Blogs

As NASA and the part of Florida known as the ‘Space Coast’ is trying to reshape its selfimage after the permanent grounding of the Space Shuttle program, the agency’s last surviving vehicle, Atlantis.

During NASA’s heydays, the agency drew crowds from all over the world to every new rocket launch at Cape Canaveral. But the days of government organized and financed space adventures are long gone, and as the Traveling Reporter discovered during our visit to the Space Coast, some people seem to bel

The crew of Christopher Columbus first discovered tobacco on the island of Hispaniola (today shared by the  Dominican Republic and Haiti), then encountered it again once they got to Cuba. And over the centuries, Cuba has become famous for cigarmaking, but this craft hardly been limited to this single isle – in fact plenty of other countries turn out them out, too, such as the DR, Honduras, Nicaragua, and even the United States (and in some cases in greater numbers).  But especially because of

Shopping is an something that most travelers love to do. While on vacation it’s always fun to practice the art of hunting out the most exotic and exclusive locales with the most original products or, even better, getting a bargain for that special item you always wanted but couldn’t afford.  And Cancun is a destination with more on offer than you could have imagined.  Losing yourself in enormous shopping malls and haggling at the stands that line the plazas can really make your stay in this Mexi

Jazz lovers from Southern California and all over the Western United States have been coming to Thornton Winery in Temecula (north of San Diego) for an amazing twenty six seasons. And amazingly, both the talent line up and the concert experience continue to get better. I’ve been fortunate to have seen some of the true giants of contemporary jazz, including Lee Ritenour, David Sanborn, Bob James, Brian Culbertson, and Keiko Matsui at this intimate and acoustically excellent venue. But Saturday’s

Your bags are ready, items on your travel check list are all crossed off, and you're thinking: "If I forgot something, I won't miss it."

I hate to introduce doubt into your well laid plans but did you consider identity theft? These days it's not just pickpockets or online hackers you have to worry about. Thieves equipped with scanners are lying in wait for your most vulnerable moments.

RFID Theft

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), embedded in all U.S. passports issued after 2006 and now in most

Saying that you have “The Best Climate in the World” is quite a claim. The little town of Atenas Costa Rica, nevertheless has stepped up and asserted that it has the best climate in the world. The motto is plastered across the backs of all buses in Atenas, on a few billboards, and even graces the name of a restaurant in town. Read anything about Atenas and you will find the “best climate” remark.

But is it true?

“For me, Atenas has a perfect climate because we have long sunny days where the temper

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In the current (Winter edition) of Get Up & Go magazine we have an article on Airbnb. There is some controversy around the company in the USA at the moment but we promote the concept as it is another way for travellers to experience up-close-and-personal local attractions and people. Get Up & Go is not endorsing the product but just sharing the various experiences.

 

                                             Rob & Ro Porter, from Victoria, Australia.

We interviewed a couple from Victoria, Rob

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Nithin Coca is a Freelance Writer and author whose traveled to over 44 countries. This is an excerpt from his first book, Traveling Softly and Quietly, now for sale on Amazon.

I looked up as a cute girl walked up and said something in Italian to the man in front of me and then put her bag on the rack above and sat down in our booth. With lightly tanned skin, medium-dark neck-length brown hair, well dressed in a beige suit that went down to her knees, she was very pretty. I wondered if she spoke

If you believe the industry hype, river cruising is riding the rocket of small ship and adventure products in a rapidly growing cruise market. I tend to agree. The anecdotal evidence points to more travellers seeking out products away from the traditional sea and coastal routes and looking inland to the great waterways.

One of the most famous Asian rivers, the Mekong, is set to stage a great showdown as operators from all over the globe take on locals in their own “warships” in an attempt to out

En las estribaciones de los Alpes, cerca de Francia, existe una ciudad italiana alejada de las hordas turísticas. ¿Y por qué? Quién sabe, porque Turín, la capital del Piamonte, es un lugar donde la arquitectura barroca y modernista sorprende a cada paso y en sus cuidadas plazas se respira ese aire feliz de ciudad de provincias. A la mayoría de la gente le suena por su poderío económico, por ser sede de la Fiat y por el equipo de fútbol Juventus. Pero no es eso lo mejor. Esta urbe bañada por el r

Located within the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Provence in France, the Var is sandwiched between the French departments of the Bouches-du-Rhône to the west and the Alpes-Maritimes to the east. Offering both the splendour of mountains, famously superb beaches and a host of must-see wonders tucked in-between (including many fine examples of Romanesque and medieval architecture), the Var with its sunny Mediterranean climate remains one of the top tourist destinations in France.

