My wife and I have been blessed with wonderful travel experiences. We’ve taken trips to Australia, as well as Ireland, Hawaii and Hong Kong. We’ve somehow landed penthouse suites at luxurious New York City hotels and enjoyed palatial hotel rooms in Paris. But I’ve never seen the kind of look on her face that I did when we walked along the elevated pathway that took us to our thatched roof, overwater bungalow at the Four Seasons Bora Bora. Incredulous is probably the best word to describe it, a slack-jawed, wide-eyed and utterly bedazzled look that workers here are probably used Read more
With most of the world stuck at home for a while, I’m re-visiting some previous blogs from my favourite places in the world. This is from my home state of California from a great visit three years ago. Take care, everyone. And obey the new rules so we can all get back to normal (or something like it) as soon as we can. TEMECULA, CALIFORNIA – The bold and slightly sassy Rohnya N. is pouring some red wines with an equally engaging personality at Danza Del Sol Winery on a lovely afternoon in February. “I think this Syrah would be Read more
With so many folks in the world not able to travel for a while, I’m dusting off some of my blog posts to provide folks with a bit of inspiration. Be sure to get back out there once we can fly and travel again. Here’s a post from the fall of 2017 on magical Molokai. MOLOKAI, HAWAII – I’m standing on the edge of a windswept cliff on the northwest edge of this Hawaiian island with a group of locals who are learning about efforts to restore the area’s natural ecology. The views are stunning, with craggy, brown-gray rocks plunging Read more
With most of the world unable to travel right now, I’m re-posting some of my old travel blogs in the hope it may inspire folks to get back out and explore this (usually) fantastic world of ours once we can safely do so. Here’s one from 2013. Jamaica is such a wonderful and diverse island. Rum bars filled with colourful locals in the highlands, glorious beaches, waterfalls you can climb and romantic river rafts. Of course, there also are swanky resorts and infamous spots such as Hedonism, where just about anything goes, including a lot of bathing suits and normal Read more
I saw a story in the Toronto Star (my employer for 32 years) on Friday that said Canadian and Ontario tourism folks are thinking of pulling some of their proposed spending from Asia and other overseas markets and focusing instead on Canada and the U.S. Given the empty planes and hotels that we’re seeing around the world, that’s probably a good call. After all, it’s a lot easier to control your environment if you drive somewhere, particularly if you drive to a remote part of the country or to place where you’re enjoying the great outdoors, relatively free from any Read more
A lenswear company called Lensbest has released a new, data-driven list of the best places in the world to watch a sunset. As someone who tries to watch a sunset whenever he can (okay, I’m a romantic), I got a kick out of this. The company surveyed travel journalists (myself included) around the globe and came up with the top 100. Santorini, Greece, was the most nominated place to view a sunset worldwide, followed by the Grand Canyon in Arizona and Mykonos Greece, giving two podium spots to the country that gave us the first Olympics. Some 600 global locations Read more
SANTA MONICA – The beach you probably know about. And maybe the famous pier, which marks the western end (or beginning) of Route 66. But Santa Monica is increasingly known for its amazing food scene. I was in town for a couple days in February and managed a delicious lunch at a new Mexican place run by two well-known chefs and a fantastic dinner at a new restaurant run by a Michelin-starred chef. Less than an hour after touching down at LAX on our Air Canada flight, my wife and I were chatting with Mary Sue Milliken at Socalo, a Read more
