Travel Stories

 Some call them ‘sea cows.’ They belong to the family of marine mammals called ‘Sirenia’, after the ‘Sirens’ of Greek mythology: mermaid-style creatures whose irresistible beauty lured sailors to their deaths. Blubbery and be-whiskered, 10-feet long and weighing a thousand pounds, it’s hard to imagine anyone today mistaking a manatee for a seductive woman who […]

Colombia is reborn. Named after the 15th-century explorer of the Americas, Colombia stands out as the only nation in South America with coastlines on both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean, as well as being the leading source of coffee and emeralds in the world. Colombia has found new followers among savvy global travellers, who, in […]

If you missed your dose of exotic scenery and culture – or even winter sports adrenaline this year, one country’s desert can feed your travel imagination. The Qatar peninsula juts a hundred miles out from the Arabian Peninsula into the Persian Gulf. Most travellers to the region focus on the thrilling, ultra-modern capital city of […]

Spring may be the most hopeful season. There is nothing more uplifting than seeing Nature reborn every Spring. It’s like an assurance that life will get better again, no matter how tough the dark days of Winter – or life – have been. Between March’s Spring Equinox and the start of Summer on the Solstice […]

There’s a phrase in travel: ‘Multi-modal’. Think of ‘planes, trains and automobiles,’ where you complete your trip via a number of different types of transportation. Multi-modal travel is not new. But one version – larger-than-life journeys combining the romance of both cruise and rail – is picking up steam. Ships and trains are a natural fit, even […]

‘Spring flowers’ takes on new meaning in the tropics. With Costa Rica’s epic biodiversity and commitment to conservation, lush, green landscapes are a given any time you visit. But some of the Central American country’s botanical gems are best discovered not in the wilderness, but in gardens crafted by human hands. Here are five gardens […]

Spring brings longer days, warmer weather… and the thunder of hooves as horse racing begins in North America and Europe. On this side of the pond, there’s no better way to get your heart racing than to be in the stands for the legendary Kentucky Derby. Held on the first Saturday of May, the epic […]

It’s in the heart of one of the most historic neighborhoods in London. But this hotel has become a symbol of the future of travel. ibis Styles London Gloucester Road is in Kensington, within easy strolling distance of some of the English capital’s favorite landmarks, like the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Natural History Museum, […]

Many modern holiday celebrations put an irreverent twist on their historic – and often more solemn -traditions. Thailand’s Songkran may be one of the most extreme examples of that phenomenon. Ancient Thai culture marked the New Year in what we now call April. The word is Sanskrit, meaning ‘astrological passage’, and it coincides with the […]