Avenue Travel Feed

PaRx: Canadians Can Get Prescriptions to Visit National Parks

How good is active outdoor travel for your health and wellbeing? It’s so essential that doctors in Canada can now prescribe a ‘dose’ of nature to their patients.

“PaRx” is Canada’s first, national nature prescription program. It started in 2020 and has since won over a lot of supporters, including an award from the Canadian Medical Association, and over 1000 registered prescribers.

Doctors, nurses, and other licensed health care professionals can help their patients improve their health by prescribing time in Canada’s great outdoors.

Now, thanks to a new partnership with Parks Canada, PaRx lets Canadians ‘fill a prescription’ to get moving in natural outdoor spaces from coast to coast to coast.

PaRx-registered health care professionals can now prescribe a Parks Canada Discovery Pass that provides patients access to hundreds of national parks, historic sites and national marine conservation areas.

You know how good you feel when you travel – near or far – to spend time in Nature? It’s not your imagination. The benefits are real, and PaRx says “nature is a powerful way to improve your health.”

According to the organization, plenty of evidence attributes connecting with Nature with significantly better health and wellbeing.

· It helps patients with diabetes, heart disease, and pain reduction

· It gives people increased energy, reduced stress, anxiety and depression, better mood, and longer lives. Plus

· Kids who play in green spaces have better focus, move more, and have better motor skills

“This exciting collaboration with PaRx is a breakthrough for how we treat mental and physical health challenges, and couldn’t come at a better time as we continue to grapple with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our daily lives,” said Canada’s minister responsible for Parks Canada.

“I am confident this program will quickly show its enormous value to the well-being of patients as it continues to expand throughout the country.”

Canada isn’t the only place where the healing power of nature is just what the doctor ordered.

According to the Global Wellness Summit, nature ‘prescriptions’ were one of the top wellness trends in 2019 and the pandemic has only accelerated peoples’ appreciation of getting out into – and preserving – Nature.

As one prescribing physician says, “I like to think that every time one of my colleagues writes a nature prescription, we’re making the planet healthier too.”

Trips to the Great Outdoors have no single formula. Rustic or luxurious? Intensively athletic for the super fit, or accessible to those who just want to enjoy the fresh air, glorious scenery and moving? They can involve equipment like kayaks or snowshoes, expert guides, or simply sensible shoes and a signed trail.

Your travel advisor can’t prescribe you a dose of Nature. But they can help you design and plan the perfect outdoor vacation - in Canada or another natural destination on your travel bucket list.

Start your Nature Trip!

This Resort Has Built an Observatory to Tour Hawaii's Ancestral Night Skies

Ancient Hawaiian culture meets the astro-tourism trend in this new experience in Lana’i. If you are one of the many people who’ve found a new fascination with the night skies, the new observatory debuting in the Four Seasons Resort Lanai will be keeping you ‘up at nights’ thinking about this trip.

Four Seasons Resort Lanai has debuted the Lāna'i Observatory, offering a new astrotourism experience for Resort guests, Lāna'i residents and students.

The observatory’s telescope stands 135' high and weighs approximately 3,000 pounds. It is housed in a two-story domed structure that spans approximately 25 feet in diameter.

The Kilo Hōkū (“observing the stars”) Experience is a new cultural program at the resort. It’s a one-hour enrichment activity where local Love Lāna'I cultural advisors share ancestral knowledge of the celestial sphere as well as guide guests on a tour of the night sky.

Lāna'i is an ideal location to observe the stars, with low levels of atmospheric and light pollution to facilitate stargazing. Guests may see Hōkū /stars, and constellations including:

'A'ā Sirius

Hānaiakamalama Southern Cross

Hōkūpa'a Polaris

'Iwakeli'i Cassiopeia

Kaheiheionākeiki Orion

Kauluakoko Betelgeuse

Makali'i Pleiades

Nāhiku Big Dipper

Nākao Orions' belt and sword

The Hawaiian ancient knowledge of the skies is legendary, and the Kilo Hōkū Experience begins by sharing how indigenous Hawaiians and people of the Pacific used the celestial bodies and elements of the natural environment to guide their way on the ocean.

It is thought that voyages between Hawaiʻi and the South Pacific occurred as early as 400 A.D. A keenly developed ability to read the night sky helped early Polynesians find their way from island to island across the Pacific, and ultimately to Hawai'i. Their knowledge of the fixed celestial sphere was critical to guide their voyaging canoes over thousands of miles of open ocean. The expansive Pacific Ocean served as a superhighway, binding cultures together.

Following the presentation, guests are guided through a viewing experience through the telescope. Guests can look deep into the night sky at various celestial bodies such as planets, star clusters, galaxies, nebulae, and the spectacular moon.

Participants learn star stories from Hawaiian culture, “the history of ancient wayfinding as well as methods of traditional, non-instrument navigation that Native Hawaiians and people of the Pacific utilize today in attempts to retrace the voyages of our past so we can reclaim ancestral knowledge,' shared Four Seasons Resorts Lāna'i General Manager Alastair McAlpine.

'We look forward to sharing this unique experience to explore the stars, but also discover another aspect of Hawaiian culture.'

Future plans seek to include programming such as special guest speakers and presentations with 'Imiloa, the Astronomy Centre of Hawaii as well as educational programs tailored to Lāna'i students.

It may be the best way to spend an evening at the award-winning, low-rise Four Seasons Resort Lāna'i along the Pacific coastline. The Resort offers outdoor restaurants including NOBU LĀNA'I, spa, championship golf and tennis, a kids club, beach and pool with spacious seating areas nestled among tropical gardens, complimentary wellness classes, cultural workshops and luxury retail boutiques.

Start Your Star Gazing Trip!

Image courtesy Four Seasons Resort Lāna'i

New "Magical Kenya" Experiences Give Visitors Insider Access to Authentic Africa

Kenya may already be on your travel bucket list for a once-in-a-lifetime epic wildlife safari through its sweeping African landscapes. But visitors can now easily connect to its culture and lifestyle in more ways, thanks to a new program by Kenya’s tourism board.

The Magical Kenya Signature Experiences Collection is a growing selection of authentic and unique activities, accommodations, and tours for visitors with a wide range of interests in Nature, local arts and crafts, cuisine, sports, communities and more.

Each has been rigorously vetted and curated by the Kenya Tourist Board. In addition to being giving visitors the opportunity to immerse themselves in the best of Kenya, the experiences are chosen for being responsible to the environment and benefit their communities.

