Adventure Starts Here.
Every journey brings you closer to new places, to people you love, to family, and to yourself. Let’s make your next escape unforgettable.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention we’re less than a year away from Dec. 21, 2012, the date the ancient Mayan Long Count calendar forecasts will signal the end of all humanity. But experts aren’t convinced and I’m not worried.
She could have arranged to take her girls to the slopes and not gotten on skis. It had to have been scary her first time out. But she was game to try.
I’m just thankful to share this spectacular adventure in paradise with my husband and kids. It’s terrific — and rare — when you can find something you all enjoy, especially as the kids grow older
At the inaugural FamilyTravelConference held recently at the Omni Berkshire Place in NYC, attendees said they wished hotels and resorts would take a page from cruise lines and offer more activities for tweens and teens.
NY1 — New York all-local news channel — covered the first Family Travel Conference
The good news is it’s not too late to plan a spring getaway (check the rest of my website for ideas) whether you’ve got just a few days or an entire week to spend and there’s still time to find a great deal.
The thing about Orlando is no matter how often you visit, there is always something new. That’s why Orlando became the first city in the country to welcome more than 50 million visitors last year—some 54 million to be exact!
Travel writer Paul Eisenberg gives the first Family Travel Conference a great review on ShermanTravelBlog
Eileen quoted by ABC News on places to go and see in New Orleans for Mardi Gras
At the first Family Travel Conference, held at the Omni Berkshire Place Feb. 3-4, more than 40 family travel professionals were unanimous that restaurants, hotels and cruise lines need to improve their children’s menus to make them tastier as well as healthier.
It is important to keep in perspective that the Concordia disaster was by all accounts an aberration in an industry that prides itself on its safety record. Between 2005 and 2010, cruise lines carried nearly 100 million passengers with a total of 16 deaths…
The New York Times quotes Eileen about airline baggage fees. “It’s not a question of money,” she said. “People are just fed up with being nickeled and dimed.”
I was thinking about that Snow Walk the other night when Mel called from college to report giddily that she’d spent the weekend on a back-country skiing trip that “was harder than anything I’ve done on skis.”
I love traveling with my children, their pals and various other pint-sized relatives. I do it all the time. But there’s something deliciously decadent about an adult-only trip, whether you manage just a night away in a nearby hotel or a trip of a lifetime.
Every one of our boys parents are immigrants—from Africa, Mexico, Jamaica and Trinidad, from other places. They learned that had they been immigrants in the 1870s living here, they would have worked 10 hours a day rather than go to school…
Some of my friends thought I was nuts. When I won a weekend stay at the Hilton New York’s five-bedroom penthouse, I invited along seven teenagers to share the fun at New York’s largest hotel.
Guest blogger Kasey Austin writes that her “earliest memories go way back to Alaska, everything from ice fishing with my dad to spending time at a remote fly-in camp and hiking trails frequented by moose and other larger than life critters!”
The best part: There is no one telling us what time we have to eat dinner or even where we are going next. Welcome to the alternative to mega cruise ships and fancy resorts.
NEW YORK — The first Family Travel Conference, which convenes at the Omni Berkshire Hotel Feb. 3-4, underscores what parents, and some in the travel…
“This is a place for adventures,” says General Manager Martin Smith, who says the key is organizing your stay—with the resort staff help.
Snorkel, sail, windsurf or kayak?
We’re at the Bitter End Yacht Club on the island of Virgin Gorda which has been a haven for sailors and yachters for years.
This island—just 3 miles wide at its widest point—is famous for its lobsters that many fisherman here catch by free diving as deep as 60 feet. Sailors like us (we’ve been sailing around the BVI on a Moorings charter Catamaran) make the trip here for the lobsters as well as the spectacular wind-swept beaches.
The President should be applauded for taking executive action to initiate these visa reforms, which should lead to more jobs in the United States.
The advantage here—besides the privacy and the chance to putter in the kitchen yourself—is that you aren’t paying $5 each time a child wants a virgin colada or $15 for the real thing.
I can’t believe I’m here. Hong Kong’s famous Victoria Harbor watches as I try to follow William Ng, a 75-year-old Tai Chi master, as he introduces about 20 of us to the ancient art of Tai Chi or “shadow boxing.”
Today we are all diving as a family. The Wreck of the Rhone is just off Salt Island in two big pieces 60 to 80 feet down, but there are many smaller pieces.
“That’s part of the adventure,” says my 25 year old daughter Reggie. “It’s not like we’re at a fancy resort where everything is being done for us.”
When it came time to decide on a family trip for my far flung gang—the first time we’d all be together in more than a year—sailing, with some diving included, was everyone’s top pick.
