konfessions of the Koog

When we were in the UK for a month in 2023, Mrs. Koog did all the driving. I will admit, she hit nothing and no one. She got us safely from London to Bath to North Wales to Liverpool and all over Scotland until we turned in our car in Edinburgh. And when we turned in that car, it was pristine. No dings, dents, scratches or bumps. As I have written in the past few entries my trip was magical and healing and all those things trips should be. With one exception, driving. I was nervous when I booked the trip that I would forget to stay to the left and cause an international incident on the M4. Apparently, staying to the left would not be the problem. No, my problem was staying too far to the left. For some reason, I completely lost my depth perception on the left (passenger side). This issue wasn’t a real problem on the motorway as there was a shoulder and every time I’d cross the line I was able to correct immediately. The drive from Heathrow to Conwy, Wales was uneventful until I go...

Here are the photo galleries from the trip. Please click on "Read More" to access clickable links. If there are issues with the links please post a comment and it will come directly to my email. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed capturing them. Eryri: adobe.ly/41nT3xu Aqueduct: adobe.ly/4hGOzrQ London: adobe.ly/3DSCfXy

After a tough go these past few months, I am off on a short solo trip to find myself again. For some reason, I think I may be lost on a mountain in North Wales. Yes, it is a strange place for someone that hates to fly, has a fear of heights and hasn’t really loved the outdoors for the past say 50 years. I am a very, very, very fearful flyer. This trip was strangely different. Sure, it may be the meds but I had almost no anxiety about the flight. This calmness made me nervous. Poor Mrs. Koog had to listen to my nervous banter about being calm for an entire morning. Is this how normal people travel? I must have asked her this question 100 times in 100 different ways. I may have also asked in Spanish, German and Welsh. Anyway, I got to the airport and was able to use my charm, good looks and credit card to upgrade to first class for a couple hundred bucks. I don’t want to discount my charm and good looks, but it seemed the lady was mostly interested in the credit card. The Virgin At...

We are off for a month (a month!) in the UK! Most of you know this Koog needs heavy sedation to fly. For some reason, I'm calm about this flight. The calmness is creating anxiety because I am not used to being this zen when facing an airport. Anyway, I've held off "Benzo-loading" and I'm stone cold sober as we wait for our ride to the airport. Now, Mrs. Koog has gently and not so gently reminded me to pack light as we have laundry facilities in each house we are renting. She even went so far as to find Rick Steves packing shows on YouTube. Rick and I have very different points of view about many things like fashion, hair cuts and of course, packing. He believes packing the absolute minimum (and the ugliest possible) clothes and shoes. This is not the mindset of Koog. My default is prepare and pack for every contingency and every contingency of those contingencies. Alas, the airlines dictate one can only be prepared 2 checked bags worth of contingency supplies!...