Whether I’m in the market for shoes or electronics or vacations, I’m a staunch believer in getting the biggest bang for my buck. I always shop around to make sure I’m getting the best deal, and I rarely let my impulsive, girly, gotta-have-it-now instincts take control. Call me cheap, but why dole out more cash than you really have to – for anything? Perhaps it’s this commitment to saving a pretty penny that has cultivated my appreciation for cruising.

With the wave season booking period coming to a close in March, now is definitely the time to be impulsive. Many online travel agencies offer deals to cruisers who want to save some cash on their vacation this year. Even with my thrifty ways, I may give myself reprieve to jump on a wave season deal, too. According to Travelocity data, Caribbean-bound cruises are currently the lowest they’ve been since June 2004. (Among other steals, my search revealed a 4-night Western Caribbean cruise for $239.)

Cost saving benefits aside, cruising is one of those something-for-everyone vacations. Each port of call offers opportunity for both relaxation and adventure, while shipboard entertainment such as casinos, Vegas-style shows and cooking classes keep passengers busy while at sea. I can’t decide if my favorite feature is the food or the elaborate spa menus, so I guess I’ll indulge in both!

Back to Main
Posted in Budget Travel, Cruise Travel, Travel News
Email this | Comments (2)

I've just returned from Copenhagen, where I indulged my love all things Danish: furniture, design, and the hygge culture. There’s so much about the Scandinavian vibe that we as American travelers can take home. For starters, the Danes are by and large a humble population. In fact, it is considered extremely rude to stand out from the crowd by bragging or being showy. Everywhere I went, I experienced a sense of community—people let others pass first, bus riders pick up trash after themselves, and all-around, everyone seems to have a sense of hygge.

I am completely enamored of the Danish way of life, or the hygge way of life. Like élan, hygge has no literal translation in English. Perhaps that’s because it can be difficult to grasp the concept if you live in, say, NYC, where elbowing your way onto the subway isn’t rude—it’s a means of survival. As described to me by a Finnish friend from college, hygge is that feeling you get when you’re sitting in an igloo with good friends and a bottle of aquavit. I can’t remember the last time my friends and I huddled in an igloo, but I’m sold on the idea.

Copenhagen’s hygge side can be experienced in cafes where the candles are lit for lunch. Or when people of all ages ride by in the blistering cold on their bikes in skirts and knee-high boots as if it were a sunny, summer’s day. Kids in knit hats ride in carts attached to the front bicycle wheel, peering over the edge with their fingerless mittens. I also felt hygge when my husband and I were walking along the canals at twilight, which it always seems to be in Denmark in winter. The stars never went to sleep, and the sky glows all day long with that Magritte-like intensity behind candlelit houses.

Anyone who tells you to skip Scandinavia in the winter doesn't stand a chance of getting what hygge means.

Back to Main
Posted in Copenhagen, Europe
Email this | Comments (0)

Wouldn't you think after all of the publicity of late on the airline debacles and the passenger bill of rights that an airline would really try to resolve things? If a single airline could step out and be that – would they engender longtime customer loyalty or what? Oh JetBlue….You can come out of hiding now.

But no. You're back to business as usual. Last night a relatively measly storm hit the northeast and you cancelled 68 flights. 68 flights?

While I liked your apology last week and thought it was a pretty nice PR counter-attack – especially to have David Neeleman's apology on YouTube. (I understand that must have cost a pretty penny.) And don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of JetBlue. For a while I thought you might be the only airline who truly gets me, and millions of other leisure travelers. But the apology rings hollow if it doesn't hold up. I wonder if there isn't something more you could do….

After all, Jet blue has been red hot for years. Are you just having growing pains? Or, might the innovative carrier we grown to know and love be succumbing to the same old pressures. Have you started to, dare I say it?, conform?

You used to be the conversation starter. You brought invention back to air travel. You made it fun again. You got the whole service thing. You had TVs at every seat. You had comfortable seats! You looked good. You had charming bathrooms, great smelling soaps, your blue snack gimmick.. We understand you've had to change a bit, adapt, and grow – but where as you used to be growing and changing the industry now it seems like the industry is changing you.

Maybe it's time to go back to where you came. Reach down to your depths, to your core mission, and ask yourself – are there better ways of doing business these days? I'd love to see a JetBlue roundtable. Bring the airports and even other airlines together and discuss efficiency opportunities and review outdated protocol. JetBlue show us your true colors. I personally think these recent setbacks could be a defining moment for your airline. I hope you seize it.

Back to Main
Posted in Air Travel, Travel News
Email this | Comments (0)

It seems the whole hotel industry is just trying to get me into bed these days. Yeah, I said it. In TV commercials and in four-color magazine ads, I’m being seduced by pillow-menu promises and lumbar-support lullabies, which are no longer just for high rollers. Many a time, I’ve found myself at check-in jonesing for a sleep fix, so I appreciate the extra efforts toward knocking me out cold, particularly since a bad mattress can put quite a crick into a vacation.

