Tag: South America

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The Year in a Traveler’s Life – 2025

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Galapagos Giant TortoiseIt’s time for my annual Year in a Traveler’s Life even though I’m not quite done traveling for the year. You can read about 2024 year here and follow the links to previous years.

I repeated my pattern of the last few years by starting off slowly. The first quarter of the year is usually kept close to home to meet Abraham Lincoln-related obligations, including the Lincoln Memorial birthday wreath laying and various Lincoln Group of DC events. March is always tight because of the Abraham Lincoln Institute Symposium held at Ford’s Theatre, which I always attend and often have introduction duties (and in 2023 was a speaker). I also was locked in front of my computer most of the spring writing Lincoln in New England: In Search of His Forgotten Tours, which is scheduled for release March 3, 2026.

April got things rolling with a road trip. The previous two years I had road tripped around New England doing research for the book. This year took me through upstate New York on my way to Vermont to attend the very first Lincoln Forum Spring Conference at Hildene, the Robert Lincoln family home in Manchester. I drove from DC up to Westfield, NY to see the statues of Lincoln and Grace Bedell, the 11-year-old girl who had written Lincoln to encourage him to grow “whiskers.” From there it was on to Buffalo for two Lincoln statues, with a quick trip over the border to Canadian Niagara Falls for the Tesla power plant (which caused some consternation with the border agent who couldn’t understand why I had driven from Virigina to spend only three hours in Canada). Next was over to Rochester for Lincoln-Frederick Douglass, around two finger lakes an on to Seneca Falls for the women’s voting rights exhibits, to Auburn for the William Seward house, to Syracuse for two Lincoln statues, and finally on to Hildene.

The rest of the spring I was writing, with a day trip to tour Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, DC with the Lincoln Group’s ace tour guide, Craig Howell. I also joined Craig for a tour of Congressional Cemetery in October, where I got my own 15 minutes of fame touting the history of Alexander Dallas Bache. On May 30, I submitted my manuscript to the publisher!

July began a whirlwind of overseas travel. An invitation to a wedding at Oxford University provided a great excuse for the UK road trip we had been talking about for a long time. A flight to Edinburgh gave a few days in Scotland before renting a car (manual shift, left side of the road) to wiggle down through England and Wales over several days before the wedding. Mostly the trip was guided by locations of Lincoln statues, necessitating stops at an old novitiate, Manchester (I’ve been in Manchester cities in multiple states and countries now), Newport (Wales), and Bath. One of the greatest thrills was a stop along the English/Welsh border to visit the home of a famous sculptor whose double-faced Lincoln bust is one of the most unique in the world. I then had to convince the people at the American Museum and Gardens in Bath that they also had a copy, which I eventually talked the one person who knew about it into showing me in the private spaces not open to the public.

The following month really got things going. In mid-August we flew to Lima, Peru to start a Road Scholar tour. From Lima it was on to Cusco, the Sacred Valley, and Machu Picchu, where we climbed up to the terraces to get the ubiquitous photograph before hiking through the city itself. Luckily the altitude (up to 12,000 feet in Cusco) didn’t cause too much of a problem. Then it was on to Quito, Ecuador before flying out to the Galapagos Islands for a week on a boat hopping around between eight islands. Every perfect day involved a hiking trip to see birds, iguanas, sea lions, and more, plus also a snorkeling and/or kayaking trip to see them all underwater. Snorkeling with huge green sea turtles and kayaking with playful sea lions has been on my bucket list since my early marine biologist days.

The fall was busy but domestic. I attended a Lincoln statue dedication at the African American Civil War Museum in DC in September, then in November make my annual trek up to Gettysburg for the Lincoln Forum Conference, followed a week later by a longer road trip up to Massachusetts for Thanksgiving with family.

But the travel isn’t over for year. I have one short jaunt out of the country relaxing in the Bahamas over Christmas.

Which gets me to 2026.

Spring 2025 was writing Lincoln in New England, so Spring 2026 is promoting it. I have several speaking gigs already arranged and more in process, both in New England and in the DC area, that will keep me busy for several months after the March 3 release. I may go out to Springfield, Illinois for the Abraham Lincoln Association birthday symposium in February, but almost certainly will be in Illinois in June. I will definitely be in Vermont the first weekend of May as I will be on the program of the 2nd Lincoln Forum Spring Conference at Hildene. More info on that here soon.

Beyond that, I am booked on a long overseas trip that will take me first to Mongolia in September, led by a friend of mine who arranges cool trips every year. Four days after that ends I’ll start a Road Scholar tour of Southeast Asia covering Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. I’m obviously not coming back to the states in between, so will be adding in a short trip, probably to Taiwan.

November will take me back to Gettysburg for the Forum. I’m sure I’ll squeeze in other shorter, domestic trips during the year, with spots like Philadelphia, New York City, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia high on my “go to” list next year. We’ll see if I hit the 5 new countries goal. I might not, since I’ve already been to Thailand and Vietnam. Still a lot of places I want to go.

I’ll have my annual Year in the Writer’s Life post up shortly before New Year’s.

[Photo of Giant Galapagos Tortoise, David J. Kent, 2025]

 

Lincoln in New England book cover

Coming in March 2026: Lincoln in New England: In Search of His Forgotten Tours

Also see – Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America.

