Featured Blog Posts (584)

•        As of May 3, 2013, bus & tram fares are 1,50 € (instead of 1€) for a one-way ticket; however, buying a group of 10 tickets still costs 1€ each (buy at tram stops or at Lignes d’Azur shop)

•        The…

The East End of Long Island is less than two hours from New York City and suprisingly rural, so parents often ask me what there is to do out there with kids. Unfortunately, everything I know about the Hamptons I’ve learned from watching Sex and the City and Revenge, which tend focus on adult pursuits like drinking, back-stabbing and adultery.

To find some better answers, 5-year-old Tiny Traveler and I headed out to the Riverhead and the South Fork over spring break.…

“There aren’t going to be any sharks, are there?”

I was about to be dropped off a boat for some snorkling, a slightly scary distance off the coast of Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos archipelago. As I have been somewhat traumatized by the film Jaws since the tender age of four I am not very…

This year’s Fête du Travail (Labor Day) was extra special for two reasons:

• the local Cercle des Amis was celebrating their 140 year birthday, known for playing “boules carrés”   (video link)
• the main village square’s six-month long renovation had just been completed & in the nick of time!

Flowers were proudly displayed…

Every year we Up-Northers wait for that One Day: the day when we know spring has finally and irrevocably arrived, when we can finally open the windows and let the warm, moist air…

Writers’ Expedition Southern Peru (Aug 2-15)

Adventures for Travelers Who Like to Write and Writers Who Like to Travel

This August you can journey through Peru with two established and engaging travel authors and your local travel experts, who will immerse you in the real Peru and pamper you with hospitality and idyllic hotels.

You’ll dance centre bullring with a matador in a remote village, take a…

Enjoying good times during Suds & Snow

Every winter, we Traverse City beer aficionados face the same problem.

Thanks to our large German, Bohemian and Polish population, we've always had a healthy appreciation for the brewer’s art. In recent years almost a dozen microbreweries and brewpubs have sprouted up around the region, and as soon as the snow…

So Chris has been on yet another little work-based adventure this week, this time to Koh Kong on the west coast of Cambodia to investigate some land rights issues affecting local villagers and island communities.

Casa De Borgona, Salta, Argentina

By Roy Heale

Nestled in the Andes mountain range, Salta is a city in the heart of the Lerma Valley, at 1,152 metres (3780 feet) above sea level in the north west part of Argentina. Along with its metropolitan…

By MIKE NORTON

I barely noticed the hammering at first. Saturday morning is fix-it time, and I figured one of the neighbors was nailing a loose shingle or…

On Flashback Fridays I reflect back on some of my past travels and travel mishaps: Follow at #FlashbackFri

 

From the viewing platform at the Skegemog Swamp

By MIKE NORTON

One of the things I love most about winter is its transformative power – the way it can turn a familiar, easily ignored landscape into something surreal and otherworldly in a matter of hours.

Sometimes the…

As an update to my previous Winter Festivals post, today is the grand opening of the Nice Carnival - the third largest in the world! The video is a behind-the-scenes look at preparations for the grand event - don't forget to bring your silly string!

 …

(Another installment of Lessons from a Wise Sky.)

Anyone can behave considerately on a plane, but it takes real talent and a will of steel to make an ass of oneself in such a controled environment. If you follow these simple guidelines, however, you'll have no problem--but you'll certainly cause a few.

1. Piss-poor comportment on a plane begins even before the plane has left the ground, in fact even before you've boarded the bird. Here's how: Your…

By MIKE NORTON

I was thinking of titling this post, "Kids, Don't Try This at Home. Not Ever."

Thanks to its climate, Northern Michigan gets…

By the time we descended from Mt. Napulauan, it had taken almost the best of us and we were ready to spend the night in Banaue. But Vic, the guide hired by Louis the Frenchman, had other plans for us. At that time, we were not exactly sure where we were going. Vic wasn’t telling us either,…

By MIKE NORTON

Some winter sports require skill. A lot of skill.

Others require impressive reservoirs of strength and endurance.

But let’s face it: there are…

It is simple question comprised of only two little words but the answer for which is infinite. Everyone has their own reasons as to why they want to. To see the sights, experience different cultures or escape the pressures of the real world are some of the most popular. However, things are rarely so simple, and usually the real reason people decide to travel is a complex mixture of emotions, feelings and circumstance.

My name is Jason or J for short and…

By MIKE NORTON

Whitetail deer are no rarity in Traverse City. We see them often: at the edge of the forest, down along the lakeshore, or…

One day, a friend and I went to visit a nearby parfumerie; reluctantly, on my part, since I don’t wear perfume because I suffer from allergies around strong odors – although perfume is preferable to some others!

Nice is about 27 km (17 miles)from the “perfume capital of the world”, Grasse, with its large parfumeries, “Fragonard” and “…