Dave G Houser & Jan Butchofsky-Houser

By our usual standards, we scaled back on travel in 2008, with just a few foreign jaunts. But, WOW!, the first one was a trip of a lifetime (even for travel journalists) to the South Pacific. We started things off in New Zealand, staying several days each at Huka Lodge, an upscale trout fishing retreat where Jan turned out to be the top hooker (no pun intended), and Treetops, a country inn surrounded by a 1,500-acre wildlife preserve where we hiked out to observe magnificent stags, wapiti (elk) and Asian water buffalo.

The Asaro District of the Eastern Highlands is famous for its warriors known as Mud Men who traditionally covered themselves with grey mud and wore huge, fearsome masks before engaging in battle. The intention was to frighten off their enemies before a fight was even necessary. Today Asaro villagers recreate the scene for visitors in a rare and exciting cultural ritual, Papua New Guinea.

Next we joined the ultra-luxe Aussie expedition cruiser Orion in Auckland for a two-week voyage through Melanesia – mostly among the remote and rarely visited Solomon Islands – to Rabaul, Papua New Guinea (PNG). We stayed on for a week in the PNG Highlands where we visited the villages of the famed Goroko Mudmen. These are the guys who, until fairly recently, smeared themselves with mud and donned gruesome masks of molded mud – to frighten off their enemies. This is a wonderfully primitive place…where they still hunt with bows and arrows.

Orion Ship The German-built, Australian-based expedition cruiser is compact and agile, able to go where big ships can't -- with great style and luxury, Solomon Islands.

Tiger’s Nest Monastery, BhutanJan was off to Bhutan in June for a 3-week, small-group, invitation-only “journey of the spirit,” hiking the Himalayan foothills and valleys to visit ancient monasteries, nunneries and other sacred sites. As you might guess, she and friend Cathy Kazen (a fellow animal advocate) managed to perform a series of dog rescues…and only the prospect of insurmountable logistics prevented the Houser household from welcoming home another four-legged immigrant…or two. Jan’s photos from Bhutan are breathtaking. More up on this soon!

Young Monk, Bhutan

Hard to miss from anywhere in Dubai, the towering sail-shaped Burj al-Arab hotel rises above its elegant but much more subdued sister property, the Mina A'Salam boutiqe hotel, Dubai, U.A.E.

October found us threading the pirate-plagued waters of the Middle East, cruising with the German-flagged MS Deutschland from Istanbul to Dubai. We actually felt pretty smug passing through the Gulf of Aden, which separates Yemen and Somalia, as we were following in the wake of a Russian Navy frigate – one of a number of international warships patrolling the region. We called in Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Dubai. It was informative to see what our payments for Gulf oil have purchased.

Wishing you safe journeys, health, peace, freedom and joy for 2009 and beyond.

Dave & Jan Houser