Already, dozens of experiences around Kenya have been added to the collection. Imagine how some of these activities and places would really make your trip to Kenya truly “magical.”

Safaris with a Twist

Alternative, camel-train supported walking safaris in Northern Kenya, famous for the largest diversity of the great mammals: elephants, big cats and other predators, zebras, hartebeest and more. These ecology and conservation minded foot safaris provide perspective on the wildlife but also the land that homes them.

‘Vintage’ safaris, self-driven in Land Rovers dating back to the 1950’s. In a vast, private conservancy in Northern Kenya, overlooking snow-capped Mt. Kenya, guests at a canvas camp overlooking a watering hole that draws wildlife daily. From that base camp, you can walk, drive, climb and camp in woodland or savanna in search of views of wildlife, spend time learning from Maasai elders, and communing with nature and yourself.

“In the footsteps of the Lioness” immerses guests in the fascinating history of Meru made famous by Born Free, the bestselling novel and subsequent award-winning movie released in 1966 recounting the lives of George and Joy Adamson and Elsa the lioness in Meru, that made a wildlife park in Kenya the stuff of Hollywood legend.

A “Rhino Extravaganza” brings you up close and immersed in the lives of rhinos in a 45,000 acre game reserve where the magnificent creatures live in prolific numbers. And a “Black Rhino Tracking Experience” while staying at a remote river camp in Sera Conservancy gives guests a unique, hands-on wildlife encounter.

History, Arts and Culture

The “Warrior Academy” allows you to be immersed in the philosophies, practices, and teachings of Maasai Warriors in the iconic Mara North Conservancy.

Explore Thimlich Ohinga, with the National Museums of Kenya. It’s a 16^th century stone complex that employs local traditional interlocking technology, and the experience gives visitors insights into Kenya’s tangible, archaeological history.

On the edge of Nairobi National Park, you can even experience the unique process of glass blowing at a workshop that creates recycled glass pieces.

Kenya on Film

Kenya has been the backdrop to some epic storytelling on the silver screen, and some of the Magical Kenya experiences let you engage in some of those tales.

Pride Rock in Borana Conservancy is the inspiration for Pride Rock – yes, ‘that’ dramatic promontory - in Disney’s animated film The Lion King.

Did you swoon over Out of Africa? Two of the experiences keep that story of star-crossed lovers in African landscapes alive.

Karen Blixen by National Museums of Kenya brings you inside the country’s first house museum: the former home of Baroness Blixen, whose autobiographical book inspired the movie. The Oscar-winning movie was actually filmed at her house, so the connection is complete.

Blixen’s ill-fated lover, Denys Finch Hatton, went from hunting safari leader to early conservation advocate during the inter-war years. That bygone era, and Finch Hatton himself, inspired this luxury safari, 5-star boutique hotel named Finch Hattons. Surrounded by untouched wilderness, and with views of Mt. Kilimanjaro and the Chyulu hills in Tsavo West National park, guests stay at Architectural Digest award-winning Finch Hattons Luxury Tented Camp, enjoying tailor-makes experiences “reminiscent of Old Africa.”

Accommodations

It’s safe to say that bygone era of ‘Old Africa’ inspired future generations who have come to re-embrace what we now call ‘glamping’ (or glamorous camping.) No one does it like Kenya.

From tents to treetops, on beaches or in coffee plantations, or in the mountains, Kenya’s the place to get ‘outside the box’ of a traditional hotel room.

Another standout “Magical Kenya” experience are the “Star Beds at Loisaba” (above and top), where guests stay in “the biggest bedroom in the world” – under the African night sky. Poised on a rocky hill, the Loisaba Star Beds are handcrafted, four-poster wooden beds on raised wooden platforms jutting out from a thatched-roofs overlooking the vast scenery and visiting wildlife below. A team of traditional Samburu & Laikipiak Maasai warriors welcome and host guests.

There are also homestay opportunities for visitors to experience Kenyans’ modern family lifestyles.

Sports and Outdoor Activities

You can go beyond safari in Kenya with a vast range of activities that connect people of many abilities with the outdoors from mountains to rivers and village landscapes. Imagine:

Yoga at sunset in a treehouse.
Mountain climbing and fishing expeditions on Mt. Kenya.
Rafting or kayaking down one of Kenya’s longest rivers.
For more extreme outdoor activities, you can even go ziplining, rock climbing, or abseiling in a Kenyan outdoor adventure of a lifetime.
Cycling in the Mara in a whole-new approach to safaris, or take a winning beach village destination on a cycling tour.
“Golfing in the Wild” of an African setting.
Helicopter tours, that include one of remote desert landscapes and sand dunes, and another that soars over Mt. Kenya and even takes guests fly fishing in crater lakes hidden in its valleys.

In the Surf

Kenya’s almost as famous for its seaside as it is for its safaris. Add Humpback Whale Watching or Stand Up Paddleboarding surrounded by dolphins on your beach schedule in the country.

Farming and Dining

Visitors to Kenya can get off the beaten track to experience farm life. Some are associated with Lodges, others are small, independent family farms.

You may have heard about Giraffe Manor. Where else in the world can you share your breakfast table with a wild African giraffe, sipping a freshly brewed coffee whilst the tallest animal on the planet peaks in curiously at you?

Kenya’s coast has historically been dotted with Arabian dhows sailing from the north, and you can dine on board a floating dhow restaurant while soaking in the sights and sounds of Mombasa’s coastal skyline.

If a Safari in Africa is a bucket-list item you’re hoping to cross off soon, let your travel advisor help you plan enriching ways to extend your trip and make your Kenyan trip even more ‘magical.’

Start your African Safari Trip!

Images courtesy Kenya Tourism Board

The Very First National Park Turns 150

It’s not just the first national park in the U.S. It’s the first national park in the world. In March, 1872, American president Ulysses S. Grant signed into law the establishment of Yellowstone National Park to preserve and protect some of the country’s most emblematic scenery and wildlife for future generations.

That first national park represented the start of the entire U.S. National Park system. Today, the National Park Service manages 85 million acres of land, comprising 63 National Parks and over 400 National Park sites.

But Yellowstone’s 2 million-plus acres remain a standout among America’s most spectacular natural and historic treasures even 150 years later.

Yellowstone National Park is part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, said to be one of the last – and largest – and nearly intact - ecosystems in the world.

The park has the most active and intact collections of “geothermal features” on the planet. It’s comprised of 10,000 hydrothermal sites plus half of the active geysers in the entire world, including the famous geyser Old Faithful. While not the tallest geyser in Yellowstone or even the one that erupts the longest, it has the distinction of being the most predictable, erupting every 44 minutes to two hours.

