In case you missed it (and I was away for the big event, unfortunately), there’s been a pretty major development in the travel biz here in Canada. The folks at National Geographic, who’ve been quietly adding a TON of travel trips and excursions to their well-respected portfolio, have joined forces with Toronto-based G Adventures to offer a wide package of enticing trips to historic and unusual parts of the world under the name National Geographic Journeys with G Adventures. It’s a pretty interesting mix, as G Adventures provides a younger, more vibrant audience than an established group like National Geographic Read more

NEW YORK – There’s Mario Batali leading a New York Jets cheer in his trademark orange sneakers. Oh, look, it’s Giada Laurentiis and her nuclear powered smile. And, BAM, there’s Emeril Lagasse boiling up some southern-style magic in front of a high-powered crowd. The city that never sleeps doesn’t do things on a small scale. They recently staged a truly massive New York City Wine and Food Festival that took up acres of empty piers on the Hudson River and featured hundreds of events with some of the biggest names in the biz, including Rachel Ray, Michael Symon and actor Read more

Hawaii puts on a great annual Food and Wine Festival, thanks in part to a rise in Hawaiian cuisine that features fresh local fish and locally grown fruits and vegetables. The food scene in the islands has come an enormously long way, making it one of the most exciting food destinations around. Here’s a story I did for the Sun Media chain in Canada a couple weeks ago, featuring top celebrity chefs such as Art Smith, Nancy Oakes and Hawaii’s own Roy Yamaguchi. http://www.winnipegsun.com/2015/09/09/hawaii-food-and-wine-festival?token=4ae95a594b2d37dc6a8d73e411b85b13

I did a great trip to Gros Morne National Park in western Newfoundland back in early August. The story appeared in the Toronto Sun and other papers in the Postmedia and Sun Media chain. Rather than post the whole story again, here’s a link to the piece. I love Newfoundland! http://www.torontosun.com/2015/08/25/discover-wondrous-gros-morne-national-park

I’m in the south of Chile for an adventure travel conference, the Adventure Travel World Summit. It’s a fantastic event with people from around the world representing cool adventure travel products. Part of the deal is a pre-trip, which I took to Easter Island. More on that soon, I promise. The other trip was billed as a Day of Adventure. I didn’t think there was time to see the Andes so I opted for a cultural program and a short hike near the Pacific Ocean southwest of Puerto Montt, an area that doesn’t get much tourism. The hiking was wonderful, Read more

MAUI, HAWAII – I’ve spent more time on the Lahaina-Kaanapali side of Maui over the years. But the Fairmont Kea Lani resort in Wailea might convince me to try that side of Maui more often. I spent a couple of nights at the property last month and came away hugely impressed. Not to sound all uppity or anything, but I see a lot of gorgeous hotels in my line of work and a lot of places with four or five or supposedly six stars leave me a little flat. Not this place. Not by a long shot. It’s beautiful, sure. Read more