Rick Steves’ March ’09 column was on journaling.

When my husband retired from his work in geology and we moved from Angola back to the USA, I continued to travel to foreign countries once or twice a year for more than 25 years. On every trip I took, I kept a journal plus photos, books, travel guides and everything that had to do with that particular trip.

Each trip went into a shoe box and onto one of the shelves in my art studio, located in a heated garage space. I knew the...

My husband, Colin, and I had a fantastic adventure in Tanzania and Kenya, Jan. 7-Feb. 7, 2008, one that began with a casual invitation from David, a missionary sponsored by our church: “Would you like to come to Africa to visit our mission work?”

David met us in Nairobi, Kenya, and suggested lunch at the Java House, one of a small chain begun by three Californians, featuring wonderful coffee and a menu of sandwiches, salads and desserts (10 locations in Nairobi; phone +254 [20]...

My wife, Joan, and I are inveterate independent travelers with 45 years’ international experience. We usually travel by car or rail, with vaguely planned itineraries and seldom with prebooked overnight accommodations.

We lived in Chengdu, China, from January to May ’05 and traveled widely throughout the country. Our “organized” tours included five nights on a 3-star Yangtze boat with two Italian tourists and 162 people who spoke only Chinese and a one-day round-trip minibus tour from...