The geysers alone make Yellowstone incredible. But the park also has two dozen entries on the National Register of Historic Places. And other majestic natural features, plus a very famous and note-worthy inhabitant.

Early techniques of park management involved eliminating nearly all natural predator animals in Yellowstone, permitted hunting bison to the extent that less than two dozen of the massive, essential herbivores remained, and introduced non-local fish species that decimated native fish.

Better knowledge and practices mean that today, the Park is, according to the National Park Service, “the healthiest it has been in over a century.” Yellowstone has seen the return of predators like wolves, grizzly bears, and native fish.

But the bison may be Yellowstone’s most symbolic success story.

Although near extinction at the turn of the 20^th century, the largest land animal in North America is now over 5000 strong in the park. After the US Army beefed up its protection of bison from poaching a century ago, and bison from private herds were sourced to help boost the herd in Yellowstone, the park has become the only place in mainland USA to have a continuous, free-ranging bison herd since prehistoric times.

Many of Yellowstone’s greatest features and successes have connections to Native American Tribes. Before any human of European heritage set eyes on its wonders, let alone designated it a U.S. National Park, Native Americans lived, used the thermal waters for faith and medicinal practices, hunted, fished, gathered plant life, and even quarried obsidian stone for 10,000 years in the parklands.

Over two dozen tribes have connections to the millions of acres of Yellowstone, as it’s located where the Great Plains, Great Basin and Columbia Plateau meet on lands straddling what are now the states of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.

And for its 150^th anniversary, America’s largest national park will commemorate and share the land’s Indigenous history and values.

In the summer of 2022, Yellowstone Old Faithful Lodge will host Native American public art installations, a Marketplace featuring work from tribal artists, and the “Historic Yellow Bus” will tour the Old Faithful district.

Tribes are also planning a gathering in celebration on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming in June, and in August, Teepee Village will be erected by several tribes near Roosevelt Arch.

Park superintendent Cam Sholly says the Village and other 150^th anniversary commemorations, “will be an opportunity for multiple tribal nations to be here on the landscape in the park, directly interfacing with visitors and talking about and educating visitors about their culture and their heritage.”

Additional park anniversary activities include horse club rides and parades, groundbreaking ceremonies, ribbon cuttings, inter‐tribal bimonthly virtual video series gatherings, family‐friendly Old Faithful sponsored experiments, and social media events that will engage travelers both near and far.

This may be the perfect year to acquaint or reacquaint yourself and your family with the groundbreaking Park or any national park in this historic year. Escorted tours, epic trains, historic lodges and outdoor experiences are all part of National Park travel.

Start Your National Park Trip!

You’ll Love This New Generation of Private Island Resorts

There’s a new generation of private islands. One that creates an environment for guests to vacation their way to becoming their best selves.

Scratch any impressions you have of private islands inhabited by music moguls jet-skiing with nude models, royalty sneaking around with other people’s spouses, or tech billionaires popping magnums of champagne.

The new private island experience isn’t just about seclusion away from prying eyes.

It’s about the ultimate spirit of togetherness with a group of people you value most in the world – having the uplifting and inspiring shared experience of a customized vacation that provides all the means for you to leave better than when you arrived.

Imagine having an entire island all to yourself for a family gathering, the ultimate destination wedding, vow renewal, reunion, or team-building exercise.

The new type of private island is exclusive, but at the same time also more easily sourced and booked than ever before. Your trusted travel advisor can help you craft an end-to-end private island retreat that will transform your idea of a tropical vacation.

Here’s one of our favorite examples of private islands that’s breaking the mould and redefining what a private island vacation can mean.

The Aerial BVI

This 43-acre private island destination in the British Virgin Islands is nestled among fourteen surrounding islands, with both stunning sunrises and sunsets.

The new approach to the private island experience comes from its most recent owner, a self-made young woman entrepreneur. Her vision is to “provide guests with the space to find their center again, eat healing food, reconnect to nature and loved ones, and discover what matters most.”

Like the best of private island experiences, guests enjoy the services of a full staff of chefs, hosts, activities managers, housekeeping and watersports teams, boat captains, island concierge and everything needed to fulfil your every need – whether you know you need it or not.

Spectacular Tropical Island Home Away From Home

The Aerial welcomes 26 guests in five residences with names that channel the owner’s aspirations for those coming to the island: Unity House, Faith House, Serenity House, and the Love and Grace Villas.

Rooms in each residence are unique, and as you might expect, they flow into their island surroundings allowing guests to feel part of the natural environment, with island and ocean views dominating sightlines.

Rooms are outfitted in different ways to feed different guest needs ranging from relaxation to reflection, to romance to writing to simply engaging with the outdoors: relaxing daybeds, serene “focus spaces” with writer’s desks for those who want to journal their journeys, private, cliffside balconies, chair swings, outdoor showers or soaking tubs, romantic stargazing decks, and balconies overlooking the infinity pool, to name a few.

Healing Cuisine

The Aerial challenges its guests to think outside the box of private chefs and indulgent dishes.

Its dining, while delicious and satisfying, is about providing “healing,” cuisine that helps guests to “think their best, feel their best, create at their best and connect to the planet in a beautiful and sustainable way.”

The private island resort sources ingredients from local providers in the British Virgin Islands in what it says is a true producer-to-table experience. Food that can’t be bought locally is sustainably sourced. There’s still comfort and fun at the table, though – the resort even has a wood burning pizza oven.

Private Island, Private Beach… and Beyond

On a private island, the world – or at least the island- is your oyster. The white sand beach is reserved for you and your private party. But The Aerial, in keeping with its personal, physical and spiritual growth mission, has its own distinct twist on private island activities.

Of course you expect the luxuries of a spa and healing center on the beach, an infinity pool, multiple bars including a beach bar, ping-pong, a yacht, Hobie Cats and a full complement of watersports, and even a recording studio. A wood burning fire pit on the beach? Check.

Those in search of self-improvement and relaxation can participate in yoga in inspired places, guided meditation and writing. Get your blood pumping hiking miles of island-wide trails. Reflect on our place in the universe stargazing.

There’s memory-making fun for families and adults trying to rediscover their inner child. A fleet of pastel-colored, electric Mini Mokes. On the beach: a tribal gym set, giant Jenga and giant Connect 4 and movies and bonfires on the beach.