I remember a nasty coil spring from a vacation in Sedona. With every toss and turn, I couldn’t escape. There it was poking me, digging into my back, and leaving me feeling cranky all the next day. In Anchorage, there was the questionable-looking blanket I was afraid to touch, and so spent the night shivering beneath an improvised nest of towels. And then there was the time I found myself rolling over and onto the floor after taking a wrong turn on a very sloped mattress in Barcelona.

On the other hand, a good night’s sleep and I feel ready to conquer Inca ruins, figure out the Paris subway system, or hike my way through mountain meadows. Which is why I welcome all the recent attention hotels have paid to their bedding--in a sleep-starved society it’s hard to argue with a fixation on comfort, plus all these new mattresses should result in less bedbugs biting in the night. What’s more, some of these changes have been so well received that hotel customers have been asking for a way to purchase the beds for their homes.

I imagine it’d be nice to go on a mattress tour of the world, seeing whether futons, Murphy beds, pillow-tops, water beds, feather beds, canopy beds, or the put-in-a-quarter-and-shake-it-up beds yield the best dreams.

Back to Main
Posted in Hotel Travel
Email this | Comments (0)

Maybe it’s because I’m slightly fatigued by the outbreak of Gordon Ramsey fever here in NYC, or maybe it’s because my husband took me to London to celebrate the fact that I am now a year older. Whatever the impetus, I am suddenly finding inspiration in all things with patina, character, and moreover, age. On this recent trip, we eschewed the new and shiny in search of ye goode olde services and products with the distinction being awarded royal warrants--even if we are just hoi polloi.

Since we arrived on the red-eye (thank you for not striking, BA!), I was antsy to drop off our bags, make ourselves presentable, and refuel with a spot of smoky Earl Grey tea and gingered scones with clotted cream at Fortnum & Mason, est. 1707. This purveyor of fine caffeinated brews and appointed grocer to HRH strikes a delicate balance between being progressive (they recently completed a $45 million renovation), and traditional (don’t miss their Camilla-inspired hats upstairs).

While in St. James’s, we popped into the beguiling Paxton & Whitfield, cheesemonger to the royal family. For a relative pittance, we left with a wedge of artisanal farmhouse cheddar and oat biscuits—perfect for a late night snack back at Claridge’s.

In keeping with our appreciation of the old, we skipped the Tate and spent a morning in the Sir John Soane, the eponymous house museum of a wonderfully eccentric 18th-century architect. Soane’s whimsical displays and comprehensive collection of ancient sculpture and architectural fragments could convert even the staunchest modernist. Later that afternoon, we rambled through the galleries of the British Museum, taking in the Elgin Marbles, the Portland Vase, and the Anglo-Saxon treasures from Sutton Hoo.

Next stop: Seville Row, where London’s most acclaimed tailors dress Prince Charles, Lords of Parliament, and preposterously, a dandy I refer to as my husband, who had a bespoke suit, shoes, tie, and shirt made for our wedding. I don’t need to tell you that he was better dressed than I. That night, the extravagance persisted at Wilton’s (c. 1742), the epitome of fine English dining. Jackets required. Like everything in London, the prices here are staggering. That is to say, you literally stagger down the street in shock at how dinner can cost more than a flight across the Atlantic. I’d like to think all those Spartan backpacking adventures through Asia and Africa absolve us of such gluttony.

Thankfully, nearly all museums in London are free, and few pursuits could be more rewarding than a winter's sunset amble through Hyde Park.

Back to Main
Posted in London
Email this | Comments (0)

At our holiday party a few months ago, I won the Grand Prize: A trip to Paris! The last time I toured the City of Light, I was a junior in college. It was 1994 and I was studying abroad in Stockholm, so I spent my spring break visiting pals in Madrid and Paris. I'm sure Paris has changed a lot in the (gulp) 13 years since my last visit. One change I'm especially excited about is that Paris is rolling out a bike-loan program to provide thousands of bikes to commuters and tourists for free.

Since moving to San Francisco eight years ago, I've been car-less. My main means of transportation is my trusty mountain bike. Rain or shine, it's the best way to get around San Francisco--hills and all. In fact, the Bike Coalition Map is a great resource that features a few hill-free routes. But I digress.

Cycling is one of the best ways to get oriented in a new city because you can cover more ground with less work than running and you don't have to suffer through those snooze-inducing tour bus rides. Last year when I went to Buenos Aires--the Paris of South America, I took a city tour by bike. From Plaza de Mayo to La Bombonera Soccer Stadium, we saw a lot and felt like part of the community (although not many Argentineans were on their bikes). That said, the opportunity to bike around Paris' boulevards from arrondissement to arrondissement for free (or for next to nothing) seems tailored made for someone like me.

