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Living the life you dream of means some day you have to wake up. For a year I'd traveled the world, sipped vintage Champagne, ate at swanky restaurants and bedded down in suites at five-star hotels. Without opening my purse -- well, maybe twice I opened my purse -- I still paid. Journalism was my game.
          The last night of my last press trip was a Patagonian cruise from Ushuaia to Punta Arenas, navigating Tierra del Fuego's icy jigsaw puzzle of glaciers and barren islands. The route woul

The morning sun filtering through the rainforest foliage at Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge in Costa Rica shimmers gold as the light catches the strands of the complex web woven by a golden orb spider.

I’m generally not a big fan of spiders, like most people, but the golden orb is fascinating. These large spiders weave enormous pigmented webs, adjusted in color for camouflage, with protecting chemicals, and such incredible strength and elasticity that bioengineers and other scientists are studyin

Tá lá no Aurélio: “nobre” vem do latim “nobile” e significa, entre outras coisas, “distinto, célebre, generoso, majestoso, excelente, sublime”. Não por acaso, a cidade de Nobres, no Mato Grosso, leva este nome – e no plural. Mérito da beleza impressionante das águas e da  fauna que pode ser encontrada lá, escondida do mundo. Quer dizer, mais ou menos: a cidade recebe a visita freqüente de turistas alemães, vindos lá de longe para se encantar com as nossas próprias maravilhas que a gente, tão per

The image held in the minds of most individuals as they visualize the influx of settlers into Kansas territory in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries probably resembles something along the lines of the opening 45 seconds of the 1970s television series Little House on the Prairie.  Although the TV show was set in Minnesota, the image remains of a smiling, happy, eager family traveling by covered wagon to a world of promise and fulfillment.

However, there was a distinct population of Kansans who

A great recipe for the gourmet. Head to La Truffe Sauvage in Lake Charles, Louisiana for a world-class dinner served with wine from its large international collection. Try one of Chef Mohamed Chettouh's specialties – Stuffed Pheasant Breast.  He is gracious enough to share his recipe.

Pheasant Breast Stuffed with Leek and Fennel

2 whole pheasant 3 pound each

1 cup julienne leek, blanched

1 cup julienne fennel, blanched

Salt pepper

Butcher string

For the natural jus

1 cup diced leek

1 cup diced carrot

1 c

The capital of the island of Crete during the Neolithic era was Phaestos. But the small settlement of Gortyn grew and grew, until it eventually became a city that eclipsed Phaestos.  During the Roman era, in the first century, it became capital of Crete.  The remains of this time, the city’s apogee, can be seen and studied today in archaeological excavations that have led to some of the most important discoveries in Europe.

The excavations began in 1884, leaving the workers themselves amazed.

North of the Rincon de la Vieja Volcano in Guanacaste, there is a place where the dry brown rolling plains give way to tall, lush green forest. Suddenly you are in an enchanted paradise of gushing waterfalls, warm thermal springs, sky blue streams, and bright orchids. This is a place where jaguars, pumas and tapirs roam free. Listen for the call of howler monkeys and the symphony of tropical birdsong with cicadas whirring in tempo. This is Sensoria.

Sensoria is a private nature reserve that pro

Here's a rule of thumb...just when you can no longer stand winter, skiing conditions are certain to be their best. Last minute powder dumps combined with melting crowds make for some of the season's top trail conditions.

In New Hampshire at Jackson Cross Country Ski Touring Center, it's a pretty safe bet you can count on this scenario until April. With an extensive network of trails totaling 93 miles (58 of which are groomed & double tracked daily), Jackson has the most extensive cross-country sk

Bogotá va desprendiéndose de su piel antigua como un lagarto. La capital colombiana está reinventándose a golpe de creatividad y una muestra de ello es el barrio de La Macarena. Ubicado entre los cerros orientales, las famosas torres del parque en forma de caracol, los altos edificios de oficinas y la robusta plaza de toros emerge un barrio que a primera vista parece un pueblecito. Sus calles están salpicadas de fachadas de colores y decoración de los siglos XIX y principios del XX. Hace años er