And beyond your wildest dreams! “Indy’s Redemption Ranch” on the island is home to rescued former race horses, miniature ponies, and even a handful of zebras. Riding on the beach and hand feeding the herd is just the beginning. Swimming with the ponies and guided equine therapy take ranch-on-the-beach to a whole different level.

The Aerial replaces traditional concepts of private island resorts with conscious travel that reconnects you and your select group of guests with the wonders of Nature, and gives you the inspired spaces, seclusion, and activities to discover your very best life.

Start Your Private Island Trip!

5 Places to Celebrate Shakespeare's Birthday

Whether or not you loved studying Shakespeare in school, chances are, to this day you regularly hear - and use – lines from his 154 sonnets and 39 plays that are still continuously being staged in theaters around the world, more than any other playwright in any language. That’s not a bad linguistic legacy for someone who was born nearly 500 years ago.

Recognize any of these pearls of wisdom? All the words of Shakespeare, who was born April 26, 1564.

“To be or not to be, that is the question.”
“That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”
“To thine own self be true.”
“All the world’s a stage.”
“All that glitters is not gold.”
And even:
“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”

Well, “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.”

Because while Shakespeare was born, lived, worked, and died in Elizabethan England, his life and works are a travel bucket list even today.

Stratford-Upon-Avon, England

Shakespeare was born and raised – and died - in this picturesque town in Warwickshire. Visitors today can visit the ‘Bard of Avon’s’ birthplace and burial site for an immersion into Shakespearean life.

In Stratford-Upon-Avon, William Shakespeare’s birthplace and childhood home explores his continued influence on the modern world through an enormous collection of artifacts.

At the former home of his wife-to-be, Anne Hathaway’s Cottage (pictured top), visitors can relive his own real-life love story and see much of the original building, which remains as it was 500 years ago.

Above and Top Image: VisitBritain/LeeBeel

Don’t leave Stratford without experiencing Shakespeare’s immortal words in an authentic performance. The Royal Shakespeare Company regularly brings the works of the Bard to life showcased at the 1,000-seat, classified historic Royal Shakespeare Theatre on the banks of the River Avon (pictured above). You can find out which plays are being staged in the current season on the RSC’s website www.rsc.org.uk

Stratford, Canada

There’s another Stratford on another Avon River, and they’re in Canada, a couple of hours southwest of Toronto. Both were named after their English counterparts by British settlers in the area in the 19^th century.

To complete the connection to the birthplace of Shakespeare, the town was gifted a pair of Mute Swans in the early 1900’s that started a colony that lives on to this day. Swans were often referred to by Shakespeare and the Swan of Avon was even one of his nicknames.

Since the 1950’s, Canada's The Stratford Festival has faithfully staged the works of the Bard of Avon in an annual summer Shakespeare theater festival.

It’s one of the first, and remains one of the most prominent arts festivals in Canada. Drawing a million Shakespeare and theater lovers, it’s recognized worldwide as one of the most prominent Shakespeare festivals. Seasons often feature famous Canadian actors returning from Hollywood for the summer.

Denmark

Shakespeare isn’t believed to have visited Denmark, but Elsinore castle - the setting of the dark drama Hamlet – is only part fiction.

There is indeed a castle at Helsingor, Denmark, which read in English is Elsinore. Kronborg Castle has existed at Helsingor since 1420 and was a key Danish coastal toll point for ships en route to the Baltic Sea.

Once one of the most important towns in Europe, it would have been a well-known name to Shakespeare, and the rocky, wind-swept, weathered coasts of Denmark are key mood-makers in Hamlet.

You can still visit “Elsinore” castle on an easy day trip from Copenhagen (pictured above) . Don’t miss the mighty stone statue of Holger the Dane in the castle’s catacombs. The legendary figure in Danish culture is said to be ready to awaken from his rock throne under Elsinore to defend Denmark if the country is ever in trouble.

So-called “Hamlet’s Castle” also holds live performances of Shakespeare’s plays at its summer Shakespeare Festival. Danish and international companies, including Britain's Royal Shakespeare Company, perform.

Italy

Over a dozen of Shakespeare’s plays are set in Italy – although it’s not clear if the Bard ever traveled there.

You can, though. And while many travellers know the attractions of Venice, site of The Merchant of Venice, fewer people have Verona on their travel list.

This northern Italian city, not far from Venice, is the setting for Shakespeare’s most popular, most performed and imitated play, Romeo and Juliet. You probably know that even West Side Story is a ‘modern,’ American reboot of Shakespeare’s timeless tale of star-crossed lovers.

Shakespeare’s ‘fair Verona’ in the 1300’s is a rather vague setting for the fictional villas and characters of Romeo and Juliet’s feuding families.

In today's real-life Verona, with its Roman monuments, including an ancient amphitheater and an Arena, as well as a remarkable core of Romanesque architecture, the ancient Roman Arena is the magnificent home of Verona’s opera season, and the city is renowned, if not for Shakespeare, then for its Italian artistic and cultural heritage.

One very tangible connection to the play exists for visitors, though. A real 13th century building - dubbed 'Juliet's Balcony' in Verona - is happy to lay claim to the Shakespearean romance. The balcony (picture above) on the house once owned by the Cappello family - similar to the Italian version, Capelletti, of Juliet's surname 'Capulet' - draws crowds of fans. You'll find a statue of Juliet in the courtyard below 'her' balcony, and a museum inside with Elizabethan-era costumes plus the actual bed used in the 1968 film adaptation.

Scotland

While Shakespeare lived in England – on the same island as Scotland - it’s not believed the playwright ever ventured that far from Stratford or London.

Nonetheless, the well-known lore and sites of the Scottish Highlands to the north gave him the basis for the evergreen, mad-with-power cautionary tale of Macbeth.

(Glamis Castle, Inverness, Scotland. Photo: BestTrip TV)

“The Scottish Play” as it’s often called, was mainly set in real Scottish castles you can visit today, including Inverness, Dunsinane, Cawdor, and Glamis Castle (which also has the distinction of being the childhood home of the 20^th century Queen Mother).

There was actually once a real Scottish king named Macbeth, and although Shakespeare’s tragedy is set in Scotland in ancient times, the events – including the supernatural elements of the Three Witches and a moving forest, are pure fiction.

But the mystique and the drama of the Scottish Highlands remains for today’s travellers to experience.

Start your Trip!