Join me on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.

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David J. Kent is Immediate Past President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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G’day Mate…Drinking tea in Argentina

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The pronunciation of “mate,” by the way, is MAH-Tay. Mate is a tea-like infusion made from the Yerba plant (pronounced Jerba). And it was one of the highlights of my recent trip to Argentina.

David J. Kent drinking mate

While not as formalized as the Japanese tea ceremony, or as regimented as the British tea time, the drinking of mate is a cultural phenomenon in Argentina and other parts of South America. It exemplifies and strengthens the social bond between friends. Why? Because you share the same cup.

Gourd, actually. The “cup” is actually a hollowed out gourd, often decorated with leather and metal rims or other designs. Everyone also drinks through the same metal straw called a bombilla.

Mate gourds

Before we drink, let’s back up a bit. Unlike tea leaves, Yerba is an evergreen shrub, a species of holly. It has been sipped for centuries by native populations of South America. Like tea, yerba is dried and cut into small pieces. It is then steeped in hot, but not boiling, water. The temperature is important. Boiling the water brings out the bitterness of the Yerba plant, a taste that most non-Argentinians probably wouldn’t like. Hot water – about 80°C – is perfect for enhancing the flavor of mate without “burning” the leaves.

Making mate

The social context of drinking mate is also important. Sharing mate is an act of hospitality. A single person takes on the responsibilities of the cebador (or cebadora), the preparer of the mate for that session. After drinking the first gourd-full or two, the cebador refills the gourd with water and passes it to the next person, who drinks it down fully. The gourd is returned to the cebador, who refills and passes to the next in line. The yerba leaves remain for each gourd-full, only the water is refilled each time. After each person gets their drink, the circuit repeats for as long as people want mate – or the hot water runs out.

If someone no longer wants any mate, they simply say gracias (thank you) when they hand back the gourd.

The drinking of mate is so ingrained in the Argentinian culture that travelers can be assured that any suitable establishment (restaurants, bars, even gas stations) will happily refill your mate thermos with the correct temperature water, for free. Naturally caffeinated, the mate was a welcome companion as we traveled nearly 3500 kilometers by car around Patagonia. More importantly, mate exemplified the friendships, old and new, forged on this trip. I’m looking forward to returning to see more of Argentina and South America. I thank my old friend Pablo and his two daughters for showing us such a wonderful time…and also for the best gift I could have asked for – a mate gourd and mate to take home.

Mate

I’ll have much more on my Argentina adventure. If you missed them, check out my photos from the road here, here, here, and here.

More travel related posts here.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like”my Facebook author page for more updates!

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

[Daily Post]

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Book Review – Bolívar: American Liberator by Marie Arana

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Bolivar by Marie AranaI recently received a copy of a new book and was asked to read it and write a book review. This is that review.

Simón Bolívar liberated six South American countries from Spanish rule. An amazing achievement. Marie Arana has accomplished no less an amazing achievement in her mighty tome Bolívar: American Liberator (Simon & Schuster, 2013). Arana’s book is impressive, both in its girth (464 pages of text plus over 100 pages of notes) and the depth of research conducted into Bolívar’s life.

Born into a wealthy family in 1783 Caracas in the Venezuelan portion of the Spanish empire, Simón Bolívar hardly seemed destined to be a revolutionary. A slight 5’6” in height and only 130 lbs, he nevertheless was a “spirited youth.” He grew up in luxury in a country in which the Spanish crown had imposed strict divisions between the classes and races. A trip to Europe as he came of age exposed him to even greater privilege, but also inspired him to pledge that he would liberate his homeland. Arana captures this coming of age in a story that reads like a novel.

After two revolutions fail to take hold, Bolívar finally is able to lead the creation of a third republic that begins a constant battle that would consume him for the rest of his life. Arana deftly intertwines the events of the United States (War of 1812) and Europe (Napoleon, Spanish wars) with the major battles and exploits of Bolívar and other key players both within and without of his control. In what we now might call “mission creep,” the revolution to rid Venezuela from the Spanish spreads across greater Granada and beyond to encompass what now includes Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Peru and the newly created Bolivia (named after Bolívar). The “George Washington of South America,” Bolívar liberated the people and yet in the final years of his short life had the people turn on him. He died in exile, in poverty, and bed-ridden with tuberculosis, in his prematurely-aged 47th year.

One of the strengths of the book is the way Arana is able to delve into the imperfections of Bolívar as a man – his many mistresses, his adeptness with military command yet inability to command the politics of effective government, and the many mistakes he made as he tried to create democracies in lands mired by corruption and 300 years of subservience. Arana superbly brings this complex man to life. Often vilified in that life, Bolívar’s legend has grown in the nearly two centuries since his death to the point where leaders from Venezuela and environs attempt to invoke the name of Bolívar to support their own policies, even though those policies may be the antithesis to everything for which Bolívar toiled.

I highly recommend Bolívar: American Liberator. Those with family ties to the region will benefit from the knowledge of both the accomplishments and imperfections of the man. Those in the United States and elsewhere will benefit from the opportunity to learn about one of the most important men in modern history, one most of us likely don’t know much about at all.

Marie Arana’s website: http://mariearana.net/bolivar/

David J. Kent is the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!