The plan as of now is to have 14,100 bikes ready to go by this summer, and 20,000 by the year's end. Although the motivation of this bike-loaning program is to reduce smog, I see it as a great way for people to get around, see the town, and burn off all the cheese, croissants, and baguettes (that I'm planning to devour).

Back to Main
Posted in Europe, France, Travel News
Email this | Comments (0)

To tell you the truth, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I arrived in New Orleans for this year’s Mardi Gras festivities. As I do with any getaway, I did my research before I left and found out that popular areas such as the French Quarter and Garden District were up and running, ready to accommodate tourists once again. I hadn’t been to NOLA since pre-Katrina times and was eager to see this rebirth with my own eyes.

I wondered if the contagious spirit of this vibrant city would infuse its visitors just as it did in the past. Would the courtyard at Pat O’Brien’s still be packed with intoxicated tourists who go there to knock back a Hurricane or two before begging for beads on Bourbon Street? Would freshly baked beignets topped with heaps of powdered sugar still beckon patrons to Café Du Monde’s canopy-covered patio? Would jazz musicians dot the sidewalks, propelling those make-you-wanna-dance tunes through the air for all to hear? Basically, would all-things-NOLA still make New Orleans, well, New Orleans?

After spending the past few days exploring the city, I’ve come to admire this soulful place in a different way than I ever have. This is the New Orleans that I remember from just a few years ago, only more exposed and, in a way, more inviting. Deeply wounded from Katrina and still struggling to rebuild, the very essence of the city certainly hasn’t been broken. The Hurricanes at Pat O’Brien’s still draw a crowd (and are just as powerful as ever!); the line at Café Du Monde still spills out its doors with patrons waiting for a hot, fluffy pastry; and street musicians still entertain the passersby with jazzy tunes. The mere fact that New Orleans is still kickin', still pushin' along and still showin' its soulful, sometimes quirky, character after the hardships it has faced makes me want to return again and again.

Sixteen months into the rebirth of New Orleans, locals who I’ve spoken with have told me that they’re both pleased and relieved to see that people are coming back to experience all-things-NOLA. They say this Mardi Gras season (the second after Katrina) has re-energized their spirit and has given them a taste of good things to come. The parade schedule returned to normal this year with more than two dozen krewes (including old favorites such as Endymion, Bacchus, Proteus, Orpheus, Zulu and Rex) participating, drawing roughly 700,000 tourists to the Carnival celebration. (Catching a glimpse of Harry Connick, Jr. at the Orpheus parade was the weekend highlight for me.)

Onlookers line the streets just as they've always done, doing whatever it takes to catch that coveted strand of beads; families gather in Uptown to see the parades as they begin and escape the rowdiness of the French Quarter; and hotels and restaurants are packed...just like the good ole days.

Back to Main
Posted in Festivals & Events, New Orleans
Email this | Comments (1)

Although the highest paying passengers are most often business clientele, the masses at the airports are most often leisure travelers. We make up a significant bunch yet we don't have a powerful lobby group to fight on our behalf and we're often forgotten. Frankly, I think the time has come for that to change. I want to see congress pass a passenger bill of rights.

The egregious flight delays over the holidays and last week's Jet Blue incidents have gotten a lot of attention in the press. No one should be locked on a plane for hours on end. I personally think three hours is too long, but at least the proposed limit attempts something.

Given the conditions of flying these days it's a wonder to me that so many planes are flying at capacity. The "cattle", as the masses of fliers are often referred, are little more than a way to maximize yield and increase revenue. I'd like to see a return to service and to count to the airline as an individual whose business matters. Thankyouverymuch.

Allow me to recount my last 3 out my 4 last flying experiences (in the past 10 days).

I flew to Las Vegas on Jet Blue. I was excited for my personal TV. In fact it was my sole reason for booking with the carrier. Wouldn't you know Murphy's Law goes into effect and my section of the "fully booked" plane had a problem with the TVs. None worked. Not only was my TV down the entire flight it played an incessant snow which is maddening to look at. Although the flight attendant was very nice about it, despite the unyielding complaints, all I got was a little sleep kit and an offer for two free drinks. Thy said we could call for a refund, but that was only worth $5. I just wanted my TV to work.

