By now, we should have already been to Florida this April, to visit friends and check out The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter at Universal Studios and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney World.

Obviously that didn’t happen.

Thankfully, 2019 was such an epic travel-filled year we have lots of memories to look back upon!

It included three visits to the United States: a long weekend in New York City in February, what has become our annual pilgrimage to the Indy 500 in Indianapolis in May, and a very happy Thanksgiving in Tennessee in November.

In March and April we got really serious, when we finally embarked upon our first proper journey through Asia. Along the way we embraced new landscapes and cultures. We experienced ultra modern cities and timeless historical places (including Mumbai, where Rich’s Dad was born). We immersed ourselves in the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of no less than six new countries: United Arab Emirates, Oman, India, Sri Lanka (where we celebrated Rich’s 50th birthday just a couple of weeks before the terrible events there), Thailand and Singapore. It truly was a Journey of a lifetime!

In August we returned to Venice, my favourite place on Earth, where we spent a marvellous week doing research for Jaspa’s Journey 5: The Ses Collector of Venice, before heading down to Croatia and Greece.

We rounded off the year by spending the Christmas holidays with friends and family in the UK.

Visit the Travel section and also my blog, Jaspa's Journal, to learn more.

Thanks to Covid-19, Rich and I are obviously unable to do our usual weekend bookstore signings. This is particular disappointing, since the next thrilling book in my series, Jaspa’s Journey 4: The Hermit of Kennecott, has just been published!!

Although Rich began writing the book thirteen years ago, the coincidental timing of its release is kind of spooky. In the story, one of my friends (I’m not saying which) comes down with a lingering Ses version of the infamous Spanish Flu, a pandemic that killed millions of people in 1918-19. Click here to order your copy now!

In the meantime, I’m enjoying sharing daily memories of my past travels on Instagram and Facebook.

#DreamTodayJourneyTomorrow

And of course, Rich and I are also spending a massive amount of (virtual) time in Venice, where the writing of Jaspa’s Journey 5: The Ses Collector of Venice is coming along nicely.

Like everyone else, our future travel plans are a bit uncertain right now.

In May we should be making our annual pilgrimage to the Indy 500 in Indianapolis, but that event is currently postponed until August. At this point who knows if it will actually go ahead or not.

At the end of June, we planned to take a family vacation in southern Portugal, but again, that has had to be cancelled.

Our big trip of the year is scheduled for November, when we’re supposed to be heading back to Asia. This year the plan is to begin in Tokyo, then travel down through Japan, China, Taiwan and finally Hong Kong. Fingers crossed the World is starting to return to normal by then and this trip will be possible!

One thing is for sure... as soon as it is safe to do so, Rich will be back to jetting all over Ontario doing bookstore signings and school visits. Especially with Jaspa’s Journey 4: The Hermit of Kennecott just released!

Check my Meet The Author page regularly, for news on when events restart.