Life is a patchwork of experiences
Iceland has become one of my favorite destinations. With its diverse and stunning scenery, warm and friendly people, and a foodie culture focused on fresh and local ingredients, what’s not to love. On my recent Iceland ProCruises circumnavigation cruise, I had the chance to travel around Iceland in complete comfort and ease while local guides showed off all the best experiences their country had to offer.
Continue reading “Experiencing Authentic Iceland in Style – An Iceland ProCruises Review”
Barge cruising with European Waterways is one of my favorite travel experiences. In this La Bella Vita cruise review I share all the details of my fantastic 6 day barge cruise in Italy.
There is a reason that a European Waterways barge cruise has become one of my favorite travel experiences – actually, it’s a lot of reasons. A week long cruise always includes incredibly attentive service, fantastic food, exceptional local wines, and specially curated excursions. And all this is provided in an intimate, small group setting. What’s not to love about that!
Photographing in Antarctica can be challenging. Whether you use a cell phone or a large digital camera, use these tips to help you get the best possible photos of your once-in-a-lifetime trip.
This story has received an Honorable Mention in the annual Society of American Travel Writers Lowell Thomas competion in the Service Oriented Consumer Work category. This is the premier awards recognition for American travel journalists.
You’ve just booked and paid for that top bucket list trip to Antarctica. It will be your dream trip come true and you want to make sure you come home with the best possible Antarctic photos along with all those special memories.
Continue reading “Photographing in Antarctica – 19 Antarctica Photography Tips for All Skill Levels”
In a country with beautiful scenery and a deep spiritual culture, it was the people I met along the way that I remember most. Let these Laos photos inspire you to add this Southeast Asian country to your travel bucket list.
Some of the photos in this post were recognized with awards in the 2023 North America Travel Journalists Association Excellence in Travel Journalism competition. The feature photo for this story received a Bronze award in the Cover or Feature Photo Illustration category
Laos is still one of those off-the-beaten-path countries that requires some effort to get to and even more effort to tour. As a result, I found it pleasantly uncrowded and surprisingly authentic.
Discover why Pandaw river cruises in Southeast Asia are a one of a kind experience that keeps bringing customers back to sail with this very special cruise company.
I was sipping my Pink Lady cocktail and enjoying the brilliant orange sunset across the Mekong river over the city of Vientiane, Laos’ capital. It was the last evening of my Laos Pandaw river cruise and the day had been very hot, but now a gentle breeze was slowly cooling off the open top deck lounge.
A dragon boat sped by in the evening twilight, its crew chanting loudly as they oared in perfect unison, dipping their many paddles into the water in synchronous time to their chanting beat. Not far from our docked vessel, a local fisherman squatted on the tip of his longtail boat, checking his nets. I marveled at the ease with which he maintained his balance as he twisted and twirled on his boat’s narrow tip, his gyrations worthy of an Olympic balance beam routine.
Continue reading “The Boats Are Back In Town – The Triumphant Return of Pandaw River Cruises”
My annual review in words and photos from an incredible year of travel.
Wow! I have been so very fortunate to have had the most incredibly memorable year for travel! And what a difference 12 months can make!
It’s taken me a while to write this up as it was a very, very busy year, but I am continuing my annual end of the year post tradition by reflecting on where I’ve been in 2022 – and sharing some of my reflection photos in the process.
I visited Norway on a cruise which was a very easy way to discover the beauty of this highly scenic country. I am sharing my best Norway photos to inspire you to plan your own trip to Norway.
As I cruised through peaceful fjords surrounded by mountain peaks, and visited colorful towns and villages in Norway, I could clearly see the inspiration for a fairy tale movie. As a photographer, I found the scenery to be point-and-shoot beautiful and it didn’t take much artistic license to take Norway photos worthy of a high end magazine spread.
Continue reading “Beautiful Storybook Norway Photos to Inspire Your Next Trip”
A week long Loire Valley barge cruise with European Waterways was a truly relaxing and slow paced journey with intimate service, gourmet food and wine, and visits to out of the ordinary sights in the French countryside.
Before there were planes, trains and automobiles, France developed a vast network of canals that were used to transport goods from one part of the country to another. These canals connected to the major rivers and also to the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. The canal network made it easy to move all manner of goods from one part of the country to the other, and in particular, allowed Parisians to easily taste the delicacies from all corners of their realm.
Today, the canals and their many locks are used primarily for recreation. European Waterways expertly manages a fleet of 12 luxury barges that ply the many canals of France on a variety of itineraries. I had already experienced a wonderful cruise along the Burgundy Canal on the La Belle Epoque and was quite familiar with this unique way of touring France’s less visited countryside.
Continue reading “An Intimate European Waterways Loire Valley Barge Cruise on the Renaissance”
Luxury barging in France on the Burgundy Canal with European Waterways has been one of my most memorable travel experiences. Discover why a France canal cruise should be at the top of your bucket list with this detailed review.
To have unique experiences is at the heart of why I travel. Recently I was privileged to have one of the most extraordinary luxury travel experiences that I have ever had. I was invited on a France canal cruise on the barge La Belle Epoque with European Waterways. For six days on my Burgundy, France Canal cruise, I had the ultimate slow travel cruising experience that included gourmet meals, amazing wines, impeccably attentive service and uniquely curated excursions.
Continue reading “My France Canal Cruise – Quiet Luxury in the French Countryside”
A traditional Costa Rica cooking class showed me that I could still make local connections in a meaningful way on a cruise ship excursion.
I love cruising, but I am very picky about my cruise excursions. Typical ship excursion involve big busses and large tour groups that take passengers to the most popular sights. This may let you check off one more item on the “bucket list” but does nothing to provide a true connective experience to the local culture or the environment.
However, on my recent Princess Cruise through the Panama Canal, a ship excursion in Costa Rica billed as one of their “Local Connections” program had me intrigued. The tour promised to take us to the Macaw ecolodge high in the rainforest where we would take part in a cooking experience using locally grown ingredients. This sounded quite appealing and would not be something I could easily do on my own, so I signed up and hoped for unique glimpse into Costa Rican culture.