That alone, wouldn't have been so bad. But the very next day I flew America West departing from Las Vegas and heading to Monterrey. The problem was my connection in Phoenix. (Don't ask, it was the only routing I could get.) While sitting on the ground in Las Vegas we were delayed for a small maintenance issue. However while waiting for the paperwork to be completed it became clear that I was going to miss my connection. I mentioned this to the flight attendant and said I wanted to get off the plane. I recalled the schedule and there wasn't another flight until that evening. I'd be better off flying to California and driving to my destination. The plane door was shut and I'm pretty sure the flight attendant didn't want to deal with getting my luggage off of the plane, so she persuaded me, in what I can only call a lie, to remain there. She said there was another flight departing just two hours after my scheduled flight to Monterrey and so I could catch that one. Against my better judgment I remained. Of course I arrived in Phoenix, predictably missed my connection, and had to wait 45 minutes in the customer service line to be rebooked and put on the evening plane. There was no plane that the flight attendant had promised. I had six more hours to kill in Phoenix. I think I could have driven from Las Vegas to my destination in less time than I'd wasted that day. And what was I offered for my troubles? A paltry $5 for food in the airport and a free glass of wine in the air. That's nothing if you look at all the time I wasted and what I could bill per hour. I was nothing short of livid. Did I mention that I swore off the airline? Typical behavior for a disgruntled passenger. With six hours to stew at an airport we wonder why there is airport rage?

My flight last Friday from Oakland, CA to Washington, DC was on Jet Blue. I was lucky to get on a flight at all. By 7am the line for Jet Blue was out the door at the airport. I used the e-kiosk to check in, only to find that my seat assignment had been changed to a middle seat with less legroom than the one I had originally booked. Since I still had to wait in the hideous line to check my luggage (because their luggage line wasn't in place that morning) I inquired as to the switch. They said with all the flight changes they had been forced to move a lot of things around. I'll say. With hundreds of flights cancelled and thousands of passengers stranded, vacation hopes dashed, I got off easy. I even got to where I was going relatively on-time. I know I should be grateful, but I'm not. The airline had already pissed so many people off, couldn't they keep me in my original seat and keep me happy?

I travel for a living. I want to know that when I do so it's not going to be the worst experience in my day. Is that so much to ask? So when the passenger bill of rights is mentioned I turn gleeful. It can't be put into effect soon enough. In their intense pressure to get solvent the airlines seem to have forgotten they are a service industry. We vote with our dollars and we shouldn't fly what we don't like. These passenger rights are only a step in the right direction. But at least they're a start.

Back to Main
Posted in No Specific Category
Email this | Comments (0)

The Year of the Pig begins on Sunday, and condom sales are super sluggish in China and South Korea. You can read that line again, but it’s not a non-sequitur. This Chinese New Year, the presiding pig sign brings especially good fortune to anyone born during its reign. As a result, lots of people are getting busy trying to make babies. And I mean lots: Many Chinese maternity hospitals are booked up for the rest of the year, and a population surge is expected across the country, according to CNN.

If this sounds like a compelling reason to learn more about Chinese culture, you need not dig a hole to China. The good news for those of us on a limited budget is that there are Lunar New Year celebrations taking place much closer to home.

When I first moved to San Francisco, my window overlooked a small Buddhist temple. The smell of incense and sound of chanting accompanied by bells always tipped me off that the New Year had begun. San Francisco has a large and thriving Chinese population, and the annual Chinese New Year Festival and Parade (scheduled for March 3) draws giant crowds comprised of all nationalities to witness a spectacular display of firecrackers (rumored to scare away evil spirits), dancing pigs and dragons, elaborately decorated floats, and intricately-sewn costumes. I’ve been in past years, and it’s fun to try and spot the city’s politicians in attendance, listen to the marching bands of participating local high schools, and see the frenzy of competition for the Miss Chinatown USA contest.

Check with your local government to see if any festivities are taking place in your hometown. Vancouver, Los Angeles, and New York, for example, are other North American cities that boast vibrant Chinatowns, where exotic delicacies line the local markets and you can find New Year traditions passed along from the Far East. It’s just a hunch, but if you’re inclined to look, I’ll bet you’ll see full prophylactics shelves in these neighborhoods, too.

Back to Main
Posted in Festivals & Events, Holiday & Seasonal, San Francisco
Email this | Comments (1)

The Amazing Race: All-Stars premieres this Sunday. It's the eleventh season of this, my favorite, reality show, and they're featuring competitors from past races. Deep down, I've always wanted the chance to battle for a million dollars while discovering exotic places that I might never see otherwise. What's holding me back? Part of it is that I can't find that perfect partner. (The other part is that I get cranky when I'm hungry and nobody needs to see that!)

Actually, even when a million dollars isn't on the line, selecting a co-traveler is tough.

My friends and family joke that if someone survives a vacation with me they deserve a t-shirt. It's no secret that "vacation Sarah" is always on the go (like that pink bunny on TV)--it's true: I've made people wake up at 2am to catch a sunset bike ride. While I admit that I try to get the most mileage for my minute, I ask: why spend the time, effort, and money to travel somewhere and do nothing special?

