Adventure Travel in New York

Adventure travel doesn’t always have to involve traveling to the end of the earth. You can have adventures in big cities too.
Case in point: Tonight I made an expedition to the East Village, in the company of three excellent local guides (who also happen to be travel writers). We started off at a conversation-cultivating watering [...]

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 [...]

And Finally, Vegas!

After glorying in the natural beauties and graces of Kings Canyon, Sequoia, Yosemite and Death Valley parks, where should my Japanese tour group end its exploration of nature’s grandeur? In Las Vegas, of course! Talk about yin and yang. Leaving Death Valley, we sped through the dusk and into desert blackness; after a few hours, the [...]

Death Valley Daze

After my Japanese tour group had visited Kings Canyon, Sequoia and Yosemite parks, we moved on to Death Valley. I’ve lived and traveled in California for almost 30 years, but somehow I’d never been to Death Valley. Driving from Yosemite, we went over the Tioga Pass — spectacular scenery along that road, also a first [...]

California Dreaming

One of this past week’s highlights was my quick jaunt through three of California’s premier parks with a Japanese tour group. This was a wonderful journey on many levels. It was a terrific opportunity to appreciate California through visitors’ eyes — and it gave me a chance to re-appreciate the wonders of our sequoia trees. [...]

Touring California

I’m about to embark on a very interesting travel experiment. I’m going to be joining a three-day tour of California with a Japanese tourist group. For many years I’ve said that one of travel’s great rewards is that it allows us to see our homes with new eyes. Well, this is another way of doing [...]

Japan and the Art of Packaging

One of the things that struck me virtually as soon as I got off the plane in Tokyo on my recent trip is the way the Japanese package everything. From traditional sweets to bento lunch boxes to elegant clothing to — well, just about anything you see on a typical day in Japan – the packaging that [...]

Quick Note from New York!

Since my last appearance here I’ve been to Japan for two weeks, heli-hiking in the wilds of Canada for a week and now I’m in New York for the weekend. Crazy! I’m about to leave for a tour of Columbia University with my family. The trips have all been illuminating and wonderful in their ways. [...]

California Coasting

It’s hard to believe that just over a week ago I was tumbling into the Stagecoach Inn in Stanley, Idaho, desperately in need of a shower and a change of clothes, after six days in the rock and pine wilds of the Salmon River in Idaho. A few days after that return, I jaunted with [...]

Thinking of Italy

It’s a gray day in northern California, and I’m thinking back to my journeys in northern Italy last month. I spent two weeks leading a writing workshop/tour in the Lake Garda region and fell in love wth the area. Imagine you’re sitting at a cafe table in a medieval village on a cobbled square looking [...]