Browsing: Holiday Travel

Autumn is my favorite season. Its cooling winds bring an end to the scorching summer sun. Three months of perfect weather before winter starts to show its fury. Fall also signals the beginning of soccer and football seasons, to the excitement of millions of eager fans. The best thing about autumn, however, is the changing of the leaves. Fall foliage is part of the beautiful way nature signals to humans that the season has begun. …

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Lunch with Jaws: Diving with Sharks, South Africa

There’s nothing quite like a dinner invite when you feel like part of the meal rather than a fellow guest. As fascinating as it is terrifying, you’ll get about as near to the teeth of a Great White as possible as you’re lowered underwater in a metal cage that suddenly seems incredibly flimsy now that you and the ocean’s greatest predator are eye-to-eye.

How-to: Gansbaai (a 2.5 …

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When many hear of a Smoky Mountain Vacation they may picture rustic cabins, hunting or animal watching, perhaps a lazy walking trail or two, and a whole lot of peace. While peace is plentiful in many areas of the Great Smokys, there is also a plethora of highly active entertainments that will leave you with a thirst for adventure long after you make your way back home.

Affordable Smoky Mountain Family or Solo Fun

If …

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I have something to confess. I’ve been having a luscious affair with New York City since the day I first set foot on its bubblegum-pocked streets. I try to leave, I try to explore other cities and cultures, but somehow I find myself back on Gotham soil at least once a year. I even lived here once. The adage goes that if you can survive one year in the city, you can adorn yourself …

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Practicality and innovation are the key words associated with design in Brussels. The city’s style engineers sculpted its individuality with absolute respect for quality – then they dry brushed it with a good dose of humour. Whatever Belgian designers turn their artistic hands to, be it an ornament or a piece of furniture, an under garment or a ball gown, it sells almost as quickly as it is made to discerning customers in the best …

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A plain old soak in the tub is now officially passé. Here are just five of the many weird and wonderful places around the world which put more zing in your bath time.

Hamam scrub-down: Istanbul, Turkey

You haven’t been to Turkey until you’ve experienced the hamam (or Turkish bath) and where better to partake in a traditional scrub and soak than in the sultan’s ex-playground of Istanbul. An experience not for the modest, a …

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Getting lost in a new city is not usually on a traveler’s to-do list. But it is highly recommended that you cull your skills in the art of getting lost if you wish to throw off the tiresome stereotypes that come with being a tourist.

It might be harder than you think to truly move off the beaten path and have no idea where you are. When you feel a little disoriented, your survival instincts …

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Bike sharing has exploded all over Europe in the last ten years or so. Now more than ever, it’s easy to sightsee on two wheels in many Western European cities where infrastructure for cyclists has been much improved. Next time you’re in Copenhagen or Barcelona, forget the Segway and rent yourself a classic cycle to get around town.

 

Copenhagen, Denmark:

In central Copenhagen 55% of the population rides to work each day and 37% …

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Fourth of July. Independence Day. July 4th. Whatever you call it, it is one of the few truly American holidays and the Brits are still a little miffed! While the big cities and metropolitan areas put on spectacular shows, the true taste of Americana lies in the small town celebrations that take place all across the country. You are never far from a bicycle parade, a baby-kissing politician, some fireworks, and the bright …

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For Fathers Day, relive the fun of outdoors life with the family, camping in the mild Mediterranean climate experienced at the Majove Narrows Regional Park in Victorville, California. It’s a place where summer temperatures hit boiling point and winters see snow on the mountainous region.

It’s a place reminiscent of simpler times like in Mark Twain’s famous book, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Most everyone is familiar with this American novel that is known worldwide …

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When it comes to tropical paradises, few places beat Thailand. According to April Cole, a director at Journeys Within, a tour company specializing in Southeast Asia,‘the key with planning honeymoons is that you’re providing people with an extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime trip -because that’s what a honeymoon is. A trip the couple will look back on forever. And that’s exactly what Thailand provides.”

If you need more reasons to head to Thailand, here are four additional ones:…

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The most memorable experience from when I first visited Darwin back in 1995 was the ‘Beer Can Regatta’. Who in their right mind makes a raft out of empty beer cans to race through crocodile infested waters for the prize of nothing more than bragging rights for a year?

The place is full of similar crazy ideas, and yet after spending more and more time up there the ideas somehow seem less crazy. I don’t …

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A wilting figure sits on a sunny Las Vegas sidewalk. His mouth feels as parched as the Nevada desert that surrounds him. Somewhere in the back of his head, a popstar taunts “that’s what you get for waking up in Vegas” repeatedly. His hangover thuds through his head as the lights of Sin City just won’t stop flickering. His voice cracks, “Hey man, you wanna buy an iPod? I gotta get money to get home.” …

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Whether you are a mother, daughter, sister or aunt, Mother’s Day is a great excuse to plan a girl’s weekend getaway. For some, that may just mean taking the day off and heading to the local salon, but if you have a little extra time, there are some great options out there for places that know how to treat the ladies. I have some favorites that can satisfy just about anyone.

New York City, New

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