By Roy Heale

In the heart of Calgary's downtown is the trendy residential community known as the Beltline where comfortable and safe urban living is a recognised characteristic of the neighbourhood. Modern new high rise apartments blend with older historic buildings and everything architecturally in between to form a truly pleasant living environment for those who want to be close to the downtown commercial district. Naturally, this community is home to several new boutique hotels for the conveni

What to do in La Jolla, California? The most popular free activity in the village - especially if you're traveling with kids - is visiting the seals at The Children's Pool. The rope barrier that went up here recently indicates the beginning of the pupping season for the colony of harbor seals who call the cove home.

While the pups aren't usually born until March and April, the rope keeps onlookers at a safe distance from the rookery while the seals are most vulnerable. All onlookers, that is,

Once again, Diego was right. Actually, Jake thought blearily, these days Diego seemed elevated to frickin' oracle. Who knew? When they were at NYU together, the doofus was far less into books than pranks, from cute-but-harmless to dangerously dumbass. Like the time - a decade pre-Occupy - he'd sent out a press release from “the Coalition to Arm the Homeless” and the resulting brouhaha snowballed until their dorm was besieged with reporters from CNN, the Post, AP, even the London fucking Times --

We remember being told about YOLO (You Only Live Once) Stand-Up Paddle Boarding on a random trip to the Beaches of Walton, on the Florida panhandle.

A couple of beach-fit, broad-smiled  guys and ladies were balancing beautifully on small, colorful  board in a wide stream, polling themselves forward with skill, balance and great fun. They introduced us to YOLO, a branded paddle boarding sport presumably started in Hawaii.

Those were very early days when we too were one of the first people to try th

Costa Rica is a top world travel destination because it has something for everyone: tropical rainforest, green mountains, spectacular beaches, active volcanoes, wild rivers and lakes, and charming towns. The dry tropical forest and wide savannas of the north Pacific are as varied as the dense, steamy jungle of the south Pacific, the misty cool cloud forest high in the central mountains, and the distinctive character and culture of the Caribbean Coast as compared to the Pacific.

Here is our list

Some Greek islands suffer from the effects of ‘kalimari and chips’ mass tourism. But, sometimes, you only need to take a short trip in a ferry or a kaiki to enter a different world altogether.

Let’s look at one of the lesser-known islands, Leros. There are jails and mental institutions here, and the name is similar to the Greek word for a rogue or a rascal. This put a lot of people off visiting, for all the wrong reasons, because really, it’s quite a laid-back, pleasant place.

I suspect the averag

The latest celebrity stars of Costa Rica are cute and lovable, with masked furry faces that seem to smile beatifically. In a country full of exotic wildlife, sloths are one of the most well-known animals, and those at the Sloth Sanctuary in Costa Rica are gaining fame on the popular TV show Animal Planet’s “Meet the Sloths”.

You can see these fascinating animals in person at the Sloth Sanctuary, just south of Limon Costa Rica in the small town of Penhurst on the Caribbean Coast.

The Sloth Sanct

A 40-minute drive east of Puerto Plata, Cabarete’s a phenom that started blossoming as a destination in the mid-1980s, as foreign visitors discovered the water, wind conditions, and nearly four miles of beach that have given this single-street town of some 37,000 a rep as one of the world’s top meccas for windsurfing, kitesurfing, just plain ol’ surfing, and sailing. That’s not to say you can’t have fun here if you don’t do any of these sports, but it sure does help.

Today, more than 20 years la

It's apple harvest time, and it's another crisp Saturday night on Calle Gascona (below right) in downtown Oviedo, an old university city that's the genteel, postcard-pretty capital of emerald-green Asturias in north Spain, with happy-faced students and snazzy locals of all ages roaming the sloping three-block stretch and jamming the café and eatery terraces.

Looking closer, you realize this isn't just another restaurant row in yet another Spanish college town. I spot waiter after waiter execut