Today's Featured Biography

Linda (Diane) Hartmann Perry

Boy, time flies. It doesn’t seem so long ago that I was here in California for the 2010 reunion with my best friend, Tor. I had just finished a forty-five day hike with my dog, Chris. Both have now passed on. They were The Best and I miss them both.

Life is funny. When I write about it, it sounds dismal (I lost both my parents and several other loved ones since the last reunion), but I am so blessed. Five of my amazing kids are near enough to visit frequently by phone, or meet for lunch and lots of laughs. Leslie is living in New Mexico so visits are rare, but thank heaven for Skype and cell phones.

I am still working as a substitute teacher. It is never dull and is sometimes quite challenging. I love the freedom it offers. I am able to schedule my work days so I can dance on Monday afternoons and play pinochle with my church friends once a month. Some things are more important than a paycheck.
For the last three years I have ended my school year in March and the first of May I have escaped to “…faraway places with strange sounding names.”

In 2013, my first major travel trip was to SE Asia for five months. I started traveling with a new friend, Debbie; we spent two months diving in the Philippines (I am an avid underwater photographer). Then she returned to the States and I continued on to Thailand, Raja Ampat, Sri Lanka, the Gili Islands near Bali, and Borneo. I also met the amazing man in my life, Michael, in a mom and pop store in Moal Boal, Philippines.

In 2014 I returned to SE Asia. I began with a month in Nepal. I loved every minute. I hiked the mountains and visited Chitwan National Park, and Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha, with my hiking guide, Ashok and his two young siblings. The last week I took a thanka painting class from a llama in Pataan. I walked to the shop every morning and painted for seven hours and watched life happen in Nepal. It was wonderful. I went on to Mongolia for several weeks and took an eight day tour in the Gobi desert, camping and sometimes staying in gers, Mongolian yurts. Then back to diving, the Maldives and Sipadan in Borneo and capped it all with a month in Australia. I toured Melbourne, the capital city - Canberra, and Sydney then jumped to Cairns for more diving, the renowned Great Barrier Reef. I did seven days of diving on two dive vessels and then worked on the Kangaroo Explorer for eight days. I did kitchen grunt work in exchange for three dives a day, great food, and a bunk. Plus I met wonderful divers from around the world. What an experience!

This year I decided to go south and started with the Cayman Islands. My boyfriend, Michael, was able to meet me in Turks and Caicos, and we traveled together for the next twenty two days. We did some great dives in the Turks and the Dominican Republic. We moved on to Puerto Rico. After a couple of days there Michael had to return to Portland to renew his passport. I found some diving at the far side of the island. It was strenuous and challenging. Then I flew to Quito, Ecuador where I booked a nine day live aboard dive trip in the Galapagos. I spent a couple more days diving off the coast of Ecuador, then I finished my 2015 trip with a month and a half in Buenos Aires, Argentina to study tango and Spanish. I took a trip to Ushuaia, on the island of Tierra del Fuego…the very tip of South America, for a week and did one dry suit dive in 39 degree water. It was exhilarating and serene, all turquoise blue with six inches of snow on the islands and a ring of spectacular peaks covered with snow in the background.

I have a full schedule now that I am back in the States. I am busy with substitute jobs, dancing, and autumn hiking in the Cascades. I am looking forward to the holidays with my family, ski season and planning some more dive trips with my guy. Please visit my blog: travelblog.org/Bloggers/Never-too-old

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