Imagine any Mr. and Mrs. Smith and their six-year-old daughter Suzie from Cairo, Illinois. They have just finished touring England on a bus. At Heathrow, they check in for their flight home. They give their …
North America
Other people's luggage
Down in Austin, Franklin is the king
As Waylon Jennings once sang, Austin, Texas, is "the home of Willie Nelson, it's the home of Western swing..." And today, it's also home to the famed Franklin BBQ. This will not be your "off …
May 3, 2013
Bridging the gap in Haiti
Only three hours in Haiti, I'd seen forms of travel that spanned hundreds of years – a woman on a mule, a man on a horse, people walking, riding bicycles and on mopeds, brightly colored …
Isla Mujeres
Isla Mujeres, once home to occasional pirates and Mexican fishing families, has become a popular off-the-beaten-path destination for tourists and divers as well as an expat art colony. Many tourists visit the island as a …
May 2, 2013
Snoqualmie Falls
As a general rule, I am not interested in pampering weekends, over-indulgent spas or fancy hotels for the sake of fancy hotels. Accommodation choices are usually fixed around cost and convenience, and so far my …
April 30, 2013
El Paso from six feet under
I’ve never considered visiting graveyards a “must-see” travel experience, but I’ll have to admit that lately I am finding a wealth of history and a deep sense of place that develops necessarily when jaunting graveyard …
April 25, 2013
At the World's End: Vulture City, AZ
There is no denying it; I am an apocalyte. A lover of all things bleak and transient, the beauty of decay is in my blood. Find me a ghost town, a derelict asylum, an abandoned …
April 18, 2013
Mexican public servants watch porn on the job
More than a third of government workers in Baja California are using their office computers to access pornography while at work, the Tijuana daily El Mexicano reports. Citing a study conducted in the Mexican state …
April 17, 2013
Louisiana's Great River Road
Louisiana’s Great River Road is actually two historic corridors reaching seventy miles from New Orleans to beyond Baton Rouge on either side of the Mississippi. First Spanish, then French, and finally Creole landowners built their …
April 9, 2013
Vacation Evolutis
The majority of non-business travel is for one special thing, “Vacation.” The word within the word vacation is "vacate" ("4. an act or an instance of vacating," Merriam-Webster), so by extension looking at it as …
April 8, 2013
NYC: In Search of America's First Pizzeria
Red-and-white tablecloths with Dean Martin music in the background. It sounds like every other pizza joint in the United States – and it's got every possible cliché you can think of when it comes to …
April 4, 2013
Stairway to Heaven – Koko Crater Trail, Oahu
Everyone hikes Diamond Head, but for those in the know, Koko Crater is the place to hike. The little-known Koko Crater Trail hike surpasses Diamond Head not only for the level of hiking but also …
April 2, 2013
Tasty Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island, Canada, is called the birthplace of Canada – it was the site where they became a confederation in 1864. In 2014, they will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Charlottetown Conference leading …
April 1, 2013
Río Lagartos — The Yucatan's Natural Side
When you're in Cancun – and are tired of white sand beaches and turquoise water – drive to Río Lagartos, where you have a chance to see bright pink flamingos, sea turtles, rare birds and …
March 28, 2013
Mexico Beach
Here’s the thing about Mexico Beach: It’s not in Mexico. It’s on the panhandle 20 minutes south of Panama City and just off the tip of Port St. Joe – a little bit of yesterday …
March 26, 2013