One of the

Johannesburg is the most visited city in South Africa, yet it is not the most favored destination among travelers on holidays. This is because of the popular belief that there is not much to see in South Africa’s biggest city except plush hotels, trendy bars and swanky restaurants. Travelers generally use Johannesburg, also called Joburg or Jozi, as an ideal transit point to visit their final destination, be it Durban, Cape Town or Kruger National Park.

The general perception about the city shoul

There are plenty of beaches covered with shells in Costa Rica. The beaches near Nosara, Costa Rica, however, are spread with a different kind of shell – that of nesting sea turtles.

This time of year, from July to December, hundreds of thousands of Olive Ridley sea turtles swim to these remote beaches of the Nicoya Peninsula on Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast. They arrive en masse at the Ostional National Wildlife Refuge, slowly hauling their heavy bodies out of the surf and up the sand to dig their n

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My mother is a great Ernest Hemingway fan.  Her favorite book of all time is The Sun Also Rises. When I found out he was born and raised in Oak Park, IL, I thought she might enjoy a trip to the Ernest Hemingway museum and his birthplace. So my aunt, my mom and I took a field trip. It turned out to be better than we expected.

Only about a 45 minute drive from where we live, we were lucky enough to find parking right across the street. The museum is housed in a former Church – an imposing structu

Going to the pub is one of the pleasures of a visit to the English seaside. Whether you have been for a bracing walk along the seafront with a fierce souwesterly hurling seaspray across your path, or have spent a pleasant interlude pottering around a harbourside, dodging the waves crashing over the harbour wall, there's nothing like heading to a cosy pub for a cold one, the heady aroma of hearty pub food and a clutch of local characters of varying degrees of eccentricity putting the world to rig

Decisions, decisions. When in doubt, restaurant hop, or as I like to call it “food-hop”! After all, who says you can’t have it all, or that life is too short? If you can’t decide between or among several great recommended places to eat when you are traveling, then don’t decide. Group them by neighborhood and go to them all! That’s how we spent our 2nd day living life in the footsteps of Woody Allen – we just ate a course at one restaurant and then moved on to another for the next course. And let

We discovered Yal Ku Lagoon, in Mexico’s tiny, ecologically protected town of Akumal, quite by accident.  Driving down the bumpy, pot-holed main road of Akumal we were on a mission to explore.  As we drove, the road branched to the left, leading away from the ocean, rambling through thick jungle brush occasionally interspersed with beautiful villas.  Suddenly we could see water once more, glimmering between blossoming shrubs & landscaped yards.  Pulling over, we grabbed water bottles, snorkel ge

Covered, uncovered, on streets or converted Victorian buildings, London’s markets are a long-standing tradition in the British capital, and a great way to rub shoulders with the locals. Below are some of our favourites:

Borough Market Borough Market is not only our favourite market in London, but one of our favourite places in the city, period. It’s been operating on London’s South Bank, near London Bridge for almost 300 years, making it the city’s oldest fruit and vegetable market. The abundance

Traveling to Greece means traveling back in time, to its invasions and great battles, to the great empires of the past.  To do so on its islands is to relive great moments reflected in the history books and in the ruins of the ancient buildings sprinkled around each and every one of them.  But to set foot on Kos is to enter a world that mixes all the great cultures that have inhabited the Mediterranean over thousands of years, and visit landmarks that help form the basis of human knowledge today

Nithin Coca's first book, Traveling Softly and Quietly, is now for sale on Amazon and Createspace. This is an excerpt from that book. 

We were waking down an alley in the albaicin, the old, Arab quarter of Granada, a maze of brick walls, enclosed, classical white Arab compounds with lovely courtyards, small hidden city squares, all built upon a twisted, steep hill. We were walking through a curved, rock-paved pedestrian street that started in new Granada below and waved up the mountain. The smel