The success of a vacation depends as much on finding a like-minded buddy to travel with as it does on avoiding flight delays, hotel mix-ups, bad weather, and illness. That's why I'm highly selective about whom I travel with, and I don't mind traveling solo. More subconsciously than consciously, it turns out that I choose my travel partners based on whether I would compete with them in the Amazing Race. In fact, not a vacation goes by when I don't wonder whether or not we'd make a good team. (Note that I didn't say we'd have to win.)

A few key questions to keep in mind: Do they navigate well? Are they calm and take mishaps in stride? Can they be up and ready to go at any given hour? Can they stop and relax a bit? Are they nice to strangers? Will they spend time (but not too much time) in a museum? Will they try anything once?

I'm not making "Team Sarah" t-shirts for my friends anytime soon. I still don't think traveling with me is as grueling as people say. And it certainly isn't as taxing as an around-the-world race! But if there are three things I cherish in my co-travelers it's: a sense of adventure, hearty appetite, and optimistic outlook.

What traveling traits make or break your vacation?

Back to Main
Posted in Group & Companion, Guides & Planning
Email this | Comments (2)

Nothing says I love you like getting your Valentine tipsy off an herb-laced aphrodisiac nicknamed The Baby Maker and Vitality in a Bottle. Mamajuana hails from the Dominican Republic, and until today, Americans who wanted to taste the Caribbean love potion had to travel there to get it.

When I stumbled upon this bit of news, my first thought was I must have a bottle of this! (Since Cupid’s arrow hasn’t flown my way, I’m going to have to resort to other man-getting tactics!) I smirked at the exotic elixir’s reputed ability to seduce its consumers into a state of drunken love (although, lust would probably be a more fitting description). But, who am I to argue with more than 800 years of history?

Let’s go back in time--way back. Long before Columbus sailed the ocean blue, Taino Indians inhabited the islands of the Caribbean and discovered this concoction as a vitality love potion. Just as Jack Daniels has become an American favorite, Mamajuana now holds a special place in the lustful hearts of Dominican locals, who claim the blend of exotic tree stems, barks, herbs and spices mixed with dark rum produces a drink resulting in increased energy and “personal benefits.”

Even if you get this tonic stateside, it’s not the same unless you experience it as you would in the DR, which is to say, you should skip the pre-bottled stuff, and make your own! Let the herbs steep in liquor for several days (you can get these organic ingredients online) then mix with honey, wine and rum. Of course, the original recipe is closely guarded (apparently only a few Dominican families own the secret), but the formula that comes with your bottle of herbs and spices will still do the trick.

Let’s all raise our glasses to drunken love (Dominican style) this Valentine’s Day!

Back to Main
Posted in Caribbean, Culinary Travel, Dominican Republic
Email this | Comments (1)

Heidi Ewing has produced and directed documentaries for The Discovery Channel, Britain's Channel 4, the BBC, A&E Network and Arte. Previously, Heidi produced and co-directed a one-hour film for the Discovery Channel on the ancient origins of tribal and religious body modification, a documentary shot on location in Sri Lanka and Ethiopia.

More recently, Heidi and her Loki Films partner Rachel Grady were aboard an early morning United flight from NYC to Santa Barbara when the captain announced that their documentary film Jesus Camp was nominated for this year's Academy Awards. The entire plane went crazy with applause. I caught up with Heidi in between Oscar-nominee lunches and meetings to glean her perspective on seeing the world through the eyes of a filmmaker.

Q. You've traveled all over the world for your documentaries. How do you research each destination?

I have been to Sri Lanka, Ethiopia and Kenya for my work in the last few years and I have to say I troll for information in several ways, through random Internet sites and friends who may have traveled or lived in the country. Or friends of their friends, whoever will talk to me. Like most people I try to avoid sites and books that seem too popular for fear I’ll end up in some gringo colony or hotel. The one guide I do use with consistency is the MOON handbook. A South African friend of mine turned me onto the Moon Guides on a trip to Cuba several years back, and I have never used anything else for the destinations they serve. They feel incredibly well researched by people who clearly are madly in love with the country they are writing about. There is lots of wry commentary, cautionary tales and just good writing along the way, and you feel like you are part of some inside track. Sadly, I still don’t think they cover Africa, so they better get with it!!

Q. A few years ago, you made a film in Cuba. Can you tell us what it was like to travel there as an American?

I have made a few films in Cuba, one in the open (about the famed Tropicana nightclub) and one clandestinely (about dissident Oswaldo Paya) and have traveled there over 20 times since 1996. Cuba is a country full of wild contradictions and it is VERY hard to get a handle on the place as an American just visiting. I cringe when I see foreigners milling in old Havana or the La Bodeguita del Medio looking for signs of Hemmingway’s romantic island. It’s there, but one has to get on a train or in a car and get the hell outta Havana to feel it.

I found for the most part Cubans like Americans and most have a relative living there they may want to tell you about. They are curious about the world and hungry for information and vibrant discussions and debates. It is a poor country that is also highly educated and intellectual, one of the few real victories of the Revolution. These days Americans visiting should expect spirited conversation about Bush, the war and Guantanamo, as the Cubans have a lot of questions and fears about the USA right now.

