Category Archives: Where To Stay

So, it turns out, I hate camping. In the jungle.

I’ve always loved camping. There’s something about carrying my belongings in a bag on my back, cooking my food over an open fire and even traveling by kayak deep into a forrest to find my bed for the evening that just makes my nerve endings feel like they are alive in a way that can’t be duplicated by other experiences.

This excited feeling is also present when I watch others camp. You know the scenes in “Out of Africa” when they are traveling through the plains to hunt and he washes her hair, cooks her dinner which they eat on china, plays music on a phonograph … my pulse is starting to race just thinking about it.

So, when I found myself perusing the itinerary for my recent trip to Costa Rica that included what looked like luxury camping in the jungle — I was filled with more than a few high expectations for how incredibly enjoyable my stay at Almonds & Corals would be.

As I well know, but seem to have forgot, pictures can be a little deceiving.

Almonds & Corals is very much in the middle of an active jungle. Snakes, monkeys, sloths, birds, and so many different varieties of bugs are a constant presence. At night, there is a chorus of animal calls that could cause a nervous person to fall off the brink and a light sleeper want to make themselves deaf (the latter being me). View full post »
While I have your attention: Learn more about my work this May with ProjectExplorer.org in Mauritius or donate to support the incredible things being done around the world through travel, video and cultural education!

Exploring Park City, Utah for #SundanceTrip

I don’t remember when it was that I developed a crush on Robert Redford but let’s just say I was probably inappropriately young. I grew up obsessed with movies and he was one of the many handsome stars I couldn’t help but swoon over. Naturally, I’ve followed his career with glee rarely missing a movie he makes. So when I was old enough to realize what Sundance really was and what it was about, of course I was interested. In the end, not just because Redford founded it but because it supports independent art and film. Two of my great loves …


So it is with a rather ridiculous amount of excitement that I am boarding a plane this Wednesday to cover the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah for Expedia. I’m checking off a bucket list item and attempting to brush away the butterflies that tell me I am not the kind of woman who can hang with celebrities as if it’s just any normal day in the life of. It’s ok – because Expedia can help anyone have incredible travel experiences and the point of my going to Park City is to show that. Sundance isn’t just for celebrities and neither is Park City during the festival.

That’s my theory anyway. View full post »

While I have your attention: Learn more about my work this May with ProjectExplorer.org in Mauritius or donate to support the incredible things being done around the world through travel, video and cultural education!

B is for “Take me Back to Barbados”

As winter sets about sealing us into our comfortable homes and apartments in the northeast portion of the United States, I am dreaming of a warm getaway. It’s not likely that I am the only one. This year, I was so blessed to visit Bahamas, Barbados and Jamaica. There isn’t even a fibre of my body that would object to returning to any of those places again right now.

But today, as the wind whips around my apartment building and I eye my passport sitting on top of my suitcase – it’s Barbados that occupies the largest part of my daydreams.

There are so many reasons I will forever rank this island amongst my favorite places …

B – Beach. All beaches in Barbados are public, even on resort properties. This makes it the ideal place for a traveler looking for sun, sand and turquoise water. One needn’t be confined to one beach, when they are all available!

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While I have your attention: Learn more about my work this May with ProjectExplorer.org in Mauritius or donate to support the incredible things being done around the world through travel, video and cultural education!

Where to Stay in London: Part 2

Though I do prefer to experience a place through the most local and authentic channels possible – sometimes there is nothing like a hotel at the end of a trip to really finish things on a high note.

So when I had the chance to end my 10-day stay in London with a stay at Tune Hotels, I was excited. Though Tune was convenient to Westminster and the London Eye, it was also tucked away enough into an area that is not particularly touristy that I still felt as if I was experiencing more of the “real London” when I explored around my hotel than if I had stayed in – well, Piccadilly Circus.

My friend Isabelle was staying at Tune during the same few days I was. Together, we managed to find the hotel on Westminster Bridge Road despite poor directions from a mutual friend and when we finally stumbled upon the red door right next to a coffee shop we were like explorers in a desert longing for an oasis. Tune was our Oasis. With smiling faces to greet us no less. (That’s not just the stock footage talking, ask Isabelle, the gentleman who greeted us was quite handsome and very friendly.)


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While I have your attention: Learn more about my work this May with ProjectExplorer.org in Mauritius or donate to support the incredible things being done around the world through travel, video and cultural education!

Where to Stay in London: Part 1

Whenever I travel I prefer to have the most authentic experience possible, that allows me to really get to know a culture and a place beyond tourism brochures and Top 10 lists (you won’t see them on my site). It isn’t always possible. However, it’s for this reason that I enjoy the chance to stay in apartments or with locals when I am traveling.

I had such an opportunity in London through Roomorama. Initially the experience was not a good one when the first apartment that was reserved fell through. I was already in London and on-site. However, my contact at Roomorama scrambled through the night to find a new place (she in Singapore, me on London time and desperately needing sleep) and around lunch time the next day –  I was finally in. WiFi problems persisted throughout my stay but even that provided an upside because I took more time to relax and enjoy downtime than I ever do when I have the benefit of connectivity.

The spacious, modern apartment on a canal in a residential area of London wasn’t particularly convenient to the tube or public bus routes however it was absolutely a local experience. During my stay there, I got to know the man at the corner store where I’d buy late night snacks, found a grocery store and shopped for many a meal (one with friends which led to a nice night in with pizza and beer), wandered the canal and watched the boats go by, even finally found the closest Overland station. It was wonderful to come home from a long day at a work conference and be able to have my own balcony, kitchen and private bathroom within my own private room. It was fulfilling to have what felt like a local experience instead of an insulated hotel-only experience in London! View full post »

While I have your attention: Learn more about my work this May with ProjectExplorer.org in Mauritius or donate to support the incredible things being done around the world through travel, video and cultural education!
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