My first visit to the world’s fourth-most-populous country.
It would take a LONG time to explore over 17,000 islands!
I flew into Surabaya, the 2nd largest city, for the great airfare.
Location-wise it was ideal for me jumping off to the Bromo volcano climb.
That said, Surabaya has little to offer for the tourist. It’s mostly a loud, polluted sprawl. Transportation is difficult.
I’ll leave for Malang as quickly as possible.
The Left-handed Twin (2021) by Thomas Perry is good, but not as good as the previous 8 books in the series.
One part I did enjoy was a chase on Maine’s Hundred Mile Wilderness.
Jane Whitefield helps people disappear.
Fearing for their lives, fleeing dangerous situations, her clients come to her when they need to vanish completely—to assume a new identity and establish a new life somewhere they won’t be found. …
… Jane finds a young woman fresh from LA with a whole lot of trouble behind her. After she cheated on her boyfriend, he dragged her to the home of the offending man and made her watch as he killed him. She testified against the boyfriend, but a bribed jury acquitted him, and now he’s free and trying to find and kill her.
Jane agrees to help, and it soon becomes clear that outsmarting the murderous boyfriend is not beyond Jane’s skills. But the boyfriend has some new friends: members of a Russian organized crime brotherhood.
When they learn that Sara is traveling with a tall, dark-haired woman who disappears people, the Russians become increasingly interested in helping the boyfriend find the duo. They’ve heard rumors that such a woman existed—and believe that, if forcibly extracted, the knowledge she has of past clients could be worth millions.
He does plan a 10th book to be called The Tree of Life and Flowers (2026).
Arriving SURABAYA Aug. 19, 2025.
I got a great price on Cathay Pacific out of Vancouver ➙ CAD $512.77 (USD $370.97) including seat selection.
En route to the World Gymnastics Championships in Jakarta in October.
For Indonesia, and beyond — I’m taking less hiking gear. More electronics. 😀
That’s what I’ll be carrying on my back, plus food & liquids.
Two pairs of shoes: city and hiking.
Here’s the full list. Click and scroll if on a computer. Some phones and iPads won’t show embedded PDFs.
Apologies for the format and errors. It’s from my list on PackWizard.com. A great service — but very limited in how you can export your data.
Still very funny.
Perhaps the best season, so far.
Both Jean Smart as Deborah Vance, a legendary (aging) Las Vegas comic, and Hannah Einbinder as Ava Daniels, her young comedy writer, are hilarious.
They are the world’s worst hikers, though. 😀
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
After 20 years having a family home in Parksville B.C., … I FINALLY got to lovely Milner Gardens near Qualicum Beach. It’s open Thursday to Sunday during the good weather months.
Prince Charles and Diana visited 1986. Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth stayed in 1987.
Vancouver Island University acquired the estate in 1996 and converted the private gardens to a public garden.
The highlight today are huge old growth Douglas firs, cedar trees, and rare rhododendrons.
Click PLAY or watch a preview on YouTube.
Tickets $5 – $14 / person in 2025.
Special events are hosted here including: Christmas Magic, Easter Bunny Trail, Spring Solstice, etc.
A few of my photos.
When not traveling, I stay with my Mom at her home in Parksville, B.C.
➙ PLEASE spread the rumour that I am some kind of son / saint caregiver. 😀
Though I tell people I’m semi-retired, I seem to be mostly retired in 2025.
Retirees tend to evolve a daily routine. Here’s mine as of …
Wake EARLY
Pick up COFFEE at McDonalds
WALK the coastline at Dawn
Internet in the morning. Updating my 3 main websites. …More coffee.
Typically I don’t eat until 10:30am or later.
RUN or STAIRS in the morning.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
If I run, leisurely is 4.5km in 30min.
Lunch
1 or more hours CYCLING
Dinner. (I’m actually starting to cook a few things. Under my Mom’s direction. 😀)
Chores
Evening WALK or CYCLE. Most often just after sunset.
Upper body strength and endurance training at the playground. About 10 minutes.
I sometimes do an abdominal program at home, as well.
9pm TV
10pm SLEEP
Saturday and Sunday I try to shoot some basketball outside the local school.
I SHOULD start golfing once a week.
That’s my regular day. Of course, conflicting things come up.
Right now we’re drinking very little alcohol in Parksville. And I’m trying to eat less this winter compared with last year. Fewer sweets.
Health is still good. Dentures my biggest medical issue.