By: Lynn Elmhirst, Producer/ Host, BestTrip TV

North American Cruising is Complete: Canada Reopens, Intra-Island Hawaiian Cruises Resume

The return of cruise travel has looked like a bit of a jigsaw puzzle. Piece by piece, cruise lines have worked out how to resurrect itineraries within the Caribbean, from the U.S. to the Caribbean, between the U.S. and Mexico… you can see the picture.

Now at last, with the final two pieces, the puzzle – or rather, the cruise map of North America - is complete.

Travellers can now book cruises to the entire continent.

Holland America Line’s Konigsdam 1st Ship Back to Canada After 905 Days

After a long two seasons, cruising to Canada is back.

On April 9^th, 2022, Holland America Line’s Konigsdam ship made its maiden call to Victoria on Vancouver Island (pictured, above.)

The following day, April 10^th, the Konigsdam called at the Port of Vancouver on the mainland (pictured below), another maiden call for the ship that’s spending its first season sailing Alaska itineraries.

The Konigsdam’s first calls to the British Columbia ports also symbolically reopened cruising to Canada.

From this point, Konigsdam is homeported in Vancouver for the summer Alaska cruise season. The Pacific Northwest coast will soon be busy with more ships from other cruise lines, from small luxury ships, expedition ships, to mega ships, all traveling up and down the Inside Passage from Canadian or U.S. ports like Seattle to restore cruising to Alaska.

It’s not just reopening West Coast cruises in Canada.

Cruises in Eastern Canada, from Montreal or Quebec City, along the St. Lawrence Seaway for Canada & New England cruises are now able to return, too. They too begin within weeks.

That means both of Canada’s coasts – and in fact, Arctic cruising along Canada’s northern-most coasts – has returned.

'We are thrilled to be the first cruise line back into Canada after such a long absence, and we look forward to celebrating a great moment for everyone who loves to travel and for those in Canada and Alaska whose livelihoods depend on tourism,” said Gus Antorcha, president of Holland America Line. Port celebrations marked the arrival of the Konigsdam and the corresponding return of cruising on all of Canada’s coasts.

In total for 2022, Holland America Line operates 141 cruises on eight ships in Canada.''Holland America Line has a robust schedule of cruises that explore Canadian ports on both coasts with Alaska, Hawaii, transatlantic and Canada and New England itineraries.”

Speaking of Hawaii…

Aloha! Now You Can Cruise From Hawaii

In a final piece to complete the entire map of North American cruising, inter-island (that is, Hawaii – Hawaii) cruising has also returned.

Ships have been permitted to depart from the West Coast and sail to or call in Hawaii.

But on April 11^th, Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of America returned to service. As a rare, U.S.-flagged ship, it’s the only large ship allowed to sail roundtrip within the Hawaiian islands.

Norwegian’s Pride of America has been dedicated to sailing exclusively Hawaii-Hawaii itineraries year round, and it’s now resumed sailing weekly, seven-day roundtrip voyages from Honolulu.

The unique itinerary gives guests on board nearly a hundred hours of time in port to explore four Hawaiian islands over the course of the week. The ship overnights in Maui and Kauai to allow guests time to be more immersed in experiences on shore, as well as the spectacular sights of the Napali Coast.

'Being the only cruise line to sail year-round from Hawai’i, we’re thrilled to be back at last,' said Norwegian Cruise Line President and Chief Executive Officer Harry Sommer on the cruise ship’s return.

'Pride of America will once again offer thoroughly immersive itineraries and deeply authentic experiences that support business and tourism in Hawai’i, while providing travelers with everything they seek from a vacation in paradise.'

Between the Konigsdam’s arrival in B.C. and Pride of America’s resumption of intra-island Hawaiian itineraries, cruise travelers can look to any of North America’s close-to-home, but wildly diverse cruise destinations for their next dream cruise vacation.

Start your Cruise Trip!

By: Lynn Elmhirst, Producer/ Host and Cruise Expert, BestTrip TV

Images of the Konigsdam in Victoria and Vancouver courtesy of Holland America Line.

Images of Pride of America and cruise guests in Hawaii courtesy of Norwegian Cruise Line.

The Most Expensive Airline Ticket in History Breaks New Ground for Travel

A Spanish airline has become the first carrier to have a plane ticket ‘minted’ on the blockchain. When that first ‘NFTicket’ was auctioned off, it broke a record for the most valuable airline ticket ever sold in the history of commercial aviation – to the tune of over a million dollars!

TravelX, a company building the travel world’s first blockchain-based travel distribution system, partnered with Spain-based airline Air Europa to pioneer a new way of issuing travel tickets – and smashing into the stratosphere of ticket prices in the process.

On April 25, 2022, the two companies’ world-first NFT (Non-Fungible Token) Flight Ticket – or ‘NFTicket’ closed at auction with a value of USD $1,002,000.

At a VIP event at the Eiffel Tower, the final bid for the first-ever NFTicket was revealed (image via TravelX’ Instagram.)

“We see this as a bet on the future, allowing us to apply a layer of service experience that transforms our customer offering,' explained Valentín Lago, CEO of Air Europa on the history-changing occasion.

TravelX is using new technology to reimagine how travel is distributed to travel consumers. Its work in developing the first NFTicket is a step towards using blockchain technology to help “travelers to have a more frictionless experience,” said Juan Pablo Lafosse, co-founder at TravelX.

The companies actually minted 10 NFTickets. The remaining nine will be auctioned off over the coming weeks.

More Than Just a Plane Ticket

TravelX explains what makes an NFTicket so special – beyond the price tag. According to the company, “The NFTicket is the perfect fusion of Art, Travel & Technology.”

Technology

An NFTicket is a non-fungible token (NFT) ticket that handles every travel record as an NFT. An NFT is a unique and uncopy-able piece of digital content tied to the blockchain. Blockchain refers to a shared list of encrypted digital records or a ledger that flawlessly and securely tracks transactions.

The blockchain gives security, authenticity, and unchangeability to the ticket. That allows for owners of NFTickets to trade and manage them as verifiable assets.

TravelX worked on a fully carbon-negative blockchain infrastructure to mint the world’s first NFTickets, allaying frequent concerns about the enormous amount of energy often consumed by blockchain technology.

Art

In the case of the Air Europa flight NFTickets, each is also designed by a renowned artist. That brings “meaning and art into what was once a simple flight ticket.”

'We are honored to work with amazing artists, like Carlos Betancourt, to make these first 10 NFTickets even more special and eternally collectible,” said TravelX’ LaFosse.

NFT’s and these NFTickets are compared to digital baseball cards. They have value and collectability beyond their ‘face value’ / purpose. And they can be ‘traded.’ All ‘trades’ or transactions are recorded safely and securely on the blockchain.

