YAY! One of my favorite small ship adventure cruise companies adds action packed exploration in Maui, Moloka’i, Molokini, Lana’i and Hawaii to their itineraries. Read on for details…
American Safari Cruises (www.americansafaricruises.com), best known for offering compelling yachting adventures in Alaska and Mexico’s Baja, introduces “authenticHawaii,” fall 2011. Choose from the 7-night Hawaiian Seascapes and the 10-night Hawaii’s Traditional Shores, both boasting active adventures and cultural exchanges designed to thoroughly engage guests’ senses and take full advantage of the islands attributes as no other cruise can do.
Hawaii is a natural extension to the 13-year-old company’s existing product line-up given the rich marine mammal environment and opportunities to kayak, hike, snorkel, sail, bike, stand-up paddle board and more. American Safari Cruises is the first operator to offer unstructured inter-island yacht cruising inHawaii, where the next port may not be a port at all, but a magical passage rich with wildlife, a secluded and inviting beach or a quiet cove that beckons to be explored. After a day of action, adventurers can ease tired muscles in the sauna or soak in the on-deck hot tub aboard the elegant 36-guest Safari Explorer.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
From cycling across Portugal and Spain to hiking Grand Canyon’s Phantom Ranch, with more than 140 trips on every continent REI Adventures announces a 2011 active vacation line-up that’s stronger than ever.
photo courtesy of REI AdventuresREI’s award-winning outdoor adventure travel company, REI Adventures, announces an exciting lineup of new action-packed trips to some of the world’s most iconic destinations for 2011. These adventures blend human powered activity and unforgettable experiences in remarkable global locales including Vietnam, Portugal and the Pyrenees, as well as favorite U.S. destinations such as the Rocky Mountains, California’s wine country and Alaska.
In addition to cruising, hiking, backpacking and trekking trips, REI Adventures has added 10 new bicycling trips and a mountain biking excursion to its 2011 program offerings. Travelers will now have the opportunity to explore the flora and fauna of the Provencal countryside, taste the celebrated wine and cuisine of Tuscany, pedal across the Pyrenees, or be immersed in the cultures of Vietnam and Cambodia, all by the seat of a bike.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
I’m in Scotland this week - one of my favorite places on the planet - to attend the 2010 Adventure Travel World Summit. Before the conference, I’m spending a few dreamy days at the Hotel du Vin, Glasgow, then I’m off to the Isle of Mull for a few days exploring with Wild Scotland. I’ll be sharing more about that soon, but in the meantime, to whet your appetite for your own Scotland escape check out these recommended adventures from my favorite travel search engine -TravelDragon.com.
Heart of the Highlands: A Unique Exploration of ScotlandDeparts May-August
Scotland’s magnificent Highlands are a beautiful region of mountains, lochs, glens and stately castles. Heart of the Highlands, offered exclusively in the U.S. by Lindblad Expeditions, introduces travelers to the wonders of the Highlands from the vantage of the inland waterway that links Scotland’s famed lochs. Until recently, no ship could take passengers through this region due to its size-limiting waterways. Now you can voyage through this scenic countryside in spectacular style: aboard the 54-guest luxury yacht Lord of the Glens. |
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Cowgirls Invited to Be Big Sky Pioneers from October 28-November 1, 2010
Saddle up, girls. The luxurious, Montana-based, Triple Creek Ranch has announced its first annual Klicks for Chicks, a one-of-a-kind, women-only 100-Km horseback riding adventure, created and led by Triple Creek Ranch owner Barbara Barrett. Klicks for Chicks is an all-female upgrade of the all-male 100-mile Los Caballeros and Bohemian Grove endurance horse rides. With a decidedly Triple Creek Ranch twist, the ride is for women only, and cowgirls will ride rugged all day but return to the luxury of the Rocky Mountain resort at night. Riders will venture into deep canyons, over mountain passes, past crystal-clear lakes and through open meadows to discover the ‘last frontier’ and wilds of the Rocky Mountain West. Gourmet evening meals followed by crackling fires in Triple Creek’s luxurious cabins and a relaxing outdoor hot tub will be the reward for a long day in the saddle.
The “100 Klicks for Chicks” program is priced starting at $650 per night, per couple and features three-and-a-half days of riding, concluding with a fireside roast and awards presentation. All meals, beverages, and activities are included. Participants will also receive a personalized fleece vest. Traveling companions not participating in the ride are welcome to enjoy the luxurious accommodations and varied activities that Triple Creek Ranch has to offer while the cowgirls ride off into the sunrise. Husbands and compadres are invited to join the cowgirls for dinner each evening during the program
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
I’ve always wanted to see the polar bear migration in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. With regret, I’ll be off adventuring in Scotland in October when space is still available on The Great Canadian Travel Company’s fall migration tours. Perhaps you can make it. Hope so!
Better still, if you do go, I hope you’ll share your experiences and photographs in a guest blog. Read on for details…
Every autumn, polar bears gather along the water’s edge near the town of Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, on the western shore of the Hudson Bay, about 650 miles north of Winnipeg, anxiously waiting for sea ice to form. Once the bay freezes over, hungry bears move out onto the ice where they will spend the winter months hunting seal.
photo courtesy of Great Canadian Travel Company
The Great Canadian Travel Company, which has been operating polar-bear observation tours to this area since 1980, reports that there is still limited space left on its 2010 polar bear tours.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
The worst part of travel isn’t the security checkpoints with prison-issue wands, puffs of air blowing in your face or gloved agents pawing through your belongings. It’s not the airline seats with their lumbar supports that spear your spine or the $2.25 you pay for a small bottle of filtered tap water at airport restaurants. It’s not the jetlag—which can be so brutal that your left foot doesn’t know where your right foot is walking—or the suitcase that vanished with the travel clothes, gadgets and gear you have spent half a decade assembling.
The worst part of travel is actually coming home. One day you are in Peru, gaping at Machu Picchu or in the Canadian Rockies, heli-hiking amid the granite spires of the Bugaboos. Maybe you’ve been cycling in Italy, trekking in Nepal, cruising down the Nile in Egypt, or sauna hopping in Finland. The next day, you open the door to your digs and…chaos.
The answering machine is blinking, there are hundreds or thousands of emails, the snail mail spills over the edge of a huge tub and stares at you from the floor. There are bills to be paid, deadlines to be met, appointments to be kept. Your hair needs new highlights, your car is due for servicing, there’s a leak in your office, you forgot to send your sister-in-law a birthday gift. The exotic fades as you slip into the quotidian and start trouble-shooting, catching up, returning calls, and squirming in the dentist’s chair. Hooray! You are home.
I have not yet figured out how to make homecoming a celebration. But I have a few tips if you are as overwhelmed as I am when you step over your own welcome mat.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".