On the Abiding Importance of Travel

In his wonderful, seminal essay “Why We Travel,” Pico Iyer writes: “We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next, to find ourselves. We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate. We travel to bring what little we can, in our ignorance and [...]

Africa on My Mind

A few days ago I was dreaming about Italy.  Now it’s Africa that’s on my mind. I’ve had a couple of wonderful safaris in East Africa, and I’m thinking that I’d like to explore a different part of the continent. Here’s one trip that has really caught my fancy, offered by Bushtracks: Remote Parks and [...]

Italian Dreams

Recently I’ve been thinking of the wonderful trip I made to Italy last spring to teach a travel writing workshop. We were based on Lake Garda and I fell in love with the entire region — the history, the style, the food, the landscapes! And of course the people!  I want to go back to [...]

Nat’l Geo Adventure Chooses Top Outfitters

For the second year in a row, National Geographic Adventure magazine will publish its list of the most highly evaluated adventure travel companies in its February issue.
Happily, a number of the Adventure Collection’s members made the Adventure list.  Here they are, by category, with the “score” the magazine assigned:
DO-IT-ALL
Operate on at least three continents and [...]

Lindblad Expeditions Honored

The National Wildlife Federation, a conservation organization dedicated to protecting wildlife, has honored Lindblad Expeditions with its Conservation Achievement Award for Corporate Achievement. The federation presented Lindblad Expeditions with the honor at its annual awards banquet last November in Washington, D.C.
Lindblad Expeditions, the pioneering expedition travel company, works in partnership with National Geographic to inspire [...]

Fighting AIDS in Africa

Every once in a while, a terrific example of adventure travel companies partnering with other organizations to do good in the areas they visit crosses my desk. Here’s one such excellent and inspiring example.
Micato Safaris’ non-profit foundation, AmericaShare, recently teamed up with Rotarians for Fighting AIDS and HOPE Worldwide Kenya on a mission to provide [...]

Travel Writing Book & Workshop

I’ve finished the second edition of the Lonely Planet Guide to Travel Writing and shipped the manuscript off to Melbourne! Hooray! It’s a vastly expanded and updated edition, with much more information on the Internet — amazing how much that landscape has changed in just a few years — and more examples of great published [...]

Top Trips of 2008

As I’m trying to plan my travel schedule for the new year, inevitably I’m reflecting back on the adventures of last year. These were the three highlights of my wanderings in 2008.
Whale-watching in Mexico: This journey with Lindblad Expeditions to the Sea of Cortez and Magdalena Bay in Baja was highlighted by the opportunity to [...]

Akemashite Omedeto Gozaimasu!

One of the things I love about having a bicultural household is that we get to celebrate more holidays in more ways.  New Year’s, for example, is a major holiday in Japan, celebrated with even more pomp and pageantry than in the U.S. So at home we do as the Japanese do: We eat special [...]