Interview with Janice Brannon - Young at Heart

Name: Janice Brannon

Family Members: Russell the Husband, Fred the Beagle, Bobbi the Aussie/Greyhound, and Mr. Kitty

Age (be as vague as you wish): 70 --I can't be vague here, it is all too real! But the best thing about it is I'm still moving faster than the years, so they haven't caught up with me yet.

Where are some of the places you’ve gone with ExperiencePlus!?: Provence; Burgundy/Champagne; Loire Valley; Dordogne; Ireland.

Where does your love of the outdoors come from?: Camping at the beach and swimming in the ocean from childhood; then I married a camper/fisherman type, and so it only made sense to raise a family of the same ilk.

Describe your perfect day outdoors: It starts at dawn and ends at dark (but I've gotten more wimpy with the years, so I only like it on the warm side)

Where is your favorite travel destination?:Generally, any place I haven't been yet. I love to get to know new places.........return trips are good, but would usually opt to explore new territory.

Do you have a movie or book recommendation?: For heavy reading I loved "1421, the Year China Discovered America" by Gavin Menzies; "Annals of a Former World" by John McPhee; "Guns, Germs and Steel" and "Collapse" by Jared Diamond. Not so heavy -but great- is Barbara Kingsolver's "Poisonwood Bible", and for lighter entertainment Dan Brown's "DaVinci Code"; mysteries by Sue Grafton, Linda Barnes and Ann Perry, and for historical entertainment the "Sharpe" stories by Bernard Cornwell.

Tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know: I like to write children's stories......the main characters are generally toads (Pocatoadus; Michael the Moonwalker Toad; Thomas Jefferson and Tilly Talltoad)

What’s your favorite ride or hike in your hometown?: We live in the foothills in northwest South Carolina, and there are over 200 waterfalls in the county, so our favorite hikes are usually to one of these beautiful waterfalls.

What’s one outdoor activity that you’d like to take up?: If I were 50 years younger, I would definitely take up skiing, but at this stage in the game I shall just hang with tubing, canoeing, biking, hiking, and lots of gardening.

What’s one outdoor activity that doesn’t interest you in the least?: My husband and his parents used to go to Lake of the Woods in Canada almost every summer, so when we married we continued the tradition with his parents, and I found that although I thoroughly loved going along on the fishing trips, I was NEVER able to work up any enthusiasm for catching the fish. Nevertheless, being out on a lake, quietly and slowly moving along the shoreline while someone else is doing the fishing is purely delightful.

Describe the greatest adventure you’ve yet to take: I have had 70 years of great adventures in this life, and what I look forward to now is the pleasure of continuing to be physically fit enough to enjoy an ExperiencePlus bike trip every year for AT LEAST ten more years.

Anything else you’d like to share with us?: My husband and I met in Ethiopia, and we loved being overseas......we were fortunate that he was able to work in Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina, Thailand, and Indonesia, and we were able to live in those lovely countries.