Seasonal summer travel

OUT OF
MARCO
Danger in Swahili
Summer is rolling in and people are
rolling out of Marco Island. It’s the
time of year when many Islanders
travel the world. Whether by land,
sea or air, Marco Islanders are going
places. And while oftentimes their
accommodations are luxurious, they
don’t lack adventure.
By Kelly Farrell
Photos by Ewout Rijk de Vries
MARCO | 16
Corrie Grado is traveling to
Vietnam this year. Last year she went
to South Africa and next year she is
already booked to go on a Botswana
safari with friends who live in Hideaway
Beach.
The adventures seem endless.“At first,
I didn’t think I wanted to go to South
Africa because I thought I was more
interested in seeing animals, but I was
surprised how many animals we did see,”
Grado said.
By night, Grado was nestled in a
lodge built high above the trees. In the
daytime, she bumped along rural roads
in an open-top Jeep.“One time, we came
across a bunch of cheetahs and they just
got a fresh kill,” Grado recalled, of the
sight.“I was not grossed out at all,” she
said of her rare viewing experience.
The evening sun was going down as
Grado set the stage for a formal,
white-clothed dinner outside in Kenya
with crystal dinnerware and a crackling
fire. She was gazing at a nearby
watering hole.
“I hear a man yelling ‘Hatari! Hatari!
Hatari!’ Then all of a sudden, it — like
a Nile horse — a huge hippo came out
of the woods, knocked over some tables
and jumped in the watering hole,” Grado
recalled, of the pulse-pounding drama.
The adventure was only a couple
seconds, but the memory of the wild
commotion is one that lasts. Hatari
means “danger” in Swahili, Grado learned.
Then there is the warthog
adventure. “I couldn’t sleep,” she said,
remembering a recent Africa trip. “I was
in this wood cabin with a wood floor
and underneath it there was a ruckus
going on.”
She called guest services, but they
said they couldn’t do much at the
moment. “They weren’t coming out
because there was a lion out there. The
warthogs were hiding under our cabin.
The cabin was on stilts. They were
just making so much noise. That was
exciting,” Grado said.
Some things are
better in numbers
Bob and Catherine Thomas are
always on the move. They consider
Marco Island to be their winter home
and they have a summer home on a
mountain lake in Quebec. However,
they don’t stay put long.
Bob traveled internationally for
business, overseeing 22 manufacturing
facilities around the world. He and
his wife Catherine have since gone on
nearly 30 special international tours
led by Ewout Rijk de Vries, owner
of America Travel Arrangements on
Marco Island.
“Catherine and I are not what you’d
call group travelers, but these are
places maybe not where you exactly
want to go on your own,” said Bob
Thomas of the difference between
business trips and “Ewout trips.”
There are perks to having a travel
agent who travels with you, the
Thomases said. Every detail and every
challenge — currency exchanges,
language differences, various customs,
personal safety — it is nice having
someone who has this all mapped out
and who has so many connections
that any glitch or last-minute change
becomes a seemingly easy adjustment.
Catherine’s wardrobe is coordinated
with assistance organized by Ewout,
to ensure that no local customs are
ignored.
“We were one of the first to go to
Russia way back, in 1995, when you
heard lots of bad things about Russia.
We arrived in Moscow and a river
vessel was our home for more than
three weeks,”Thomas said.
The Thomases had experiences,
often in small groups with other
Marco Island couples whom they
have come to know over the years,
that they couldn’t make happen on
their own.
“If you were alone, you probably
wouldn’t hear the music, get the
dance, the cultural events that may
often come to you when you’re in a
small group. These are things that
have to be put together by someone,”
said Bob Thomas.
Their next stop: Vietnam.
Clockwise from top right: Catherine and Bob Thomas,
forefront, enjoy an outdoor dinner on a traveling
excursion. Corrie Grado, front, after lunch in the
African bush. Grado, far left, on board the open-air
Jeep. Grado in front of her tent. The African wildlife
provided some scenic views.
Hitting the open road
without leaving home
Sal and Arlene Soldano are part of what
they call the “subculture of motorhomers.”
“You’re home. No matter where you
stop or what you do, you’re home,” said Sal
Soldano, of his oversized travel home. “We
don’t have to worry about bed bugs and
the best part about it is when you go visit
people, you don’t put them out,” he said.
