Browsing: travel

Excuse me.  Sir!  You there.  I have a request.  No, not you nice man.  You go on about your day and enjoy your vacation.

I’m speaking to the other gentleman, the one who is so incapable of controlling his impulses that he just chucked that small boy overboard.  Oh!  That was your son, and you were just playing?  I see.

Well, I’m also talking to that lady over there who thinks it’s funny to draw …

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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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Americans mark autumn with two major holidays: Thanksgiving in late November, and Halloween on Oct. 31. The latter is a personal favorite: Ever since I watched It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! as a  child, Halloween has been one of my anchor points for the fall season. Halloween as we know it, with the trick-or-treating and funny costumes, is for all intents and purposes a strictly Western practice. Though it has in recent years spread …

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Now what, you may ask, is the interest of learning a small measure of French? Those of you who have traveled to France can relate to the frustration of waiting years to use your high school French knowledge, only to be rebuffed with English by a smug crêpe seller. Moreover, they only speak French in that one European country — Paris, or something. Mandarin Chinese is much more practical.

French, the language of love and …

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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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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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I KNEW I’d had too much to drink when everyone in the room began to look attractive — all 5,000 of them.

That tall, blond Germanic look can quiver my heart even when it’s perfectly sober. Yet perhaps sinking a bottle and a half of wine single-handedly was bordering on the excessive. But what’s a girl to do when the waiter refuses to prance around delivering one pathetic glass of wine at a time because …

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Dear Travel IQ: I’ve decided I would like to live abroad for a year. I’m not flush with cash, just nerve. What are my pennyless options?

Signed: Expat to be in Charleston, SC


Dear Expat:

We’ve all felt it: that longing sadness that sinks to the bottom of your stomach as you realize your dream vacation is coming to an end. Just as you thought you were getting a feel for the place, …

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Krakow is a city known for its long and colorful past, and the priceless and awe-inspiring, original surviving remnants from all different periods in its history and the people that came and went over the years. While these magnificent structures and relics are major tourist magnets, and rightfully so, Krakow also has had a boom of modern construction and new attractions to keep things interesting for the millions of annual visitors that come to Poland’s …

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I stood on the edge of the boat peering into the water in full scuba diving gear, hoping to catch a glimpse of what I knew lay below the surface – sharks and lots of them.  Sharks were the reason I had made the 36 hour journey to Cocos Islands, located 600 km off the west coast of Costa Rica.  But all of a sudden I wasn’t so sure this was a good idea.  Before …

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Mazatlan was a weekly stop on episodes of The Love Boat television show. It’s still a big cruise port, but there are plenty of places to stay on dry land, with lots to do to keep a vacationer more than satisfied during a week in the sunshine on the Mexican Gold Coast.

Perfect Weather
It doesn’t matter what time of year you head to Mazatlan, the chances are pretty good it’s going to be warm …

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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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The Caribbean conjures up images of blue skies and blue oceans where long deserted stretches of sandy beaches welcome one and all. When you think of the Caribbean what island comes to mind, perhaps, the ever popular Puerto Rico, beautiful Barbados or maybe arousing Aruba? Let’s face it, the list is endless and the more you look at one island the more appealing it is. But when the special occasion of Mother’s Day comes around …

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