In the coming months, we’ll be commemorating the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Pundits and experts will be talking about how far we’ve come in cruise safety since then. Clearly the Concordia shows we still have a long way to go.
Reggie and I are already imagining our next dive back home in the much colder, kelp-forested waters of Monterey, California — just a couple hours away from our domicile in San Francisco.
A winter foray to Boston — whether you are touring colleges (there are more than 100 campuses in Massachusetts) or just looking for a winter getaway — is a good place to start, especially with the reopening this past December after a multimillion-dollar restoration of The African Meeting House.
After a frenetic week reporting—not to mention serious jet lag—I figured there couldn’t be a better way to while away my last morning before my return flight than experiencing the Mira Hotel’s spa.
Geologists still argue today how these columns were formed some 140 million years ago. What is known is that a huge amount of volcanic ash and lava spewed forth with the volcano ultimately collapsing and forming a caldera.
We stroll out on historic Blake Pier –the roof is more than a century old and was moved here in 2004–and watch the bobbing rowboats, the traditional Chinese Junk that serves as a harbor cruise and the wind surfers out on a Sunday.
In Amsterdam, everyone seems young, fit and, most important to the teens, hip and there’s the appropriate mix of culture, history and quirkiness
This isn’t just any Buddha but the largest outdoor sitting Buddha in the Po Lin Monastery on the island of Lantau. The Monastery was established in 1906—some 100 monks hidden from the tourists still live here
My daughter Mel, who has just arrived from Thailand, pronounces things here more expensive yet clearly there are bargains to be had—but you have to bargain as the merchants raise the prices expecting you to bargain
“It is good exercise for all ages,” he says. “When I was child, my parents told me I was so small I needed more exercise so I practiced kung fu and Tai Chi- Kung Fu is fast and Tai Chi s slow and smooth.”
January is National Learn a Snow Sport Month and more than 200 resorts are pulling out all the stops for families and offering free or discounted ski, snowboard, and cross-country ski and snowshoe lessons for beginners.
People are choosing the newly renovated Mira for its hip design. The 492-room hotel has been open just a year across the street from Kowloon Park. You walk out the door onto Nathan Road, one of Hong Kong’s busiest thoroughfares
Today, I’m the only Caucasian face in the jam-packed Tim Ho Wan that has the reputation for being the cheapest Michelin star restaurant in the world. People come here for Dim Sum and are lined up waiting outside.
Whether the kids were mine or someone else’s, I realized — sometimes belatedly — that the best times were had when we took our cue from the kids and let their passions-of-the-moment dictate.
DAY ONE — I’ve got my eye mask, three different noise cancelling head phones to try, the iPad loaded with my favorite TV shows, my Kindle loaded with new mysteries, healthy snacks, special socks from SmartWool, neck pillow…have I forgotten anything?
Leave the crackers and chips at home; ditto for the carbonated drinks and smelly cheese. No, we’re not talking about what grub not to pack for your next road trip or flight. We’re talking about foods that are banned in outer space.
Welcome to Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park, at 5,700 square miles bigger than the state of Connecticut and home to some of the largest prides of lion in East Africa as well as these other animals.
Parents increasingly complain they can’t get seats next to their children — even 3 year olds — on packed flights. Those booking through online travel sites may not realize the seats are unassigned. (It is always wise to call an airline directly or check the airline’s site.)
No matter how organized I think I am, no matter where we’re going, a few days before, I’m in pre-trip freak out mode when no one else in the family is the least bit worried that snow might derail flights (that’s happened) or we’ll have enough food for an upcoming sailing trip. (We’ve never gone hungry, my husband reminds us.)
I’m not filling any stockings this year or piling presents under the tree. No presents for Hanukah either. (We celebrate both holidays in our house.) And my gang couldn’t be happier.
Our tree is loaded down with skiers from Colorado, shells from Florida, sailboats from Maine, ferries from Washington state, flip flops from Hawaii, monkeys from Costa Rica, Victorian queens from England, fish from Caribbean islands, Disney characters from Orlando…you get the idea.
I’m at the year-old Montage Deer Valley spa—35,000 square feet indoor lap pool, separate mens and women’s facilities with steam room, sauna, whirlpools and more, a private sundeck with radiant heated floors and spectacular mountain views and a big fitness center.
Browse through a selection of travel ideas for cities, countries, and unique regions that offer memorable experiences for every type of traveler.
Escape to the outdoors where lush parks, scenic trails, and serene natural retreats provide the space to relax, recharge, and experience the world in its purest form.
Every destination has its own flavor. Let the food take you on a journey through local traditions, and unforgettable meals.
