For a foodie like Lisa, learning how to make Nasi Goreng and Gado Gado from scratch, while staying at the Honeymoon Guesthouses (in Ubud, Bali) ranks high on her list of favourite vacations. Waking up every morning to find freshly baked croissants and steaming lattes on the veranda was a much appreciated added bonus.

Egypt inhabits a special place in Lisa’s heart. Her cherished memories include barging up the Nile, from Aswan to Cairo, having her childhood imaginings made real. At Giza, she rode camelback past the Sphinx, and explored the claustrophic depths of one of its pyramids. The whole experience was capped by a visit to Cairo’s Egyptian Museum to witness the astounding collection of artifacts from all of those temples and tombs.

Once, after taking a nasty fall in Majorca, just prior to embarking on a Contiki tour, Lisa ended up with a badly injured leg and was faced with tough decision. The choices were either an operation in Madrid followed by a 2-week hospital stay to recuperate, or getting her leg set and flying home armed with a needle to inject part-way through the flight to avoid getting a blood clot. She ended up choosing the latter option, and subsequently awarded the best ever air crew to the Lufthansa staff who cleared an entire row for her to fly home in relative comfort!

Here in Vancouver, Lisa and her friends love visiting Four Seasons’ Yew Restaurant for its fantastic food, and half-price wine specials. Or you might find her poking around in her backyard garden, steadfastly trying to avoid earthworms.