The combination of Caribbean people and Communist ideology have created a very complex culture, and to understand it I think a grasp of Spanish and several visits allow one to crack the surface. But, for starters think that travelers should leave Havana ‘till the end and take the 9-hour train to Santiago de Cuba and travel around the Oriente (Eastern part of the Island) for a while. I think staying with a family (posadas) and eating in the home restaurants (paladares) is a good way to meet and talk to Cubans in a more intimate way. And please don’t go to Varadero Beach, it’s only for foreigners and most Cubans are not allowed to even go to the beach there! Same goes for the fancy hotels in Havana.

Q. Has becoming a documentary filmmaker changed the way you travel and experience new places?

I think my job as a documentary filmmaker has made it really hard for me to even go on vacation and travel like a regular tourist. I am always anxious to wander down some dusty alley, get lost in a strange city and strike up a conversation with the dude driving the bus and hope he will invite me and my traveling companion to a fun, divey secret spot that nobody’s ever heard of. This summer my boyfriend and I went to Brazil and felt a bit ho hum about Rio and Bahia as we kept running into lots of foreigners (AND we showed up in Brazil the day they lost to France in the World Cup). We decided to change course and headed up to Fortaleza in the Northeast and took a long and grueling 10-hour bus to Jericuaquara, otherwise known as a giant sand dune located in The Middle of Nowhere. That’s more like it, I thought. NOW we were off the beaten path and could meet Brazilians and have our very own, special trip.

Q. Can you tell us a particularly adventurous story from your travels?

Well I had a terrible scare in an airport in Pakistan on my way to Colombo but let’s tell a fun travel story instead. Several years ago I joined six friends from college on a trip to Egypt, including Antoine, who grew up in Egypt and spoke Arabic. It was before they were so strict about foreigners traveling without a government caravan to protect them and we were on our own for much of the time. After New Year’s in Cairo and a trip up the Nile, we headed out to visit Abu Simbel, to see the famed two temples. We agreed to take a local bus for about $1.00 for the four-hour trip from the town of Aswan The visit and the site was spectacular and when it was twilight we got back on the bus (our group and the rest, Egyptians) and headed back to Aswan. About two hours into our trip a piece of the engine went flying into the street and the bus broke down. We all got out, men and women, little kids, some chickens, and tried pushing the old creaky bus to get it started again (which strangely actually worked for a few miles) but we were basically stuck in the desert. It got cold, and dark, and a full moon rose, and no one came to get us. We sat in a circle with our new friends and learned new Arabic words, shared figs and many laughs. Some of the women, very modestly dressed and until now, silent, began singing Egyptian lullabies. This went on all night until a few cars finally passed by and began to pick us up and take us back to Aswan. All of us were relieved to get out of the cold desert air, but I think each one of us felt a sadness, too, as we had enjoyed one another so much but knew that we would never meet again.

Q. Do you have any travel tips to share?

Pack light! Actually, pack almost nothing and bring local things back with you. Don’t stay in big chain hotels if you don’t have to, you can do that in Houston. Get to know the local public transportation system, it will save you money, and I bet you’ll meet someone interesting along the way. And that’s the whole point, right?

Back to Main
Posted in Celebrities, Q & A
Email this | Comments (3)

If you ask me it's a crime that KT Tunstall didn't win the Grammy last night for best female pop vocalist. But no matter, she's still a huge winner in my book. She's sassy, sexy and sensational. If you haven't heard her album Eye To The Telescope buy it immediately. You see, KT is not only a gifted songwriter with an amazing voice and creativity that rarely shines in the manufactured artists who top the charts these days but she also stands up for what she believes in.

What does any of this have with travel you ask? Actually, a lot. You see, KT Tunstall took a side-trip on her way to the Grammys to perform in Las Vegas at the Flamingo last week for a very special concert put together by Virgin and Travelocity.

Neon flashing caveat: If you've read my blog before you know that Travelocity is rarely mentioned because this blog is not for selling travel. However there are times, and this is one of them, when it warrants a mention. (I'll get to that part in a moment.)

But first, back to the concert…. KT or Miss T to her fans, agreed to play this concert providing Travelocity would offset the travel for all the attendees through our GO ZERO program. You may be asking, what is offsetting? By that we mean carbon offsetting which is the process of balancing out the negative impact that your travel (or anything you do) has on the environment by doing something that has an equally positive effect and thereby negates the impact altogether. This process is often referred to as "going zero", going "carbon neutral", or "leaving no footprint". At Travelocity we have a saying, Be A Hero, Go Zero. Because at Travelocity we think a lot like KT does – and that means that each and every one of us can make a difference. And it starts one trip at a time. If you want to learn more about going carbon neutral check out the eco-bunnies who explain it well. Scroll down the page and watch the "eco bunnies" explain it.

