Blogs

Updated: February 16, 2026

You found the fare: Addis Ababa to Washington, DC, $2,800 round-trip in Ethiopian Airlines Business Class. You clicked "book." Then you started researching and discovered something troubling: not all Cloud Nine cabins are created equal.

Some aircraft—specifically the Airbus A350-1000—offer 1-2-1 seating with direct aisle access for every passenger. These are the seats you want. Others, including older Boeing 787s, still use a 2-2-2 "coffin" configuration where window pas

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Especially during the Paris Olympics concluding this weekend, this stunning archipelago of five chains of 118 islands and atolls spread over nearly 1,400 square miles of the the South Pacific, has been back in the news as the site of the Games´ surfing competition. But la Polynésie Française (Pōrīnetia Farāni in Tahitian) is known for its vivid turquoise waters, lush landscapes, and luxurious resorts. Its better-known islands such as Bora Bora (top), Moorea, and Tahiti have become by

While we do continue to dream of international travel, with the flair of the exotic and unknown, we often crave easier trips that blend the immense beauty of the American outdoors with wonderful culinary explorations. To that end, ever since I moved to Atlanta a few years ago, with Bourbon Country in Kentucky within an easy half-day drive’s reach, I had been craving a hop in the car for a spin around the Bourbon Trail. For us, winters are all about either red wine or whiskey – and how can we

        photo | Lionsgate

by Ignacio Darnaude

Just when you thought that Hollywood’s musicals from its golden era were deep-sixed and buried six feet under, here comes La La Land, starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, which recently swept the Golden Globes (with a record seven wins) as well as the Academy Awards, with 14 nominations. It doesn’t hurt that the film is an ode to artists and dreamers, as well as the importance of perseverance and creativity when all hope is lost - a message that res

It says something that an entire region is named after France's signature liquor. Only three hours away from Paris by train, the village of Cognac, world famous for its namesake eau-de-vie (water of life) is also the birthplace of King François I, narrow winding streets, the towers of St Jacques' gate, and many large 18th-century houses made of stone typically coated with "black velvet" or torula compniacensis, a microscopic fungus that also graces the walls of the region's cognac cellars.

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Grand Cru, Medoc, St Émilion, Bordeaux Left and Right Banks - all terms of which I was aware, but wanted much more information. That’s the beauty of a river cruise with wine as its main topic (and the wine isn’t bad either, to put it mildly!). We were about to embark on an eight-day UniWorld boutique wine river cruise along the Garonne River - an area settled by ancient Romans and once ruled by the English, but every bit a French region.


Each evening of the cruise started by imbibing in the "

Where do you go in Washington DC for a special celebration to make memories with family and friends over food and wine?

You might have noticed that I start all reviews of the 1000 places with “1 of 1000″ in the title. This time, I am actually writing about 3 of the 1000 in one single post:

Hanoi’s Old Quarter,
The French Quarter of Hanoi and
The Cha Ca La Vong Restaurant...

Since all of them are in Hanoi, we thought it would be fitting to put them all in one post. If you want to learn about crazy Vietnamese traditions, a fantastic morning experience and our horrifying animal encounter, then you should keep on reading

Let’s face it, the internet has created a whole new world of travel opportunities, and has made making new friends over a computer entirely possible. Social media has taken over the travel world, and meeting new travel friends has never been easier. Recently, on my annual trip to London, I was given a most unique opportunity to meet an acquaintance that I had only met on-line, and to take a room in a historic 17th century building.

Every November, I head to London for the world’s second largest t

After four days in Pohnpei, FSM, some of them with drenching rain, all of them with power blackouts, it’s good to get the hell outta’ Slidell, that is Pohnpei.  I’ll leave half a bear of honey behind, but the flashlight and Virgen de Guadalupe votive candle will go with me, presumably all the way back to LA, since the trip’s almost over.  And certainly the brownies will come along, too.  Micronesians make damn good brownies btw.  So I board the plane—a pound or two heavier—in a downpour and get

I stumbled across a Facebook page  called, "You Know You're from Oakland If ..."

There were comments about all sorts of local trivia, long closed restaurants, streets that have undergone name changes ...

Reading all of those comments brought back lots of memories and made me a bit homesick because Oakland, California, is my hometown. But I haven't actually lived there for 30 years, and I left the Bay Area 20 years ago to live in Hong Kong.

So I decided to research a post on the Top 10 Spots to T

Part 1 of a four-part series by J. Thalia Cunningham

While North Korea has not given up its hobby of saber-rattling at South Korea, it has made things a little easier for travelers who want to visit. I've found that getting in via Beijing is pretty straightforward, provided it’s done "properly” -- that is, by obtaining visas and making arrangements through an authorized  tour operator. Yes, tour operator – but don’t despair. The other people in the tour group were anything but boring: They inc

by Jimmy Dunn

Spending your vacation in Egypt is a great value for money and you have a chance to experience and see 7,000 years of history and civilization.

Taking a moment to realize that Egypt is more than 7,000 years old and was home to one of the best documented civilizations of the world is breathtaking on its own. Across the centuries and millennia there have been numerous cultures and peoples who have lived in Egypt and ruled it too. The result of that nowadays, are the leftover monument

After our Barcelona/Paris trip in the spring of ‘08 we were trying to figure out where our Thanksgiving trip would be. We started punching in airports to see where we could get a reasonable fare to and Cairo came
up. A new continent, exciting culture; and the Pyramids- I was very
excited! We flew from Minneapolis to Amsterdam and had 8 hours to spend
in the city walking around. Amsterdam is a great layover spot and is
really easy to take the train from the airport to have a day to see all
the great a