Florida features so many destinations, and hotels are so numerous, that making a choice can be overwhelming. Even narrowing down a list of prospective hotels can be daunting. At the high end, chances are you won’t really go wrong no matter how you choose a place to stay. At more modest levels, though, success can…
Tag: travel
“I Can’t Walk into a Bar Alone”
So said a divorced mom of two to me about going through life a bit solo right now. I am always surprised when otherwise outgoing people suddenly become needy and clingy when confronted by an adventure that they have to undertake alone. Just this week, a certain senior adventurer in my life expressed doubts about…
Don’t Let Olympics Coverage Deter You from Russia
I had no idea what a huge deal a snowflake’s refusal to morph into an Olympic ring could be until the global coverage of the snafu at Friday’s opening. That such a commotion was made about a snowflake seems to be a part of a pattern of negative coverage of sports events in Sochi. I’ve…
Saving Lily Bart in San Francisco?
Watching Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine on DVD, I am once again, and surprisingly so, drawn to San Francisco. An unlikely tourism vehicle, the film focuses on a selfish and largely unlikeable society woman played by Cate Blanchett who married up and desperately needs to do so again to save herself after her husband, played by…
Tis the Season for Reflection
Another year, not enough travel! I’d hit the road all the time if my checkbook would let me. But I am grateful for all of the places I have been so far and to have goals about where I want to go in the future. For the present, I am grateful to be able to…
Three Inns I Always Want to Return to
Some places stick in your memory even decades after you’ve been there. There’s magic in their atmosphere, or good fairies floating in their mirrors, or memorable scents in their soaps that bring serenity on a visit. No matter how far away I get, these are the places to which I always want to return: The…
Traveling to Remember
Sitting at an outdoor café three blocks from the Rome Termini one morning 24 years ago waiting for my friend Julie to arrive, I had no appreciation of the folly of our planning. In the days before cell phones, all I knew for sure was that Julie was scheduled to arrive from the United States…
How to Feel like You’re Living in Florence
If I’m not reading stories, I’m trying to live them, and there’s no better place to do that than while traveling. I’m not so much seeking escape as looking for a going-to. No matter how long I’m in a new place, I want to feel like I live there. That’s harder for me in the…
Italy on a Budget: Rome Can Be Reasonable by Staying at the Hotel Suisse
Indulging in some multigenerational travel with the youthful adventurer, the Bashful Adventurer books a stay in the Hotel Suisse Rome. Will it work out?
Cancun Tours: How Good Is the Gray Line?
Three times on my recent trip to Cancun I wound up on a Gray Line tour, and my experiences ranged from “highly recommend—would sign up again” to a less-than-entirely-enthusiastic “you get what you pay for.” Working in 700 locations around the planet, this is an outfit with some depth and experience. Professionalism and quality were…