Tag: vacations
Carmel Valley – Where to Stay and Play
Carmel Valley is a popular destination for luxury loving Californians. Resorts, lodges, and restaurants in this area two hours from San Francisco offer the food, wine, and activities that Golden State residents love. Want to connect with the local culture? You couldn’t make a better choice than to spend some time at Carmel Valley Ranch. When I […]
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 […]
2 Alaska Hiking Trails Locals Love
Alaska hiking trails stretch out across the state. These offer authentic travelers what they came for: gorgeous scenery and a chance to experience nature unrefined. Anchorage-based photographer Victoria Lynn Pennick generously contributed her images and insider comments for this guest post. Both of us hope they will inspire you to explore beyond the beaten path of Alaska’s “must-see” sights and will lead to […]
Best Time To Go To New Zealand
The best time to go to New Zealand depends on what you want to do and how fussy you are about the weather. Having said that, there’s really no bad time to visit this beautiful country. Because New Zealand is in the Southern Hemisphere, the seasons are opposite of those in North America, Asia, and […]
Florence Cooking Lessons and a Recipe
Florence Cooking Lessons was contributed by reader Art Moldavia from San Diego. If Florence is on your bucket list, you’ll also want to read his earlier trip report: “Authentic Florence – Places to Eat.” In 1979, Sharon Oddson and her artist husband, Giuliano “Il Garga” Gargani, opened the fine Italian restaurant Trattoria Garga on Via […]
Spain – Best Local Private Guides
I’ve spent more time than you might imagine deciding what to call this post. “Travel Spain Like a Local” had a nice ring to it, but after great deliberation (and several cups of tea), I decided it wasn’t quite right. I also discarded “Experience Spain…,” “Private City Tours in Spain…,” and settled on “Spain – […]
Celebrate National Holidays in Latvia
National holidays in Latvia take place throughout the year, but the best are summer events. In Riga, as in other Baltic Sea cities, there is no better experience than to join locals in enjoying their summers. Locals worship their summer with warm winds and short nights when the sun barely sets. Sun-starved residents of Baltic Sea cities – including […]
Treehouse Hotels of the World
David Bryce contributed this guest post. He is a blogger and traveler “who gets stoked when he finds other ‘birds of a feather’ in the treehouse world.” When he’s not writing or globe-trotting, you can generally find him hitting up his local golf course or “testing” new bourbons on the market. Living in the trees is […]
Your Favorite Hotels in Paris and Beyond
Hotels in Paris. Hotels outside of Paris. Hotels all around the world. Last October I asked “what is your favorite hotel anywhere in the world” and 473 readers replied by leaving a comment on this post The result is a wonderful, annotated list of places to stay around the globe from Antigua to Zanzibar. If I […]
Best Big Island Boutique Hotel
I was excited to find this Big Island boutique hotel because I love authentic accommodations that reflect the local culture – and that’s just what the Holualoa Inn does. Before making this discover, I thought that mega-resorts were the only luxury option on the Big Island of Hawaii, but now I know better. Located mauka (toward the […]
Ride On, Pull Along Suitcase for Pre-Schoolers
The popularity of family travel has caused parents, grandparents, and toy manufacturers to come up with creative ways to keep kids entertained and engaged en route to their destination so the whole family can enjoy the journey. One of the best ideas I’ve seen yet is the Trunki – a durable plastic suitcase suitcase for […]
Travel Time Game
Mental Clock games are based on the numbers on a digital clock. Vacations are fun, but getting there can be drag. To deal with the boredom of waiting in airports and sitting on planes, we play online games, download movies onto our iPads, and eat food that isn’t healthy. If we run out of electronic […]
Guard Your Goodies When You Travel
Smart travelers pack carefully for their vacations and take everything they need to stay healthy. It’s equally important to safeguard those items while you’re on the road. One precaution is to divide prescription meds and other critical health care supplies and carry them in two different places, such as a handbag and a carry-on suitcase […]
What Is Authentic Luxury Travel?
What is authentic luxury travel? When I first started writing about Authentic Luxury Travel no one seemed to know what I meant. Most folks thought that ALT was synonymous with five-star resorts and high-end cruise ships. In those days, I spent a lot of time defining “authentic” as it applies to travel. But times have […]
