“This is the nicest cruise ship I’ve ever been on” said my 85 year old mother as she surveyed the promenade area of Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas. The Navigator is loaded with lots of luxurious light fixtures, bronze statues, beautiful nautical themed areas and a funky sofa that frames the person sitting in it. The main deck is kind of like walking...
all rented an Airbnb that has us scratching our heads of how we ended up there. There’s few things that are as depressing as being stuck in a room with a non-working AC, bare walls, and bedspreads that look like they came from someone’s Grandma’s garage sale. I try not to book such places, but on those occasions where I’ve rented a place that...
I knew two things about Samoa before my plane landed. “Talofa” means hello and one of American most iconic movie stars, Dwayne Johnson is half Samoan. Oh yeah, Samoa is an island. I knew that too. I’m not alone. There’s not a lot of information for visitors about this gem in the Pacific and what one finds is often hopelessly outdated or just...
I had been scouring the museum for Arrangement in grey and black no. 1, and wanted to ask someone where it was, but wasn’t really sure how to say it in French. It was 9 am in Paris and I was still exhausted from my red-eye flight from Ethiopia. My brain wasn’t working. You’ve seen photos of this painting. It’s been called the Victorian Mona Lisa and is one of the...
The Indianapolis 500 has always been on my bucket list as a thing I’d like to do someday, but like most items on my list, I knew next to nothing about it. I figured, given its name and my uncanny deduction abilities, it was probably in Indianapolis. I had no idea that the “500” referred to the number of miles that the racers must drive to win the race. As luck would...
I get almost as much enjoyment out of booking travel as actually being on a trip. It’s exciting to look at a map of the world and imagine the places I want to go; Unfortunately, sometimes when you plug in those exotic destinations, the browser doesn’t always show you what you want to see. Such was the case last week when I started trying to book a...
You’ve probably seen the zombies in Vegas. They aren’t the flesh eating kind that you might expect when you think of the undead. You can usually recognize their hollow sunken eyes staring deadly at a slot machine or watch them dragging their stiff corpses through the casino at 4 am. If you’re not seeing them, it might be you…..Las Vegas can be...
What to expect from the most hyped tourist destinationWhenever I mention I’m going to the Middle East, there’s a hushed silence that fills the air. Americans have this long-standing fear of Islamic radicals. Say the word “Dubai” to the same group and fear quickly turns to curiosity. Many people don’t realize that Dubai is not a country...
I was sitting in a wine bar the first time I ever heard of Geocaching. Two women at the table next to me were discussing their recent trip to New York and I kept hearing “geocaching” in the conversation. At first I thought they might be geologists but they were much to excited to be talking about rocks. My curiosity got the better of me and I finally...
I’ve never loved Priceline commercials. Maybe it’s because William Shatner seems much better suited to battling Gorn on a deserted planet than breaking through walls in a suit that seems a little too tight. Maybe it’s because their name doesn’t really sound “fun”. That whole “negotiator” theme seems designed to make you...