In need of some serious rest and relaxation, I arrived at Sanctuary Resort and Spa on Camelback Mountain in Paradise Valley just minutes away from Scottsdale, Arizona for a long restorative weekend of spa treatments and fitness classes. Read more…

As our 6-wheeler Pinzauer truck lurches up the mountainside, we wonder if we signed up for the right adventure. Big Island Eco-Adventures recently opened up the first zip-line tour on the Big Island of Hawaii. Maui and Kaui already have this experience available so when the Big Island got their long-awaited eco tour, people have steadily signed up for this amazing half-day trip. Read more…

I have just come back from a family visit to the Black Isle, located in the Highlands of Scotland. This beautiful part of the Highlands, just north of Inverness, is quite well known for tourism within the UK, but not so often visited by overseas travelers. (For those interested, the Black Isle is not an island, but a peninsula surrounded on three sides by water.) If you have visited Scotland, but have not dared (or had the time) to go farther north than Edinburgh, I invite you to go back and see the country again for the first time. The Highlands and Islands of Scotland are as varied as anywhere could be Read more…

The scenery is like a dream, especially on Bora Bora where at any given time you can look out over the lagoon and see seven shades of blue. I will never forget stepping out onto the deck of my over-water bungalow and seeing the variety of blues and being overwhelmed by the beauty of it all. Talk about love at first sight, this destination is for perfect for romance. Read more…

Portugal is ideal for self-drive tours. It’s small and compact, with only a few large cities. The roads are well maintained with good signage. Although part of the European Union, prices here are lower than in most of the rest of Europe. Portugal’s towns and villages are not perfectly restored museums like many of the “most beautiful villages” in France and Italy; they are alive and bustling with open markets, laundry hanging outside windows, churches and town squares that are vibrant parts of the community not museums for tourists. Read more…

The Dordogne and Lot Rivers cross central France winding past picturesque towns and villages, massive fortresses and castles, humble dwellings carved into limestone cliffs, pre-historic cave drawings and scenic countryside. Long ignored by tourists who flocked to Paris and the Riviera, the quiet beauty of this region has gained popularity in recent years. Despite France’s excellent rail system, this area is best explored by automobile. Read more…

Sitting at the bar in the middle of the South Pacific, sipping my mai tai, I looked up and thought maybe I had one too many. There, over the bar, was a photo of the mouth of a Tiger shark…inside was a smaller grey reef shark soon to become the former’s breakfast. Read more…

The sparkling new Terminal 2 at Mexico City’s Benito Juarez Airport provides a warm Mexican welcome, in a cool, minimalist way. It has a modern edge, an impressive mini-museum of anthropology, and lots of conveniences. After breezing through immigration, baggage and customs, I head straight for a strong dose of caffeine, having travelled across 8 time zones in 20+ hours. The Rompope Double Cappuccino is jolting, exactly what I needed to face the Megalopolis. So is the 20-peso ‘airport’ price (US$1.00 = MXN$14.00) - an indication of what a bargain it is to travel in Mexico these days. Read more…

There’s a special thrill that comes with exploring Europe by car. It’s not for everyone, particularly first or second time travelers to Europe, older travelers (many car rental companies won’t rent to people over age 75), those who prefer large cities or who prefer visiting museums and operas to vineyards and villages. However, if you want to experience the joys of country roads and picturesque villages, but you aren’t up for the rigors of hiking or bicycling through Europe, a self-drive trip could be perfect for you. Read more…

Going on Safari will change your life – it’s as simple as that. There is something truly magical about being there, it touches your soul. This is not some infomercial - this is pure fact. Whether it’s simply the quiet, the marvelous clean smell, the unimaginable expanse of the plains or just looking up at the blue sky dome that reaches unblemished from horizon to horizon, you will feel it – a moment of clarity – a feeling of being so small, of actually witnessing a world of natural order, a world as it was intended before being disrupted by man. Read more…