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Costa Rica – Moon, Stars, Magic
Larry Kessler contributed this guest post. Costa Rica magic. Abracadabra! Alakazam! Spin the globe and throw a dart. Where do you go to find the perfect getaway? And what makes it so special for you? Relaxing, invigorating, spiritual, and socially responsible? No? How ’bout educational, romantic, secluded or breathtaking? Maybe it’s to reconnect. Or to […]
June Magic in St Louis
I love the way the Internet brings people together. St Louis resident Ann Mandelstamm will be visiting my home town, La Jolla, California in a couple of weeks and pinged me a quick message with a few questions. I was happy to answer and, in the course of the exchange, she mentioned her city’s summer cultural festivals. She’s a […]
About Authentic Luxury Travel, About Me
Welcome. You’ve come to the right place if you’re looking for authentic luxury travel options. There’s nothing I enjoy more than sharing what I’ve learned during the course of a long career as a travel journalist and photographer. Looking for a boutique hotel? A private guide in Mumbai? A way to avoid the crowds in […]
Paris On a Private Tour – S’il Vous Plait
Paris has been home to Manuel de Croutte for many years. You may remember that I introduced you to him (“Your Private Guide to France”) a while back when he started his company Exclusive & Private. Because of his family contacts and personal connections, Exclusive & Private is able to offer exclusive access to many historical […]
Alaska Travel – Plan Well, Have Fun
Alaska is huge. You already know that. It’s also chockablock with natural wonders, which of course is why you want to go there. So the challenge is to plan an Alaska trip that includes your must-have experiences and makes the best use of your time. To help you do this, I asked Anchorage-based photographer Victoria Lynn […]
Cozumel Vacation Rentals –How to Find a Home
Cozumel Vacation Rentals are not in short supply. However, it took my husband and me a couple of days to find a house that would meet the needs of our family. In fact, I thought we might go blind looking on VRBO, Flip Key, and HomeAway – and then we finally found the home of […]
Vincennes – Live Like a Local in Paris
Vincennes – a community in the eastern suburbs of Paris – is home to Pascale Heuzé. I first introduced you to this lovely lady when I wrote about learning vacations a while back. Now she wants you to know about her hometown: the reasons to visit and why you might like to make Vincennes your base […]
3 Best Cozumel Restaurants
Cozumel restaurants were the farthest thing from my mind when I planned our trip to this part of Mexico. My top concern was the quality of the snorkel and dive sites. After that, I needed to find a house that was a fit with our 3-generation California family. When I had done those things, I […]
Cozumel Mexico – Warm Beaches & Cool Diving
Cozumel is a magnet for lovers of warm weather, sunny beaches, and great diving. This includes my immediate family – all three generations of us. The youngest likes nothing more than building sand castles; we all love swimming; and the adults get really excited about snorkeling around exotic marine life. I’d heard of Cozumel, but […]
Zambia Safari – Hippos & Crocs & Kudus!
The first night of our Zambia safari I awakened to a familiar grumbling noise and issued my usual plea: “Rick, please stop snoring!” “It’s not me,” my husband whispered from a moonlit corner of our tent. “It’s the hippos in the river. They’re really making a racket.” I sat up and listened to the chorus […]
Portland, Oregon – Go. Be Surprised.
Portland, Oregon musings from our contributor Larry Kessler – Can we still be surprised when we travel? Are we so “Google-savvy” that we’re no longer capable of experiencing something new in person? Is our Virtual World more real than reality? Can we look up from our iPhones long enough to be filled with awe-inspiring actual […]
Ancestry Travel – Fixing Your Family Tree
Ancestry travel – think of it as authentic travel on steroids. You wander off the beaten path looking for “missing” family members and, in the process, you make connections with local people and learn about your cultural DNA. It doesn’t get more authentic than that. My trip to Italy to research my roots took me […]
Let’s Send Kids Books To Nevis
Kids books are in short supply on many Caribbean Islands, so it’s wonderful when thoughtful guests tuck a few in their suitcase before leaving home and drop them off at local schools. Now, books can also be sent to one island via a U.S. mailing address. This guest post, outlining ways to help school children on […]
Nevis – a Caribbean Island for Savvy Travelers
Nevis wasn’t the first Caribbean island I visited. Like many travelers, I started with bigger, more obvious places. Some of these have international airports and almost all of them are on the cruise ship circuit. But what I wanted was an authentic experience, a chance to meet local people and learn about their culture. So […]
