous destinations throughout the world, including day trips or short �getaways�, throughout Washington State or British Columbia, I have been encouraged to �Write a Book�. Now I know what you�re thinking: �Not another boring travel book�. So, what I intend to do is to share some of the experiences my wife, Diane and I have experienced, hoping you will enjoy the journey with us. Therefore I dedicate this book to Diane, who has been the spark that ignited many of the ideas that culminated in making so many dreams come true for hundreds of people in many different ways. This was more than a �job� for us, but rather a �calling� that resulted in us forming �DON-DIANE FUNTOURS� which ultimately became our �Travel Family�. If you are one of our �Travel Family�, or have been, we hope you will relive a memory or two. If you are wondering what this is all about, I thank you for reading, and hope you will be rewarded with a smile, or a laugh as you discover for the first time that being on an escorted tour can reward you with much more than a few days or weeks exploring a new or revisited place, but perhaps be, �Just what the doctor ordered� as you have fun and �let go�, opening up yourselves to new people, places events, and yes, food! Come with me as we visit our friends throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Alaska, Mexico, South America, New Guinea, Turkey, the Orient, United States, Africa, Canada, numerous cruises on a variety of ships sizes, and so much more! I hope you will discover the fun of travel as you enrich your own journey in life!

After thirty six years of escorting active adults, (often referred to as Senior Citizens�), on numerous destinations throughout the world, including day trips or short �getaways�, throughout Washington State or British Columbia, I have been encouraged to �Write a Book�. Now I know what you�re thinking: �Not another boring travel book�. So, what I intend to do is to share some of the experiences my wife, Diane and I have experienced, hoping you will enjoy the journey with us. Therefore I dedicate this book to Diane, who has been the spark that ignited many of the ideas that culminated in making so many dreams come true for hundreds of people in many different ways. This was more than a �job� for us, but rather a �calling� that resulted in us forming �DON-DIANE FUNTOURS� which ultimately became our �Travel Family�. If you are one of our �Travel Family�, or have been, we hope you will relive a memory or two. If you are wondering what this is all about, I thank you for reading, and hope you will be rewarded with a smile, or a laugh as you discover for the first time that being on an escorted tour can reward you with much more than a few days or weeks exploring a new or revisited place, but perhaps be, �Just what the doctor ordered� as you have fun and �let go�, opening up yourselves to new people, places events, and yes, food! Come with me as we visit our friends throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Alaska, Mexico, South America, New Guinea, Turkey, the Orient, United States, Africa, Canada, numerous cruises on a variety of ships sizes, and so much more! I hope you will discover the fun of travel as you enrich your own journey in life!

The key interest in the book is the interaction between tour group members on escorted tours, the destinations we visited and my, as a tour manager, view of it all. It is based on real experiences and real people.

The book is not chronological and can be read a little at a time or front to back. It is somewhat a travel log. Camels to Caviar helps you look at situations adventures and the people I dealt with from Kathmandu to Timbuktu. It portrays thirty years of my tour managing exotic and adventurous experiences. I also write of the personal growth as I worked through these tours. Nothing was ever the same and the learning curve was there up to my day of retirement. It became a lifestyle, living in a cocoon of self banishment. The characters and names are real as are the travel incidents. If it weren�t for all the norms, personalities, unknowns and disasters; the flights, cruise ship calamities and hotel horrors, there wouldn�t be �Camels to Caviar�.

You will read about:
� tanks surrounding our hotel in Lima
� altitude sickness at Mt Everest,
� scenery
� foods and cultures around the world
� how a tour manager performs, how I handle the behind the scenes procedures
� the psychology and behavior of passengers and myself
� romances on the road
� sunset in the Sahara
� Cambodia after Pol Pot
� Mr. Bill in New Zealand
� the Maharaja of Baroda
� interesting and outrageous passengers
� snip its of the countries we traveled in
� royal family shockers

I give you a vision of the fun and adventure during an escorted tour, as well as an insight to the personalities and unexpected circumstances. This all truly happens on escorted tours around the world. You will be amused and surprised in this tell all of how a tour manager functions during a tour and some of the almost breaking points of our �glamorous� job.

Working on cruise ships brought a different type of tour group dynamics and demographics. What happened on board gave tour managing a different edge. I hope this will give you an insight to the intensity, personal journey and joy of my tour manager career.
www.camelstocaviar.com

The key interest in the book is the interaction between tour group members on escorted tours, the destinations we visited and my, as a tour manager, view of it all. It is based on real experiences and real people.

