Two years ago, A&A client Karen Bacon Barnette decided to take a solo European vacation before embarking on a condo development project. She hopped on a plane, bought a bicycle in Belgium, asked "Which way to the North Sea?," and headed out over canal towpaths.

"I had no set itinerary," said adventurous Barnette, a divorced mother of three teens. "I rode to the North Sea, then headed west by country road and bike path to Calais, on to Paris, then took the train to Brittany, where I hopped on a cargo ship carrying a load of gravel to England. It seems all you have to do is ask for a ride; the captain wouldn’t take money."

She spent her time on the ship’s bridge or in the mess hall singing karaoke with the Philippine crew. Barnette overlooked the necessary visa to visit England by way of France, but – no problem – the customs officer cleared her in time to cycle to London before dark.

Barnette recently returned from a jaunt with her oldest son to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, where they swam in sink holes, went birding, and participated in pre-presidential election rallies in Valladolid. She’s also visited Paris eight times and is planning a trip to Nova Scotia in August.

"I would spend my last dollar on travel," she said. "When I am not working and raising kids, I live to travel."

Before her divorce, Barnette and her husband owned an industrial construction company that operated in the U.S., the Caribbean and Canada. When the company sold after their divorce, Barnette began selling real estate for ReMax.

Although she still sells real estate, in 2004, she decided to realize her dream of designing and building residential property. Her first venture is eight luxury condos in the Johnson City neighborhood where she has lived for 30 years.

"Most condos I’ve been in are narrow townhouse types that make efficient use of space. My Morningside Glyn is another animal completely. The floor plan is 31 ft. x 65 ft., more than 3000 sq. ft. in a two-story, brick condo that looks and feels more like a house," she said.

A&A’s Jeff Buchanan did the site plan for Morningside Glyn and walked it through the approval process in Johnson City, as well as helping Barnette allay some of the neighbors’ fears about the project. The condos, now in their second phase of development, feature large rooms, tall ceilings, eco-friendly bamboo flooring, upscale appliances, and lots of granite (importing Chinese granite is Barnette’s side business).