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Accessible only by a 4-wheel drive required 14-mile dirt road 25 miles southeast of Big Sur, CA, Tassajara Zen Mountain Center offers an escape from everyday like no other.

Nestled in a mountain valley deep in the Ventana Wilderness Preserve, this retreat has served as a place for self-discovery and healing since 1967 when Buddhist author Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, opened Tassajara, the first Zen training monastery built outside of Japan.

Tassajara currently beckons everyo

LAVA LOVE 
Exploring America’s Most Impressive Volcanoes 
By Bret Love for GreenGlobalTravel.com

Volcanoes– openings or ruptures in a planet’s crust that allow hot magma, ash and gases to escape from below the surface– have held mankind’s fascination for thousands of years.  From Mount Vesuvius’ destruction of Pompeii in 79 AD to Colombia’s Nevado del Ruiz, whose pyroclastic flow caused over 23,000 deaths in 1985, history is littered with tales of the fearsome power of volcanoes, and many cult

Los aficionados a la cerveza la conocen de sobra. Múnich, dejemos las cosas claras desde el principio, es un poco borracha. Ríos y ríos de auténtica espuma alemana corren cada año a finales de septiembre por la ciudad. ¿Por qué? Por el Oktoberfest, que homenajea a esta bebida convertida en símbolo nacional y al que acuden millones de personas de toda Europa y parte del mundo en peregrinación. Pero la capital de Baviera ofrece más encantos que el etílico: según un estudio de 2009, es la ciudad al

Founded in 1115 and situated in a narrow valley in the south of the Dordogne, the Abbey de Cadouin is classified as a 'monument historique'. For 800 years this Cistercian abbey drew in pilgrims making the journey to view a sacred piece of cloth believed to have been part of the shroud of Christ.

The piece of tissue discovered in a church in Antioche during the first crusade, was brought for safe keeping to the abbey. Then in 1934 a scientific examination of the tissue established that it was in

Spring 1990 brought us to the small island of Ithaca, Greece, in recent times known for little but its sheer beauty, but in literature famed for its king and hero Odysseus who, Homer tells us, was the brains behind the winning wooden-horse idea that ended the ancient war of Troy. Odysseus then spent 10 adventure-filled years roaming the Mediterranean before returning to Ithaca, and his ever-faithful Penelope.

Our odyssey to Ithaca was planned to take us from Australia to spend two years building

The many immigrants who’ve made Paris home over the years have left an exotic mark tasty enough to justify a visit by itself — especially if you’re curious about unusual cuisines that may be hard to find even in, say, New York, London, or Los Angeles. And oftentimes they’re some of the less pricey — even least pricey — dining options around. Here’s my top seven, discovered on my last visit:

Algeria: Le Taghit This romantic, candlelit spot in southern Paris run by Bashir and Malika Benamrane cla

Hanoi cuisine is one of the most special local aspects of Vietnam's capital which draws tourists from all over the world. In addition to pho - the most well-known dish, there are lots of others, from fancy to popular, which shouldn’t be missed. All of them help to build up a beloved image of Hanoi capital thousand years of civilization. This article will introduce the most famous dishes of Hanoi and best places for you to enjoy them.

1. Bun Oc (Shellfish Soup and Vermicelli)

Whoever has ever l

I love traveling in off-season. High season travelers and summer vacationers are gone. Back to school and back to work, which means better travel opportunities for me and you.

Off-season is when crowds disappear and prices drop, as hotels, tour operators and airlines look to attract travelers with deep discounts.

Granted, it’s not the low season for nothing. In Costa Rica, it is rainy season … but, after all, if you are going to visit a rainforest or a cloud forest, you should expect some rain and

by Tripatini staff 

Morocco’s one of those Arab countries where a lot of back-and-forth with Europe — particularly France and Spain — has helped foster a boom in pop music, both on Moroccan and European labels. One of its more prominent figures, Saïd Mouskir (usually spelled Mosker), is a 37-year-old of Berber origin from Casablanca’s Derb Sultan neighborhood, who packs more than ten albums under his belt since his first in 1988 — with a group he formed at the tender age of 15. Like many Morocca

Are you bored of lounging on sun-beds or bruising your bum on the slopes? Do you want a break that can give you a genuine sense of well-being and achievement? An active break in Aviemore and the Cairngorms National Park can tick all these boxes. 

Nestled in the rugged and handsome heart of the Scottish Highlands. Wild and untamed in its majority, the setting invokes a passion in you from the moment you step off the plane at the bijou Inverness Airport. The cool clear mountainous air brushes yo

por Jorge Mira

El miedo a volar se encuentra recogido en la última edición del “Manual diagnóstico y estadístico de los trastornos mentales” de la Asociación Americana de Psiquiatría como una fobia específica de tipo situacional. Los criterios principales para diagnosticarla son:

- Miedo excesivo o irracional, reconocido como tal por quien lo sufre, ante estímulos relacionados con el hecho de volar.

- Aparición de una respuesta inmediata de fuerte ansiedad ante la exposición a “volar”.

- Evitar e

by Bert Woodson

As a recent transplant to the Osa Peninsula (six weeks) I am amazed every day by the unspoiled, pristine, and remote beauty I am surrounded with.  Every day is an adventure.  I moved here after 2½ years as the proprietor of the Bella Vista Lodge just outside of Dominical. I had heard from my guests about the Osa.  Without fail, they loved it.  I never had the time to get away and experience it for myself.  Running a small resort is all-consuming and leaves little time to get away.

by Fyllis Hockman

Flashlights bobbing in the night as we gingerly picked our way through the bush, all 15 of us switched off at the command of our guide Peter, leaving his the sole illumination, hopping and skipping over the remote, seaweed-strewn beach.

Suddenly there it was, head bobbing up and down, long beak darting in and out of the sand, single-mindedly nibbling on spiders, berries, and crustaceans: the elusive New Zealand kiwi. We waddled in muted tandem behind Peter as he inched us to wi

Though I’m (quite obviously) not Estonian, I must admit to a lump in the throat on a cool, overcast morning as the gargantuan green-and-orange Tallink ferry pulled into this tiny Baltic country’s capital after a two-hour sea crossing from Helsinki.

It was July 2009, and I was embarking on my introduction to the shiny new Tallinn, 17 years after my last visit and 27 years after my first — as a student studying Russian in Leningrad, then as a travel writer visiting shortly after Estonia‘s indepen

Costa Rica is known for its rainforests, beaches, nature and biodiversity. True, indeed.

But do you know that Costa Rica is the most innovative country in Latin America? Or that the Central American nation has celebrated well over a half-century of peace with no military forces? Or that it is home to a highly-educated society with thriving export and technology industries, and fast-growing foreign investment?

Costa Rica’s newly launched country brand, “Essential Costa Rica” (Esencial Costa Rica),

The small fishing town of Tarifa in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia has about 17,000 inhabitants, is located in the farthest southern corner of Europe and acts a as a balcony overlooking Africa, situated only 14 kilometers away. Tarifa welcomes about 100,000 visitors in the summer, who are attracted by its magnificent beaches of fine white sand and its many possibilities for leisure and adventure. The township has 35 kilometers of coastline, an extension that makes it possible to enjoy the sun