PORT TOWNSEND — Ralph and Christal Ericksen of Port Townsend don’t get around much anymore.
They get around a lot.
The couple foregoes dinners out, shopping trips to Silverdale and nights on the town for a grander purpose.
They save all year long for three weeks of bliss every spring in some exotic foreign country.
Over the past decade, they’ve traveled to places most people only get to see in National Geographic.
They’ve seen unusual stone huts in Italy, ridden yaks in China, marveled at fantastic costumes worn by revelers in Italy, been caught in a blizzard in Turkey and climbed the steps of the Dalai Llama’s former palace in Llasa, Tibet.
Spain, Kenya, Egypt, Tanzania, Morocco, Tibet, Italy, China, Turkey, Greece, Thailand, Nepal and England — the Ericksens have stamps in their passports from all these countries.
“The opportunity to be in a foreign country — the more foreign the better — once a year with my camera is the most fun I can possibly have in the world,” Mrs. Ericksen said.
“That’s what keeps us going,” Ericksen said.
“I work seven days a week in my business (real estate appraisals) for 11 months of the year. So once a year, I feel I deserve a break.”
Full details appear in today’s edition of the Peninsula Daily News. Click onto “Subscribe” to have your PDN delivered to your home or office.