Browsing: Style

It’s become the manifesto for people yearning to do something different with their lives. Elizabeth Gilbert’s bestselling book ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ (which tells the story of her journey through Italy, India and Bali to cure herself of depression and feed a hunger to lead a more spiritual life) has encouraged thousands of dissatisfied professionals to up-sticks and head off into the yonder to ‘find themselves’. A journey of discovery, though, is not a one-size-fits-all path. …

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Tired of big chain hotels but want to get away?   Try a bed and breakfast.   From big houses with turrets to mansions by the water to cabins in the forest, America’s bed and breakfasts offer quaint escapes to renovated historic properties, guesthouses and inns with an ambiance of a home away from home.  Here’s a roundup of the nations best B&B’s.

Simpson House Inn, Santa Barbara

Set on a quiet acre in the heart of …

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The popular image of cruising is a modern, mass market ship filled with literally thousands of people freighted from one familiar port-of-call to the next; not so eco-cruising. As the name implies, eco-cruising is all about the exploration of nature and the environment from the vantage point of the earth’s oceans, seas and rivers. The expanding appeal of environmental tourism in general and eco-cruising in particular is evident in the great number of options a …

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Just imagine acres of glorious countryside where hills undulate under a blanket of green and flocks of sheep and cows graze come rain or shine. Think of a destination where the national emblem of the thistle is reminiscent of fierce battles with Vikings from years gone by. This is Scotland, a place for an inherently romantic getaway offering superb scenery. This beautiful country is overflowing with many splendid examples of castles, culture and a sense …

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Antigua’s small sister island  Barbuda is truly unspoiled Caribbean at its finest, and we were enroute to Lighthouse Bay Resort www.lighthousebayresort.com sandwiched on a thin sandbar that snakes for some 17 pristine, private miles and accessible only by air, (small plane or helicopter) or a  long ferry ride (three hours) and water taxi.  But we were arriving in high style via Caribbean Helicopters http://caribbeanhelicopters.com/, as complimentary return passage by whirlybird is included with a seven …

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You don’t get a nickname like the City of a Thousand Minarets without having earned it. A quick look at the Cairo skyline cements the Egyptian capital’s claim to the title: Everywhere you look, the spindled towers of mosques old and new puncture the clouds.

Rarely has a city been so cozy with ancient history. Cairo’s 20-plus million souls regularly pray in mosques centuries old; the call to prayer punctuates dawn and dusk from the …

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Here’s a great secret – you don’t have to spend a fortune to spend time in Hawaii.  Don’t get me wrong – if you want to stay at first class properties, fly in the front of the plane and eat at some of the world’s finest restaurants, Hawaii will certainly afford you the opportunity.  However, it is also possible to visit Hawaii, see the sites, eat well and experience the Islands up close and personal …

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To most, a trip around the world is a dream affordable only to those with ample money and time. But around-the-world travel is a growing trend among people from all backgrounds, professions and ages. With airfare costing far less than you might imagine, many travelers are turning their dreams into reality.

This Travelhoppers activity guide will give you an overview of the considerations you need to make before undertaking such a grand and unique endeavor. …

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Shanghai. It sounds so exotic and glamorous. And let’s be frank, when you put those two adjectives together, you are often talking about expensive, as well. But the fact is that China has traditionally been and remains a budget traveler’s dream, as the Chinese RMB  rises in value but the local way of life is cheap, cheap, cheap.

As in any place, budget travel in Shanghai is all about making the right choices. Hostel over …

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Want a Halloween celebration full of fantastical costumes, throbbing music and jumping bodies?   Welcome to the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval, the world’s largest Halloween street party.  It’s a Halloween celebration that’s both family-friendly and hedonistic at the same time.  If you love Halloween, dressing up, or just partying with thousands in the street, then making a pilgrimage to West Hollywood for the Carnaval is a must.

West Hollywood – known to locals as WeHo – …

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I suspect that if you looked up the phrase “finding paradise” in the dictionary, one of the definitions you’d be given would read like this:

“the act of spending five carefree, abundantly sunny days exploring the idyllic Hawaiian island of Oahu.”

The Hawaiian islands are legendary. The image of arcing palm trees casting shade over a fuzzy-haired surfer as he waits for the tide to come in, has become so iconic in American culture that …

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America is one enormous country, no doubt about it. It covers more surface area than most people will traverse in their lifetime, and yet, has a history that takes up a relatively small part of the world’s archives. Luckily, because its story is so recent, it’s still easy for us to see just how these States came to be United.

If you hop on an Amtrak train to journey from Boston to Washington, D.C., you’ll …

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Aruba is best known for its spectacular beaches and surf side sun and fun, but there are many cool and offbeat activities well worth seeking out that you’ll rarely find anywhere. Here are a few of them…

Adopt a Donkey

Donkey Sanctuary Aruba (www.arubandonkey.org ), on the skirts of Arikok National Park, is a non-profit, fully volunteer foundation dedicated to providing a safe haven for wild, injured, and unwanted donkeys on the island. You can …

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In recent years, since the Twilight series debuted, the vampire has enjoyed a fantastic popular renaissance. Vampires, to put it mildly, are really cool right now. For those seeking to combine their vampiric interest with their passion for traveling, what better place to go than Transylvania, where the movement first began?

While myths about blood-sucking monsters have abounded the world over for centuries, Dracula was the world’s first “pop culture”
vampire. Dracula, of course, was …

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