2012 was another glorious year of travel for The Roaming Boomers®.

We thank God for health over the last year, the opportunity to explore his beautiful creation, new friends from all over the world, and most of all, you our readers.

We count it a great privilege to explore this wonderful world of ours, and it is our deepest desire that we will inspire in each of you the desire to get out there and do a bit of “roaming” on your own.

It doesn’t matter whether you roam the world, your home country, or even your own hometown, life is richer when you head out with wide-eyed-wonder  to see, learn, and make new friends.

Here’s a monthly recap of our 2012 journeys.  We hope you enjoy, we encourage you to visit some of the places we’ve visited, and we’d love to hear about your own travels from 2012.

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Roaming Boomer Travels – January 2012

We began 2012 at the Los Angeles Times Travel Show.  For baby boomer travelers, this is a wonderful place to explore potential travel destinations.  Countries from all over the world set up booths on the floor of the trade show to display the riches of travel to their lands.  If you have interest in traveling to countries in the east, then this is the show for you!

Roaming Boomer Travels – February 2012

In February, we made our fifth journey back to Hawaii, the Big Island.

While all of Hawaii’s islands are beautiful, Hawaii, the Big Island has become our very favorite.  It’s larger than all of the other islands combined, is far less congested, features two towering  14,000 ft. dormant volcanoes, one active volcano, and some of the best scenery we’ve ever laid our eyes on.

During this particular trip, our mission was to unearth the very best luxury Bed & Breakfast Inns on Hawaii, the Big Island.  While we love luxury resorts, luxury Bed & Breakfast Inns have also become a staple in our travel itinerary.  We find them far more intimate, and have learned that this setting lends to far more interaction with other guests.  In other words, we make new friends from all over the world!

Here’s our report: Luxury Bed & Breakfast Inns on Hawaii, the Big Island.

Also, while on the Big Island, we found a luxury vacation rental home with this private waterfall in the backyard.  Unbelievable!

Here’s our report: Hawaiian Vacation Rental Home Features a Natural Waterfall

Roaming Boomer Travels – March 2012

We started March out at the New York Times Travel Show in New York City.

Like the Los Angels Times Travel Show, countries from all over the world were stationed on the trade show floor inviting potential travelers to visit their respective countries.  This particular show was heavily visited by European and western countries.

Also, while in New York City, we spent a couple nights in five of the city’s finest luxury boutique hotels.  We also visited wonderful restaurants, attractions, a wonderful Sunday Brunch at the Waldorf Astoria, and Carol enjoyed some great shopping.

Here’s our reports:  Luxury Boutique Hotels in Manhattan, New York City, and New York City Links.

Roaming Boomer Travels – April 2012

April found us in London, England sponsored by our friends at Delta Vacations.  On your behalf, we scouted great hotels, restaurants, tourist attractions, and much more.

Here’s our reports:  London Links

Roaming Boomer Travels – May 2012

Unbelievably, in May we were able to cross Bora Bora off of our bucket list.  We enjoyed a 7-night cruise with Paul Gauguin Cruises, and spent a remarkable three nights at the Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora.

Here’s more from Bora Bora: Bora Bora Links

Roaming Boomer Travels – June 2012

In June we visited the beautiful state of Colorado to attend the Travel Bloggers Exchange conference.

Roaming Boomer Travels – July 2012

July found us bopping all over the state of Arizona a we compiled visits and information for our Arizona Historic Hotels of America Tour.  Our feature article contains 6 videos from these magnificent resorts!

Link:  Historic Hotels of America – Arizona Edition

Royal Palms Resort and Spa ~ Scottsdale, Arizona

Roaming Boomer Travels – August 2012

August was a very busy month of travel.  Very early in the month we traveled to Michigan to visit our son and granddaughter and spent a week in northern Michigan’s beautiful Leelanau county, home of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.  The photograph below show a sand dune rising 40-stories above Lake Michigan.

Link: Leelanau County, Michigan.

In mid-August, Toyota USA whisked us away for a Venza Glamping Road Trip on the California coast.

And the end of August found us visiting Carol’s sister in Pagosa Springs, Colorado with stops in Durango, Ouray, and Mesa Verde National Park.  Click the links below and you will find stunning mountain views

Links: Pagosa Springs, Durango, Ouray, Mesa Verde National Park

 Roaming Boomer Travels – September 2012

September was another busy month of travel beginning in New Orleans.  We scoped out the best luxury hotels, the finest chefs, and fun attractions for you to explore.  We have a few more posts to share from New Orleans, but there’s quite a bit already at the link below.

Link:  Roaming New Orleans

Later in the month, we grabbed up some friends from Michigan and set out on a road trip from Scottsdale, through southern Utah, Vegas, and then circled back home.  It was a week full of adventure in Lake Powell, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and more.

To whet your whistle, here’s a photograph we captured of Rainbow Bridge in the Lake Powell National Recreation Area.  Stay tuned for much more from this exciting road trip!

 Roaming Boomer Travels – October 2012

We were home just a short two weeks and then we were off for a little over two weeks to visit Italy.  We flew into Rome, took a high-speed train to Florence, drove around Tuscany for a week, hopped another high-speed train to Venice, and then flew home.

We’ve yet to begin posting these experiences, but here’s a few little sneak peeks.

 Roaming Boomer Travels – November 2012

In the month of November, we were back across the pond to spend 7-nights in Spain with the folks at Abercrombie & Kent.  Once again, we’re in the process of producing the content from this amazing adventure, but let me again tease you with a few photographs from our adventure.

Ronda, Spain

The Cordoba Cathedral

The Alhambra

Roaming Boomer Travels – December 2012

As you can probably imagine, after this busy year of travel, we were delighted to hang out in our hometown of Scottsdale, Arizona after flying home from Madrid mid-month.

We have a LOT of stories to share from the last three months of our travel, plans to build for our travels in 2013, as well as hosting a house full of family for the Christmas holiday.

However, so that we have something “purty” to show you from our hometown, here’s a scene from Cavalia’s Odysseo that is currently showing here in Scottsdale.

Phew!  What an amazing year of travel.

From Hawaii, to Bora Bora, to Italy, Spain, and many places in between, we’re very confident that we uncovered amazing landscapes, resorts, hotels, restaurants, attractions, and experiences for you to consider for your next vacation.

Grab yourself a bag of popcorn and spend some time exploring our website for your next adventure and you too can join the ranks of 80 million American boomers who enjoy roaming this beautiful world of ours.

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