Travel

When the NFTicket owner is ready to travel, they can present the NFT and a matching ticket is issued in the traditional way.

Each of the first 10 NFTickets contains a digital work of art, flight ticket access to a trip on November 29, 2022 from Madrid to Miami in an exclusive Air Europa business cabin, and the key to unlocking access to a series of unique and exclusive events during MIAMI ART WEEK for its owners.

“But, we know that the excitement and value generated with this first ever NFTicket is also recognition and validation of a real-world application for NFTs. We believe this could become the new standard for the travel industry.'

Another NFT 'First' in Travel

That may have been the first NFTicket, but it's not the first time travel-related NFT's have been auctioned.

(Titled “Norwegian Prima Hull Art,” this NFT reflects the captivating and innovative design created for Norwegian Prima’s stunning hull art. The art piece was designed to be visible from any vantage point, highlighting fluid shapes, with unperceivable beginning and ends, like an ocean. On Norwegian Prima, blue swirls are depicted as freely moving all over the hull, mimicking the undulating movement of water.)

Earlier in April, Norwegian Cruise Line's industry-first NFT art collection sold out in just twenty minutes. The cruise line launched its new, NFT Marketplace, which you can see here at https://nft.ncl.com. Its debut collection was created by the Italian artist who designed the hull art on the cruise line's upcoming new, first-of-its-new-class of ships Norwegian Prima.

(Renderings of the first two, Prima-class ships for Norwegian Cruise Line: Norwegian Prima and Viva)

All proceeds from the NFT auction and primary sales are being donated to Teach for America, and the winner of the auction was also awarded a place on the Norwegian Prima's inaugural U.S. voyage.

Start Your Trip!

The Hotel Chain Carrying on 75 Years of Pan Am Style

It was three-quarters of a century ago when the founder of uber-chic, trend-setting icon of mid-century jet-setting Pan Am decided to launch a hotel chain to bring its super style to the cities the airline served. Jet setters were paying a premium for the expanding luxury of high-flying air travel, and Juan Trippe knew they wanted their destination hotels to be just as memorable as a Pan Am flight.

The iconic airline is no longer – but InterContinental Hotels & Resorts is here to stay.

And since its beginning, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts has captured the allure of international travel for its guests, pioneering landmark hospitality design.

In the early days, one person was largely responsible for the look and feel of InterContinental hotels. From 1961-86, Neal Prince was the Staff Vice President of Interior Design Division for the then Intercontinental Hotels Corporation. He led the design and opening of over 150 hotels around the world. Prince was famed for creating the “look” of the InterContinental of the era, while also working with local materials, artists and craftsman to refine the feel in line with the destination. His work gained global acclaim and influenced the hotel industry even long after he retired.

Today, InterContinental works with the world’s most celebrated architects and designers to develop new projects with iconic architecture that also speaks to the distinct culture of the local destination, or existing spaces with historic significance and deep local meaning.

While design trends, hotel amenities and service have evolved, InterContinental’s focus on showstopping contemporary architecture or cultural heritage sites, from historic buildings to city landmarks and immersive resorts – always in sought-after locations – mean the views outward match the chic factor of views indoors.

Have you tried any of these rooms with a stylish view?

InterContinental Lyon – Hotel Dieu is set in a former hospital building alongside France’s Rhone river. Dating back to the renaissance period, the palace-like architecture was a contrast with its humble function, but its medical service to all, regardless of rank, made it one of the city’s most emblematic historical landmark buildings.

As a design hotel today, it offers stunning views of the Rhône river, visible through huge windows, which are part of the hotel’s historic façade.

InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort is influenced by nearby Vietnamese temples. The rooms have traditionally crafted touches, including carved panels of merawan wood, richly embroidered silks, and custom-made ceramic tiles.

Soak in the sites of the U.S. Capital from the comfort of the Jenny Lind Suite at InterContinental The Willard Washington D.C. (pictured top.) With views of the Washington Monument, guests can live the glamour of the national capital.

The Mayfair Collection, a selection of suites and rooms at InterContinental London Park Lane, offers guests private views of Hyde Park and Wellington Arch, some of London’s most quintessential landmarks.

Discover the traditions of Japan’s natural hot springs in modern surroundings, with ANA InterContinental Beppu Resort & Spa’s private onsen rooms with a balcony overlooking Beppu.

Start Your Design Hotel Trip!

Buenos Aires, Tango and More Reasons to Visit Argentina

Spring in the northern hemisphere is a wonderful time to visit Argentina as the southern hemisphere cools down from summer heat.

From Argentina’s remote mountain ranges, to wine regions and cattle ranches, to its natural wonder of the world, there’s a world of excitement outside the one-of-a-kind atmosphere of Buenos Aires, called the ‘Paris of South America.’

BUENOS AIRES

WATCH THE VIDEO to see highlights of our Monograms Tour of Buenos Aires.

In the capital of Argentina, we discovered a new favorite way to get to know a city.

Monograms tours give guests the VIP treatment: a Local Host and driver to pick you up and drop you off when you're arriving and departing from the city, a private guided tour of the city to see the highlights and get your feet under you; gives you a choice of a selection of experiences integral to life in town, plus your Local Host is available throughout your stay to provide tips and advice to make sure you get the very most out of your trip.

It's the perfect combination of independent traveling and having an expert local friend in town.

In Buenos Aires, we toured the diverse neighborhoods of BA, from colorful La Boca near the docks where tango was born, to the very Parisian part of town where a famous cemetery is the eternal resting place of Eva Peron, heroine of the musical Evita!, and got a bird’s eye view over the world's widest boulevard. We topped off our evening with a dinner show of traditional tango, what may be the world’s sexiest dance.

Autumn in Buenos Aires also sees the launch of a new season of cultural performances, with the opera, ballet and concerts at the breathtaking Teatro Colón leading the way. The breathtaking building – ranked amongst the top 10 opera houses in the world for its beauty, acoustics and the quality of its performances, looks like it was transplanted from an elegant European city.

But don’t stop your trip at the outskirts of BA.

PATAGONIA and the END OF THE WORLD

Fly to Patagonia to the foothills of the Andes to experience some of the world's most breathtaking vistas. The beauty of Patagonia is even more stunning in the fall when its forests burst into fiery colors with the backdrop of snow-capped Andean peaks.

