Blogs

Just outside Peoria, Illinois, the little town of Dunlap houses a surprisingly delightful museum. Called Wheels O’ Time, it is the lifelong work – and joy – of Gary and Jan Bragg. 

Rare Fokk

Over the winter months while researching material for Yosemite Audio Adventures I stumbled on some Yosemite trivia that simply blew my mind & I just have to share it!

It all began at Tenaya Lake in Yosemite National Park. Playing on the frozen water of Tenaya lake was one of those "once in a lifetime experiences" and while I was scooting around on the ice a female tourist asked if I knew how deep Tenaya Lake was?

I did not, I was taken back, I pride myself on knowing most everything about this

The Maldives are a string of pearls posing as islands floating gracefully over the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea, 1192 nuggets—1000 of them unpopulated—not simply strewn higgeldy-piggledy atoll, but arranged in a double helix and organized into garlands and necklaces and defined by water level as footprints over the ocean surface, any higher the water and they cease to exist as a landmass, demoted like Pluto by science, thereafter to live their life as a mere underwater ridge threatening ships

It’s pretty clear that the trend in travel is toward the kinds that build memories and forge connections. Especially when it comes to family travel. 

And increasingly, that kind of travel seems to be a "familymoon" where  remarrying  couples do so with their children sharing the event and the  commitment.

The Caribbean Wedding Association reports and uptick in familymoons by those who are finding love again, but  who’ve done the big formal wedding and now want something different.

When the

Considering that the wide open countryside of New York's Lower Hudson Valley is just 60 miles north of Manhattan, exploring the back roads here is like stepping back in time, particularly in the vicinity of Caldwell House B&B, a Select Registry and Diamond Collection Inn located in the tiny village of Salisbury Mills. Ornate Victorians seemingly untouched since the Gilded Age overlook rolling fields and large tracts of forest land with Moodna Creek cutting a dramatic chasm most visible along por

“Our Team Travels” (OTT) by Voyages Groupe Ideal

There’s something about islands… If you close your eyes for a moment, you can almost hear the wind softly rustling through the palm trees and the waves lapping against the shore. The idea of being cut off from the world and its hustle and bustle, in the company of a loved one, appeals to something deep within us all. It’s no surprise, then, that the exotic island of Bali always makes – or tops – the lists of the most romantic islands and top honeymoon destinations. Bali, with its sandy white bea

Have you considered what the old guy or lady down the street may have done in life beyond work at the supermarket? The people largely responsible for our freedoms are passing away. This June is the 70th anniversary of the World War II invasion of occupied France, known as D-Day.

On the day we left Venice there were seven cruise ships (7!) docked at the Porto di Venezia, a short walk from the apartment Jerry and I were renting.

The ships had names:

The Happy Dolphin,

Europa Palace,

Crystal Serenity,

Ocean Princess,

names that conspire to transport you away from the reality of being on a boat with thousands, all clamoring to get out and onto the slender, temporal islands of Venice.

The ships are massive: towering white behemoths out of all proportion to the delicate scale of th

Talking about deserts in Brazil, a country which contains 30 percent of the world’s fresh water and has the biggest tropical jungle on the planet, sounds wrong, but it isn’t. The Lençóis Maranhenses National Park in Maranhão State is the reason why. An expanse of some 300 kilometers of white dunes and lagoons that could well be considered one of the most fascinating places in the world.

Surrounded by large mangroves, home to clams, crabs and birds (in fact, the region is one of the best for b

Australia Zoo was established in 1970 by Robert Irwin, as the ‘Beerwah Reptile and Fauna Park’, on the grounds of a former macadamia nut farm. From an early age, his son, Steve, helped his father with the animals, both looking after them, and rescuing and relocating them.

As most people know, Steve became a familiar face all around the world with his excellent TV series ‘Crocodile Hunter’. Through this programme, viewers became very familiar with Australia Zoo, as it had been renamed. And, of cou

For a long time now we’ve been preaching how fun and engaging Twitter is…and yet questioned how effective it is when applied to the travel market.

Then along comes a report in HotelMarketing by way of an interesting  account in SproutSocial  highlighting three innovative travel industry success stories on Twitter.

Increasingly, Twitter, it seems, is playing a key role in the critical stages of travel: research, mid-travel engagement and post-trip reviews/feedback.

Of the 25,000 tweets analyz

The queue for Safi Air flight #248 from Delhi to Kabul looks like something of a loya jirga in itself, businessmen and diplomats, village traders of lapis lazuli, scammers and schemers, all going back to the homeland for one reason or another, all with excess baggage—fridges toasters and microwaves, dreams hopes and expectations—all wearing long tunics baggy trousers and funny hats, all speaking strange tongues and whispering strange sighs, body odors wafting from overcoats whose histories likel

In the center of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, lies the city’s main square, Durbar Square. The King’s Palace is here, now a museum since Nepal became a democracy in 2006. image Dozens of pagodas and shikaras are scattered around the palace area, each one with its own centuries-old story to tell. Our guide pointed to one specific elevated pagoda and said: “That’s the Hippie Temple”. He explained that, during the 60s and 70s, hippies used to hang out on the steps of that pagoda, strutting thei

We almost didn’t go. The thought of getting up at dawn didn’t sound very appealing at the moment and my daughter and I debated whether it would really be worth it. We had scheduled an early morning balloon ride but we’d had a couple of very full days on our safari and now we were tired. We had seen so much – lions hunting, hippos bathing in the river right outside our tents, stately giraffes sauntering across the landscape, the wildebeest crossing – how much better coul

Well-known for the wild beauty of nature and outdoor activities, Amarante is one of the most beautiful rural towns in Portugal, beautifully located between the river Tâmega and the steep slopes of Serra do Marão mountains.

Tâmega is actually an international river that flows from Spain to Portugal. The historical importance of this river is immense. According to historical documents this river had been the main invasion route for French and Spanish armies on reaching the rich cultivation lands of