We lost Prince and Glenn Frey of The Eagles and Leonard Cohen. And a certain Twitter-loving business guy of mixed intelligence got elected president of the U.S. But there were some great things for me in the year in travel, including a yodelling shop owner, a sex-crazed marsupial and a chance meeting with the son of one of the fabled Marx Brothers. So here are my annual Jimmy Awards for travel, this time with an eye on the off-kilter, weird and just a little bit strange. Best Rum-Punch-Drinking-Monkey: This fellow (of course, it may have been a lady monkey) at Read more

I spent a great deal of time in Canada and the U.S. in 2016. I also had visits to several Caribbean Islands, including small spots like Mayreau on a Sea Dream Yacht Club cruise and larger islands such as the Dominican Republic, Anguilla, Barbados and St. Martin. I had week-long visits to both Australia and New Zealand. And I managed time in Portugal, England, Italy, Germany and several other countries on my Viking River cruise. Here are my Jimmy Awards for top travel spots of 2016 outside Canada and the U.S. Best Beach Surprise: Playa Rincon, Dominican Republic. Reached via Read more

Yesterday I highlighted my favourite travel spots in the U.S. Today it’s my home country of Canada, with awesome places from Nova Scotia to southern Ontario and up to the Yukon. Best Coastal Drive: The eastern shore (okay, northeastern shore) of Nova Scotia has only a smattering of villages and hardly any commerce. The food was fine, but I absolutely loved the restful surroundings and kayaking at Liscombe Lodge near Sherbrooke. I found cool art galleries and hardly any tourists between there and Lawrencetown, just east of Halifax. Most Surprising Town: Meaford is a cool spot on Georgian Bay in Read more

I discovered Tucson and a cool new area of Florida. I had the dreamiest boat ride of my life in Kauai. I even met the son of one of the fabled Marx Brothers at a golf course surrounded by a trailer park in suburban Palm Springs. It was quite the year for travel to the U.S. for this cowboy, with trips to Florida, Hawaii, California, Vegas, Arizona, New York and more. Here are some highlights for my 2016 U.S.A. Jimmy Awards. BEST CITY DISCOVERY: I had never spent any time in downtown Tucson until November. I fell in love with Read more

I wrote yesterday that it was a great day to book a flight. Then came news of more great travel deals this morning. On top of what I mentioned yesterday (see below for details), I got a note this morning to say that SATA/Azores Airlines is offering 25% off all flights from Canada to Portugal as a Boxing Day special. The airlines’ web site says the deal is for any route between Canada and Portugal operated by Azores Airlines and SATA Air Açores but does not include interlines/codeshares with other carriers. The sale runs from now until Jan. 4, 2017, Read more

This is welcome news for Canadian travellers. U.S. President Barack Obama today signed a bill authorizing pre-clearance of U.S. customs (never a fun event) at both Toronto’s Billy Bishop (Toronto Islands) Airport and at Quebec City’s Jean Lesage Airport. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and airport authorities in both Toronto and Quebec had been pushing for the idea for some time. Currently, passengers flying to the U.S. from Toronto Pearson, Montreal Dorval/Trudeau, Vancouver and other major airports can clear U.S. customs while still on Canadian soil. Lines are usually better (albeit often still too long), and it’s a faster and simpler Read more