Already, external events cloud the year’s outlook for summer travel big time, and the year is not even half over. My crystal ball is not hi-def, and I’m not about to make any dramatic prognostications. But a few developments appear to be extremely likely — and likely to hit your travel plans. COVID. “COVID is…
Take a Breather Without Breaking the Budget
You don’t have to travel far to enjoy a break from your everyday life, but it is important to make time to get away. Taking some time for yourself reduces stress and helps you make memories that are more valuable than cash. Even the anticipation involved in the planning stages can elevate your mood. While…
Buried History Comes to Life at Mary King’s Close
The year is 1645. The most virulent strain of the bubonic plague has immobilized Edinburgh, Scotland, claiming the lives of more than half of the city’s population. The area hardest hit: Mary King’s Close on High Street, a lively 17th century thoroughfare of pubs, shops and residences named for a merchant burgess who lived here…
Stay Where Movie Stars Have Slept
A TV weather forecaster staying at a cozy bed-and-breakfast gets caught in a time warp. The head of a crime family and his wife overnight at one of New York City’s most alluring luxury hotels. While gazing at the beach fronting an iconic resort hotel, another powerful crime boss mutters, “This is paradise, I’m tellin’…
Funny Festivals Offer Plenty to Celebrate
One of the best ways to immerse yourself in the cultural delights of a travel destination is by participating in a local festival. Myriad festivals are held annually all across the country that offer attendees plenty of reasons to come together and celebrate as a community. Many of these festivals have emerged from traditional customs…
‘Just in Case’ Packing for a Journey
“Why are you taking medications for two weeks longer than the trip?” my husband asked when I was packing for a recent trip to Italy. “In case there’s a volcano in Iceland,” I replied, because ever since the Eyjafjallajokull volcano sent clouds of ash and dust into the atmosphere — interrupting air travel between Europe…
Prehistoric Creatures Rule in the Middle of Los Angeles
In the heart of Los Angeles, we discovered an area that was inhabited for thousands of years before the arrival of humans: the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum. From viewing the exhibits and reading the signs at each one we learned so much about the natural history of this area. In the late 1800s…
In Praise of Cheap
Oh, the mystique that some people ascribe to wine in their rush to canonize it out of all proportion to what it really is, or should be: a beverage. Or the denunciation some people heap on inexpensive bottles. I have heard elitist oenophiles use terms to disparage wine they wouldn’t deign to try. I reflect…
Canada Should Crack Down on Its Travel Trade With China
Commentary This is the second in a series on how Canada can prudently decouple from China. Most Canadians are familiar with the nightmares endured by Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, the two Michaels imprisoned for almost three years because they were unlucky enough to be in China when Canada arrested Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver. Fewer Canadians are familiar…
River Cruises Offer Charms of Their Own
One evening a few years ago, my wife, Fyllis, and I were savoring a sumptuous four-course gourmet dinner accompanied by wines that had been produced nearby. More recently, we listened raptly to lectures by knowledgeable experts about a variety of issues, some controversial, in several Eastern European countries. The settings for these experiences could have…
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