“You knocked out a side of a garage,”
Arlene interjected with a verbal jab,
referring to their narrow driveway, which
can be tricky to navigate.
“I didn’t crash through a garage… Oh
well, I hit a drain pipe,” he clarified and
smiled. Such risks were less common
with their less luxurious, but more
maneuverable mobile homes owned in
previous years.
The Soldanos have been to all 50 states
and Canada by motorhome, traveling
these days in a 40-foot National
Tradewinds. They’ve
not yet charted
MARCO | 18
their full summer journey, but it will
include a stop in Cape Cod, where they
have family.
One of their greatest, and certainly
longest, adventures was when they went
from Marco Island to Alaska.“We felt like
we were in the ‘Twilight Zone.’ We just kept
driving and driving and it seemed like we
would never get out of the Yukon,” said Sal
Soldano.
Their motorhome went from shiny gold
to the same mud brown as all the other
vehicles on the pitted, rough roads.
“It was just all mud and dirt and dust.
Everyone had a brown vehicle,” said Sal.
It’s not so easy maneuvering a 40-foot
motorhome towing their 20-foot trailer
with a car. The National Tradewinds Diesel
pushers, as owned by the Soladanos, are
often the largest, most luxurious of the
motorized RVs. The engine is located in the
rear, hence the name diesel pusher.
Though the Soldanos like going off the
beaten path, back roads can be a challenge
if they come across an unexpectedly low
bridge or other hazard, as they cannot
backup with the car in tow, Sal explained.
“The main ingredient to this whole thing is
you have to love to drive,” he said.
Arlene used to drive until, with each
upgrade in motorhome over the years,
came a longer, heavier, less maneuverable
vehicle. Now, she leaves it up to her
husband as she stays in the copilot seat.
The Soladanos see an America that many
others don’t see. The country is hurting
more than Marco Island residents might
know, said Sal.“People, if they don’t go
off the main roads, they don’t see what’s
happing in this country,” he said.
There are whole towns nearly deserted
that were once reliant on the familyowned lumberyards or other businesses
and industries of yesteryears, he further
added.
“We were in a small town in Arizona
where their mining industry died. People
apparently got up and left their mules
behind. They ran through the town
— well they didn’t run, but they roamed.
They could even go into the stores,” Sal
said.
They didn’t always ride in such a
comfortable mobile home though
— and it really is like a home, complete
with washer and drier, a small office,
tiled floor, central vacuum, flat screen
TV and all the Internet and TV services
one might want at home.“We started
sleeping in cars, then a van, then a tent,”
Sal said.
Arlene interjects: “Well, the guys did.”
She decided to come on board a
bit later with the conversion van and
continued as they moved up to the
20-foot, 31-foot and then 40-foot RV
motorhomes over the past 20 to 30 years.
The subculture of motorhomers is an
interesting one, they said.“It’s a diverse
group.You have people who don’t have
permanent homes. Some trade volunteer
work to stay in the national parks …
Because there’s everything from popups for about $5,000 to RVs that cost
millions,” Sal said.
She and Sal smile with an affectionate
toward the people they meet.“Most
people are enthusiastic about this. We
wish more people would do it (travel by
motorhome),” said Arlene.
They’ve found some other Islanders to
travel with them and considered starting
a Marco Island motorhome club.“We
call ourselves the Marco Moaners. Every
time we went somewhere, we ended up
LEFT: Sal and Arlene Soldano's luxury motorhome.
RIGHT: Arlene and Sal inside their motorhome.
moaning about something,”
said Sal, smiling.
“Well not us,” said Arlene.“The
others.”The two are jokesters.
They have traveled along with
less frequent RV-goers, neighbors
Ron and Ellie Zahray — there was no
mention if they were the moaners of the
near “Marco Moaners Motorhome Club.”
The Zahrays have their own
motorhome when they travel together.
“The rule in motorhoming is it entertains
six, feeds four and sleeps two — no
matter what size they are,” said Arlene
Soldano.
“…Because they all get pretty small,”
said Sal.
They described it like yachting or
sailing.“You get to make all the decisions.
But you’re not dependent upon tides or
weather.” M