I continue to listen to about 3 audio books / week. At about 145% speed. Fewer podcasts.
I watch a lot of YouTube, as well.
In my “spare” time, 1st priority is VIDEO EDITING for my Hiking YouTube channel. Over 235 videos since I launched during the pandemic.
Most popular, so far, is a fantastic coastal hike in Portugal.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Of course I have a half dozen different itineraries drafted. 😀
BUT which will end up happening?
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Highest priority destinations 2025:
Medium priority destinations 2025:
Low priority 2025:
Any other recommendations for me?
For most people, Instagram and TikTok are the most entertaining. I don’t much look at either.
If you want to avoid POLITICS, Meta (Instagram, Facebook, Threads) has definitely reduced the emphasis on political arguments. In Canada, a bonus for using Facebook is that news links are banned.
I haven’t quit Twitter — surprisingly — as my own feeds focused on Gymnastics and Hiking are still good. If I click on Following and avoid For You, the stream is valuable. Of course I quickly block anything I don’t like.
I post today as many of the people online I trust and respect are migrating to Bluesky.
Looking more for VIDEO than anything else, these are the sites I use most:
I hate advertising. Facebook doesn’t offer paid ad-free feeds, so I use ad blockers.
I hate Elon Musk and refuse to send him even one penny. So use ad blockers.
I use WhatsApp only for small group communication. It’s excellent. Messenger, as well, only for communication with very few people.
I’ll check Reddit once in a while if I’m looking for something specific.
Mastodon could be my favourite, but it’s not caught on with the people I want to follow.
LinkedIn should be best of all. But I’ve never seen much value for my purposes.
I never signed up for Snapchat. Hikers are mostly on Instagram. Gymnastics coaches mostly on Twitter.
I’ll try Bluesky. But I’m worried it will never grow big enough.
If desperate, I’ll create a browser bookmark folder and open all these social media sites simultaneously to check the latest news in Gymnastics and Hiking. OR … could I use an A.I. client to do that for me?
Brainstorming … 😀
I’ve been really enjoying flying drones.
Mine was the dumbest — and least expensive — in the DJI line-up, the original Mini S.E.
Getting ready for hiking / cycling 2024, I bought a DJI Mini 4 Pro drone. (My old drone broke in Idaho.)
Click PLAY or watch samples on YouTube.
Now have the DJI RC-N2 controller with the built-in screen. No longer need to hook up my phone.
I got the full Fly More Kit which includes 3 batteries, charging hub, carrying case, and extras.
Not inexpensive at CAD $1500 including tax.
Of course buying a warranty is essential. I paid CAD $170 (USD $125) / 2 years. I can replace the drone carcass up to 3 times. But IF I lose the drone, no warranty coverage.
I bought some accessories, as well:
I could have gone for the less expensive Mini 2, or Mini 3, but decided on the 4 for these features:
Most importantly, super powerful Activetrack options. The drone will follow-me wherever I go, avoiding obstacles so I need not manually watch it every second.
Due to obstacle avoidance, I’ve not crashed the Mini 4 even once … aside from day 1 when I tried to catch it by hand incorrectly. Oops.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I’ll shoot video in 2024 with drone, iPhone, and Ace Pro Action Camera:
Add-on
My guru is DC Rainmaker.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
NOTES:
I didn’t go for the Plus battery because the added weight takes it over the sub-250g weight
I was convinced to buy the more expensive Mini 4 by DC Rainmaker’s 2022 review.
If you are keeping track — I bought the DJI Spark at the beginning. Couldn’t get it off the ground. Traded to Kraig for a fantastic jacket.
During the pandemic, I bought 2 DJI Mini SE drones. Now discontinued. Less than CAD $1000 total for both including the Fly More kit.
Surprisingly durable. I crashed them dozens of times.
Booking 10 months in advance, I picked a relatively inexpensive room in a Vestmanna guesthouse. About USD $54 / night.
It turned out to be an excellent choice.
There are no hotels in Vestmanna — but many people get there to take a scenic boat trip to bird cliffs.
This guy pioneered hydroelectric power in the Faroe Islands. From Vestmanna.
It is an authentic, working fishing port.
I stayed 9 days. Hiked and cycled everywhere there was to go from my town.
There is a hostel with campground close to the airport. But I’m glad I had the more comfortable guest room in Vestmanna.
One night we had great weather. I hiked up and over the mountain to see the sunset. This was 9:41pm in August. And it was setting very slowly. 😀
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Rick McCharles 