Plan a visit to El Chaltén – one of the most picturesque towns in Patagonia famous for its hiking circuits – to take in its dramatic landscapes painted in a palette of vibrant reds, oranges, yellows and greens without the large summer crowds.

The scenery transitions to icy blues at the nearby glaciers in Los Glaciares National Park – the largest of Argentina's national parks and a UNESCO-listed World Heritage site.

Take time for a road trip. The Ruta de los Siete Lagos (Road of the Seven Lakes) is considered one of the most famous and scenic drives in Argentina. It links the Patagonian resort towns of San Martín de los Andes to Villa La Angostura. This segment of Argentina's legendary ‘Ruta 40’ winds through multi-colored lakes that range from metallic blues, sunlit emeralds and translucent sapphires, among some of the most spectacular in Patagonia.

Radiant fall colors illuminate Ushuaia, the city at the end of the world, and of Tierra del Fuego, where you’ll encounter fewer fellow visitors following the peak summer travel season. The off-peak season of travel lets you luxuriate in the remote wilderness that is the essence of the last city and embarkation port for Antarctica.

FALL IN LOVE WITH IGUAZU FALLS

North of BA, on the border with Brazil is another natural wonder and UNESCO World Heritage site.

Fall brings a drop in temperatures, humidity and summer high season crowds in the lush, subtropical rainforest surrounding one of the world’s most famous waterfalls. The two-step waterfalls form part of the largest waterfall system in the world.

The Argentina–Brazil border runs through the picturesquely-named narrow chasm called Devil's Throat. Brazil is on one bank. It’s home to more than 95% of the Iguazu River basin but has just over 20% of the jumps of these falls. On the other, Argentine side makes up almost 80% of the falls.

WINE TASTING IN MENDOZA

If there’s anything that makes natural beauty even more appealing, it must be wine.

Argentina's largest wine producing province of Mendoza offers not just vineyard-hopping and wine tasting. You’ll find wild terrain, snow-capped peaks, wild rivers and canyons enhanced in the southern hemisphere’s autumn harvest season with ochre and yellow hues of trees lining the roads.

LA PAMPA

Argentina’s famous Pampas, are the sprawling grassy plains that have shaped its gaucho – or cowboy - culture.

In La Pampa province, you can experience the immensity of these plains and sierras that extend as far as the eye can see and immerse yourself in the traditions of Argentine gauchos, visit classic estancias and regale in an authentic asado (Argentine barbecue).

AND ADVENTURE IN THE ATUEL CANYON

Argentina’s great outdoors isn’t just a place for delectable wine and awe-inspiring natural wonders.

The Atuel Canyon is a popular destination for active travel lovers for its adventure sports, including river rafting, tubing, hiking, horseback riding and mountain biking. Then you can treat yourself to a thermal bath at Villavicencio.

Start your Argentina Trip!

Take a Walk on New Zealand's Wild Side on a Multi-Day 'Great Walk'

New Zealand is opening again to international visitors at the beginning of May, 2022, and for outdoor travel lovers, it couldn't come at a better time. 2022 marks the 30^th year of the country’s ‘Great Walks.’

‘Great Walks’ are ‘great’ three times over:

·They aren’t afternoon strolls. These are walks of epic proportions - a network of ten, multi-day walks across the north and south islands of New Zealand.

·They are about conservation as much as being active outdoors. The network of ‘Great Walks’ was developed by the country’s Department of Conservation to preserve and protect precious their ecosystems from being over-loved by a growing number of walkers.

·Plus, the ‘Great Walks’ provide unparalleled access to some of the country’s most incredible natural landscapes, wildlife, and cultural heritage sites.

In just the last decade, a million visitors have experienced the Great Walks, by walking, running, biking, or even paddling.

Visitors on their multi-day soft adventure can stay in one of the 950 huts, do the whole 14,000 kilometers of tracks, or just a small section, camp in one of the 300 campsites, or visit one of the thousands of cultural heritage sites along the Great Walks.

The anniversary celebrates three decades of helping people get into nature and the great outdoors while still ‘treading lightly’ on the earth. And it commemorates 30 years of protecting and restoring the Great Walks landscapes, increasing the biodiversity of the ecosystems, and the conservation work of the Department, local Maori tribes, and communities across New Zealand.

The protections put in place on Great Walks include limiting numbers through a booking system for a set amount of hut and campsite spaces and rules for camping practices in these precious outdoor spaces.

One of the Great Walks has earned the nickname ‘the finest walk in the world.’ Not surprisingly, the Milford Track is the most popular Great Walk. Bookings for this walk sold out in 15 minutes in 2021.

Make one of these ‘Great Walks’ part of your next exploration of New Zealand. Depending on your interests and fitness, there’s a Great Walk in New Zealand for everyone.

1. Abel Tasman Coast Track, Nelson

The 60 km/ 37 mile Abel Tasman Coastal Track takes 3-5 days to walk. Hikers can explore golden beaches and remarkable coastal forest canopy within the mild climate of the Abel Tasman National Park.

2. Kepler Track, Fiordland

This awe-inspiring, 60 km / 37 mile track was designed to show all the best aspects of Fiordland – towering mountains, native forests, waterfalls and glacier carved valleys, with “cheeky wildlife sure to say hello.” It’s a 3-4 day trek, two hours from New Zealand’s adventure capital of Queenstown.

3. Heaphy Track, West Coast (pictured top)

This ancient, nearly 80 km/ 50 mile Māori trail crosses over tussock downs to lush forests, through palms and onward to the roaring seas of New Zealand’s wild West Coast. It’ll take you 4-6 days to walk the trail, which is about an hour from both Westport and Takaka.

4. Tongariro Northern Circuit, Tongariro National Park

This incredible and diverse walk is 45 km / 28 miles long, and it takes 3-4 days to circumnavigate Mt Ngauruhoe, an active volcano in the Tongariro National Park. You’ll witness dramatic craters, explosion pits, lava flows and volcanic landscapes.

5. Routeburn Track, Fiordland

With soaring mountain peaks, huge valleys, towering waterfalls and jewel-like lakes, this 33km/ 20 mile-long track links Mount Aspiring National Park with Fiordland National Park for the best of both worlds in a 2-4 day walk. It’s only 45 minutes from Queenstown.

6. Milford Track, Fiordland

Known as ‘the finest walk in the world’, 53.5 km/ 33 mile Milford Track is New Zealand’s most famous walk. The 4-day trek is so magical that famed British writer, Rudyard Kipling famously called it the ‘8^th wonder of the world’. The Milford track has been thrilling hikers for more than 150 years, and the alpine and fiord scenery a couple of hours from Queenstown remains as mesmerizing as ever.

