NAPLES, FLORIDA – I’m only a few minutes away from one of the top destinations in Florida on a bright, clear morning. But the only sounds I hear as I wander along a wooden boardwalk at the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary are the shrill warbling of tiny birds in overhead pines and a light wind tickling the fronds of a palm tree. Below my feet, the water likes flat and shiny blue-back beneath my feet. Spiky bromeliads, neon-green plants that grow from the trunks of trees, shine in the dappled morning sunlight and tiny insects scurry across the dark surface of Read more
hiking
A shorter version of this story was posted earlier Monday on Sun Media/Postmedia websites in Canada. BLOWING ROCK, NORTH CAROLINA – I’m out to catch the first rays of sun in the mountains of northwest North Carolina. I’m driving along the famous Blue Ridge Parkway and pass a cyclist wearing an American flag jersey working his way up a steady hill. As I pass over a bridge suspended over a high canyon I glance to my left and see an electric pink sun rising over pale grey-white clouds on the horizon below me. I pull over as soon as I Read more
This item appeared in Sun Media and Postmedia publications in Canada earlier this week… PORT REXTON, NEWFOUNDLAND – It starts innocently enough; an easy walk on relatively flat land through a thick forest. But as I start a steady, moderate climb it gets interesting. The trees get gnarlier, with deep pine/juniper smells and plants with small red berries and what looks like a Newfoundland version of Spanish moss in the trees. Suddenly off to my left I spot an opening in the forest and walk over to a fence near a cliff. I look down at a vast sea of Read more
THIS ITEM ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN POSTMEDIA PUBLICATIONS IN CANADA ON FRIDAY OF THIS WEEK. This is crazy, folks. Almost every Canadian believes that spending time outdoors is good for us and reduces our stress. But a new study says nearly three in 10 Canadians spend less than half an hour a week in the fresh air each. That’s less than five minutes a day! The 2017 edition of the Coleman Canada Outdoor Report, a survey of more than 1,500 Canadian adults hosted by Angus Reid Forum, found that 98% of Canadians feel that being outdoors enhances our well-being. It also Read more
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA – I get to travel to some pretty amazing places in the world, and I check out a lot of great hotels. But I try not to research things too much for fear of raising my expectations and spoiling a nice surprise. That was definitely the case for my brief stay at the Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain Resort in beautiful Scottsdale, Arizona. I was in town for a travel writers’ conference and didn’t arrive until late in the day. But I was immediately taken with the wonderful lobby entrance and the look and feel of the place, which Read more