What makes KT think this is important? Maybe it's because she grew up in the charming town of St. Andrews in Scotland and all the greenery went to her head. Or maybe it's because she wants to make sure places like the Isle of Skye are still around for generations to come. Or perhaps it's because An Inconvenient Truth is just that inspiring.

Whatever the case is –in my book—she rocks. Don't take my word for it, listen for yourself at the Global-cool website. It also has some good ideas on how we can cool this climate. Just like zeroing out your impact – it starts with the little things you do. Unplug your cell and computer when you're not using them. Turn off the water while you brush your teeth. Buy a hybrid. We've all got to start somewhere.

She's sassy, sexy and sensational Grammy or not. I've got her on my play list and I'll be taking her music with me on my next trip.

p.s. At the concert she passed along a Scottish travel tip recommending a visit to the exquisite Eilean Donan Castle in Scotland. It is stunning. I must say, the smokin' Scottish sensation knows her stuff.

Back to Main
Posted in Celebrities, Green Travel
Email this | Comments (0)

I staunchly believe that smoking is a vile, wretched act. Raised in L.A., I was aghast when I moved to NYC and spied spandexed crowds huddled outside of gyms, puffing in between Pilates and mat classes. I’ve since abandoned my SoCal sanctimony, preferring to make like a New Yorker when I travel internationally. My When in Rome... ethos gives me license to smoke when I’m off gallivanting in places where cigarettes are as fundamental as bread and coffee. It’s a sacrifice I "selflessly" make for cultural immersion, which is why I am so confounded by France’s ban on smoking in public places, which was announced this week. Quell horror!

It may be hypocritical, but I’m as pro-smoking when I travel abroad as I am anti-smoking when I’m Stateside. I reach for the Galois in France, the harsh, roll-your-own tobacco in the Middle East, or whatever cheap sticks they have at the bus stations in South America. I love how my body is jolted by the nicotine, the way it snaps me out of jetlag and shoots adrenaline through my otherwise healthy system. Even after roaming around museums and ancient ruins in a stupor all day, cigarettes can restore me to an alert and energized state. I am no longer my husband's cantankerous travel companion. The spring returns to my step, and suddenly, all is right in the world.

But, that’s about to change because smoking bans are sweeping through places that have traditionally been safe havens for my occasional dirty habit. I’m the first to admit that the quality of life has drastically improved here in NYC since Bloomberg introduced the smoking ban in bars and restaurants (to think what it has done for my dry cleaning bills alone). But aren’t cigarettes—and Vespas, and copious amounts of wine, and eating pasta at eleven o’clock—the slightly naughty indulgences that make places like Rome, Rome? Yes, there’s laughably a ban there too, though it seems they forgot to tell people.

Smoking is so ingrained in our perception of Gallic life, that when we were children, my friends and I pretended to be French by “puffing” on plastic soda straws while affecting a Pepe Le Pieu accent. These days, we may have to adjust our comic impressions of Parisians: First there was the baguette crisis, and now a smoking ban. Something tells me Louis XVI would advise against this.

Back to Main
Posted in Europe, France
Email this | Comments (1)

As an east coaster transplanted in California, I didn't make it to Hawaii until my 31st birthday. Since then I've been nine times, including the trip I just returned from--celebrating my 34th on Kauai. Averaging about three visits a year, I can't seem to get enough. Plus, with tourism being the islands' biggest moneymaker, I rationalize that I'm doing my part to support their economy. Truthfully though, I just love it.

It was my first time in Kauai, and we didn't stop for six days straight.

Past vacations to Hawaii involved the Honu Half-Ironman triathlon, snorkeling, biking down Haleakala, and tons of hiking--active to say the least. And Kauai was no different. First, we took a zip-line tour at Princeville Ranch, where we rode eight ziplines, walked over a suspension bridge, and swam under waterfalls in a little swimming hole. With just one step off the platform, I was flying like a bird to the other side of the canyon--so exhilarating! The longest zipline was 750 feet long and 150 feet from the canyon floor! I think they called it the Big Kahuna, and rightly so. We flew down those cables.

Day two we hiked the muddy Kalalau Trail to Hanakapia Beach along the Na Pali Coast. Kauai is known as the Garden Island because it's so green and lush from all the rainfall and although the sun was shining the whole week prior to our hike, some spots of the trail were still wet and muddy--so much so that I ended up abandoning my red-dirt encased shoes. The accomplishment was that neither one of us fell, even though we saw countless bloody, muddy legs coming in the opposite direction on that trail--ew.