The book is not chronological and can be read a little at a time or front to back. It is somewhat a travel log. Camels to Caviar helps you look at situations adventures and the people I dealt with from Kathmandu to Timbuktu. It portrays thirty years of my tour managing exotic and adventurous experiences. I also write of the personal growth as I worked through these tours. Nothing was ever the same and the learning curve was there up to my day of retirement. It became a lifestyle, living in a cocoon of self banishment. The characters and names are real as are the travel incidents. If it weren�t for all the norms, personalities, unknowns and disasters; the flights, cruise ship calamities and hotel horrors, there wouldn�t be �Camels to Caviar�.

You will read about:
� tanks surrounding our hotel in Lima
� altitude sickness at Mt Everest,
� scenery
� foods and cultures around the world
� how a tour manager performs, how I handle the behind the scenes procedures
� the psychology and behavior of passengers and myself
� romances on the road
� sunset in the Sahara
� Cambodia after Pol Pot
� Mr. Bill in New Zealand
� the Maharaja of Baroda
� interesting and outrageous passengers
� snip its of the countries we traveled in
� royal family shockers

I give you a vision of the fun and adventure during an escorted tour, as well as an insight to the personalities and unexpected circumstances. This all truly happens on escorted tours around the world. You will be amused and surprised in this tell all of how a tour manager functions during a tour and some of the almost breaking points of our �glamorous� job.

Working on cruise ships brought a different type of tour group dynamics and demographics. What happened on board gave tour managing a different edge. I hope this will give you an insight to the intensity, personal journey and joy of my tour manager career.
www.camelstocaviar.com

The key interest in the book is the interaction between tour group members on escorted tours, the destinations we visited and my, as a tour manager, view of it all. It is based on real experiences and real people.

The book is not chronological and can be read a little at a time or front to back. It is somewhat a travel log. Camels to Caviar helps you look at situations adventures and the people I dealt with from Kathmandu to Timbuktu. It portrays thirty years of my tour managing exotic and adventurous experiences. I also write of the personal growth as I worked through these tours. Nothing was ever the same and the learning curve was there up to my day of retirement. It became a lifestyle, living in a cocoon of self banishment. The characters and names are real as are the travel incidents. If it weren�t for all the norms, personalities, unknowns and disasters; the flights, cruise ship calamities and hotel horrors, there wouldn�t be �Camels to Caviar�.

You will read about:
� tanks surrounding our hotel in Lima
� altitude sickness at Mt Everest,
� scenery
� foods and cultures around the world
� how a tour manager performs, how I handle the behind the scenes procedures
� the psychology and behavior of passengers and myself
� romances on the road
� sunset in the Sahara
� Cambodia after Pol Pot
� Mr. Bill in New Zealand
� the Maharaja of Baroda
� interesting and outrageous passengers
� snip its of the countries we traveled in
� royal family shockers

I give you a vision of the fun and adventure during an escorted tour, as well as an insight to the personalities and unexpected circumstances. This all truly happens on escorted tours around the world. You will be amused and surprised in this tell all of how a tour manager functions during a tour and some of the almost breaking points of our �glamorous� job.

Working on cruise ships brought a different type of tour group dynamics and demographics. What happened on board gave tour managing a different edge. I hope this will give you an insight to the intensity, personal journey and joy of my tour manager career.
www.camelstocaviar.com

Imagine a place where it rains seven feet a year. Imagine a mountain stream, at one moment gently flowing under a canopy of dogwoods, the next moment a thundering, deafening crash of water over huge boulders, twenty feet below. Imagine the opportunity to choose between hundreds of miles of hiking trails, including 370 miles of the famed Appalachian Trail, all the while brushing by tens of thousands of varieties of plant species, most of which have yet to be identified. And imagine 521,086 acres of mountains, rivers and recreation, all within a half days drive of over half the population of the United States. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is all this and more. .

Imagine a place where it rains seven feet a year. Imagine a mountain stream, at one moment gently flowing under a canopy of dogwoods, the next moment a thundering, deafening crash of water over huge boulders, twenty feet below. Imagine the opportunity to choose between hundreds of miles of hiking trails, including 370 miles of the famed Appalachian Trail, all the while brushing by tens of thousands of varieties of plant species, most of which have yet to be identified. And imagine 521,086 acres of mountains, rivers and recreation, all within a half days drive of over half the population of the United States. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is all this and more. .