Languedoc-Rousillon lies between Provence and the Pyrenees, hugging the Mediterranean coast just north of the French / Spanish border. Less crowded than Provence, it offers historic towns and cities, rugged mountain scenery, fertile valleys filled with vineyards, and beautiful coastline.
You know when you’re with a group of friends, maybe sitting around a campfire, or on a patio on a warm evening, and someone starts talking about travel? And there’s invariably someone who has a crazy story, maybe about traveling in West Africa during a coup attempt, and getting mistaken for a mercenary? Or about …
Valparaiso, Chile is a down to earth, blue collar sort of place. As a port city, it has been influenced by the many cultures of people arriving by sea for the last 200 years, especially prior to the building of the Panama Canal. Before the canal cut weeks off their passage, all ships from Europe …
When you find a jewel of a campsite, a dilemma arises: do you say nothing, and keep this knowledge to yourself? Or do you scream it from the rooftops, and risk changing the tranquil nature of a little slice of heaven? I hope to find a middle way… to tell only the relative few who …
So this is a post with a mission. I had wanted to visit Angkor Wat for many years, and finally got to do so in 2008. I was amazed at the sheer number of Khmer temples around Siem Reap; the architectural variety – from the step-pyramid like Phimeanakas (reminiscent of a Mayan pyramid) to the …
Motorcycle riders develop a sixth sense for road hazards. Learning to ride in Ireland, I developed a healthy respect for slick, windy roads, and the need to share the road with occasional sheep or cattle grazing “the long meadow” (the grass strip along the edge of the road). All this honed my reaction time. But …
Barcelona is famous for the inspirational architectural designs of Antoni Gaudi, futuristic works of art that appear to transcend time and place. But, with a history dating back to Roman times, Barcelona has many layers waiting to be peeled back and discovered, and is a city well worth several days of exploration… Here’s a quick …
So there are LOTS of great travel apps out there, like Tripit (to tame all those wild, travel-related emails and cage them in a single itinerary) and Kayak (to research alternatives to that canceled flight!), but my current favorite is WhatsApp. One of my pet peeves is being hit up for international texting charges, both …
Occasionally you hear a phrase that just resonates! For me “Nature Deficit Disorder” sums up in 3 words a key issue we face in our 24/7 wired, digital age. An article in today’s New York Times discusses America’s fight with obesity, states that surgery and diets may not be the answer, and suggests that “there …
Vientiane may be the capital of Laos, but it is still pretty off the beaten path. So, wandering around the hot and fairly empty streets, the last thing I expected to see was truly creative recycling. But, wandering into a store that sold everything from wooden bowls to brightly colored cloth, there it was… an …