We took our adventures down a few notches after that, and the third day we journeyed south and drove a bumpy three-mile dirt road to the secluded Maha'ulepu Beach for some suntan action. The next day I swam laps in Lydgate Beach before we took a riverboat cruise along the Wailua. Our last day was a helicopter tour of the island. We glimpsed the Waimea Canyon, which Mark Twain dubbed the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific" and some privately owned but equally impressive canyons that nobody tells you about. The helicopter took us to cascading waterfalls and we even saw wild goats.

Before I left I was already making lists of things to do on my return trip, which would be in the summer (fewer swells and less rain than winter) so I could kayak the Na Pali Coast and hike around Waimea Canyon. I'm sure that I'll have a longer list come travel time!

Back to Main
Posted in Beaches, Nature & Outdoors, Ski & Sport
Email this | Comments (0)

Born and raised in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, I’m quite familiar with the unspoken rivalry between the two cities, which are separated only by a 35 miles stretch of highway. Dallasites turn their noses up at the prospect of venturing to the city known as Cowtown, and Fort Worth natives have probably been guilty at one time or another of calling their neighbors to the east snobs.

I was reminded of this rivalry when a friend of mine visited from San Francisco this past weekend, and I forced myself out of my routine and into the role of a tourist in my own town. I had forgotten just how different these two cities really are. Dallas bills itself as the more sophisticated of the two. Always dressed to the nine, the trendy crowd visits the hoity toity nightspots on McKinney Avenue; buys pricey couture at the swank shops in the West Village; and sips Chai in uptown cafes.

They say Fort Worth, on the other hand (and other side of the interstate), is where the west begins. Its western heritage lends a different experience than its neighboring city. Cowboy boots and ten gallon hats seem to be required attire for an evening at the Stockyards; the city’s downtown feels more like an intimate town square with its brick lined streets and stately courthouse; and Texas cuisine, such as burgers and barbecue, are local favorites.

With my friend in town, my search for things to do in each of these destinations not only reminded me of the rivalry between the differing cities, but it also reminded me of the bad rap the area gets from out-of-staters who visit. Admittedly, I’d take a last-minute package outta here in a heartbeat this weekend, but, if my weekend jaunt to a more exotic destination doesn’t pan out, I’m satisfied knowing that Dallas-Fort Worth (no matter what side you decide to take) really does offer entertaining weekend pursuits. Here are some of my favorite experiences:

Fort Worth: Grab dinner on Friday night at one of the restaurants in Downtown’s Sundance Square. My favorite spot is Reatta, where you can experience fine dining, Texas-style. Make a reservation and get there early to enjoy the view of downtown from their rooftop bar. Then head to one of the bars that features live music (8.0 and Pour House are local faves). Spend your Saturday at the Cultural District or Stockyards National Historic District (and eat at Joe T. Garcia’s while you’re there!).

Dallas: Eat tapas at Café Madrid or have a relaxing dinner at Steel before heading to one of the Lower Greenville or Uptown nightspots (Quarter Bar or Frankie’s on McKinney are my favorites.) Spend the weekend exploring the Bishop Arts District, the Galleria or one of the many shopping districts, and make time for Sunday brunch at Bread Winners.

My suggestion is to spend a day or two in each location for the best of both worlds!

Back to Main
Posted in Bars & Nightlife, Culinary Travel, Dallas/Fort Worth, Educational & Historic, Shopping, Texas
Email this | Comments (4)

From Angelina’s tattoos and necklaces to Britney’s possible conversion, the flutter of the heart has caused many a romantic to fall out of the coo-coo’s nest. With Valentine’s Day just over a week away, this makes for some interesting tourism possibilities. Most famous of these is, of course, the Taj Mahal. I’ve never been, but imagine it blows the neon-pink petals off the papier-mâché flower given to me by a well-intended but not particularly artistic ex-boyfriend. In this vein of the love-struck homage is the Coral Castle, which bakes like a beautiful but overheated valentine in the Florida sun just outside Miami.

The Coral Castle is considered one of the mysteries of the architectural world. It really is carved entirely of coral, and took 28 years to complete. A labor of love in the truest sense, no one ever actually witnessed its being built, and it’s believed that its lovesick little creator, Ed Leedskalnin (who weighed only 100 pounds) worked on it entirely under the cover of night, using only handmade tools salvaged from a nearby junkyard.

Poor Ed--his dearly beloved left him the day before they were to be married, and he never got over it. If he could just build this castle, he’d win back her heart, or so he thought. Over 1,000 tons of coral later, he may have realized that his love quest had taken a wrong turn, so he did what any resourceful castle-builder would do at the time: he turned it into a tourist attraction, charging 10 cents admission for curiosity seekers who came from far and wide to see what love can build.

The price to enter has leaped to a little less than $10, and for that, you can decide if Ed was a romantic or a whack. Either way, I definitely agree with the sign at the gate: “you will be seeing unusual accomplishment.”

Back to Main
Posted in Scenic Drives
Email this | Comments (2)