7. Rakiura Track, Stewart Island

Stewart Island is a world where nature is in charge, a 30-minute flight from Invercargill, 1 hour ferry from Bluff. On this 32 km/ 20 mile walk over 3 days, you’ll discover peace, birdsong, and scenery that has barely changed in thousands of years.

8. Paparoa Track and Pike29 Memorial Track, Paparoa

The latest Great Walk in New Zealand, and the only one to be added in the last 25 years, this natural and historic trail is 4 hours from Christchurch. The 55 km/ 34 mile, 3-day walk winds through alpine tops, limestone landscapes and lush rainforests for breath-taking views. It links to the Pike29 Memorial Track, which commemorates the 29 miners who lost their lives in the Pike Mine Disaster.

9. Whanganui Journey, Whanganui

A ‘walk’ between 87-145 km / 54-90 miles down the Whanganui River. A memorable, spiritual adventure in a kayak or canoe that sees you paddling 3-5 days through towering canyons and luscious forests.

10 . Lake Wiakaremoana Track, Te Urewera

The Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk is 46 km/ 29 miles long, and sits within Te Urewera, an inland area of the North Island. Te Urewera is the first natural feature to be recognized in New Zealand law as a legal entity in its own right, and the Te Urewera Board acts as its ‘voice’. While DOC owns the Great Walks designation, in contrast to the other Great Walks which are managed by DOC this 3-4 day walk is managed by Tūhoe Te Uru Taumatua on behalf of the Te Urewera Board.

11 .Coming in 2023: Tuatapere Hump Ridge Track, Fiordland

Due to become a Great Walk in 2023, the Tuatapere Hump Ridge track is a 3-day, 61 km/ 40 mile loop along the south coast of New Zealand two hours from Queenstown. Offering stunning views from sub-alpine heights across Fiordland’s rugged coastline, the Southern Ocean and Stewart Island.

Great Walk Tips

Add a Great Walk to your extended trip to New Zealand; your trusted travel advisor can help you plan a journey that includes other highlights of New Zealand, along with a Great Walks immersion into its great outdoors.

Do your homework and find out which Great Walk is most suitable for you and your group beforehand. It’s also important to know what fitness, skills and equipment are required, expected track and weather conditions, and how to limit your impact outdoors.
To book a trip on one of the Great Walks, head to the Department of Conservation’s website.
How much does a Great Walk cost? For the latest information on prices, see the Department of Conservation’s website.
Using the free Plan My Walk app can help you plan and prepare for your next New Zealand walk. Learn about the track and check for any alerts, read other’s track reviews, check the weather, and get help from the suggesting gear list. Download it, or head to the website planmywalk.nz.

Not up for a Full ‘Great Walk?’

As part of celebrating the Great Walks’ 30^th Anniversary, New Zealand is also celebrating the many other ways to get out into nature.

Take a stroll through history, camp by the ocean, explore an island, or find your own way into nature. To learn more, visit www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation.

Start your New Zealand Trip!

10 Amazing New Museums to Visit in the U.S. in 2022

From cultural giants like George Lucas and Bob Dylan, to New York’s Broadway or America's mountain peaks, to milestones in Latino and African American heritage – not to mention spellbinding art from the country's past... and future! - across the U.S., museums are having a renaissance, with new openings that reflect some of the most fascinating themes of modern America.

Don't forget to add one of these newly-opened museums to your agenda if you’re traveling to any of these U.S. cities soon:

Los Angeles, California:

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art

Philanthropist and filmmaker George Lucas and his wife, Mellody Hobson, co-CEO and president of Ariel Investments founded the $1-billion Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. It is set to premier in 2023 in Los Angeles’ Exposition Park.

The museum will bring together mass-produced images, showcasing the richness and complexity of visual storytelling. The galleries will feature works from Lucas’ personal collection of more than 100,000 pieces of fine and popular art as well as “Star Wars” ephemera, not to mention state-of-the-art cinematic theatres, numerous dedicated spaces for learning and engagement, green spaces and restaurants.

www.lucasmuseum.org

Seattle, Washington:

NFT Museum

NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token, and it’s a hot trend for the technically savvy. NFT’s have been compared to digital, collectible baseball cards, whose ownership can be tracked through packets of data called blockchain. The world’s first NFT museum in Seattle (above, and top) has been billed as the first art museum and gallery to exhibit blockchain art. It’s a revolutionary new era in art history.

The 3,000-square-foot space houses more than 30 custom-designed screens where visitors can see artwork by local and international artists. Highlights include pieces by the Los Angeles-based crypto artist Blake Kathryn, Larva Labs' hugely popular CryptoPunks avatars and Seattle-based photographer Charles Peterson, showcasing never-before-seen photos of Nirvana and Kurt Cobain as NFTs. www.seattlenftmuseum.com

Milwaukee, Wisconsin:

Black Holocaust Museum

The Black Holocaust Museum, founded in 1988 by Dr. James Cameron, has reopened to the public following a 14-year closure. The opening once again cements Milwaukee’s Bronzeville district as a center of African American culture.

From 1910 to the 1950s, Bronzeville buzzed with Black-owned businesses, but that character was destroyed by “urban renewal” projects that affected Black neighbourhoods across America. Today, Milwaukee’s Bronzeville is supported by $400 million of redevelopment funds which are helping to reinvigorate its history and heritage. The 10,000-square-foot space takes visitors on a journey through more than 4,500 years of African and African American history.

www.abhmuseum.org

Washington DC :

The Molina Family Latino Gallery

The Molina Family Latino Gallery is the Smithsonian’s first gallery on the National Mall to celebrate the Latino experience in the United States.

The 4,500-square-foot gallery will open with ¡Presente! A Latino History of the United States, an exhibition that shines the spotlight on the historical and cultural legacy of U.S. Latinos, offering visitors the chance to engage with first-person digital storytellers, data-driven maps, videos and illustrated biographies.

www.latino.si.edu/gallery

Yosemite, California:

The Yosemite Climbing Museum & Gallery

Visitors to Yosemite Mariposa County can reach a new peak of local rock-climbing lore and legacy at the Yosemite Climbing Association Museum & Gallery.

The center features more than 10,000 pieces, a priceless collection of historical climbing artefacts (including pitons used on early of El Capitan) and dozens of archival photographs that tell the rock-climbing community’s story through the ages.

www.yosemiteclimbing.org

Mobile, Alabama:

Africatown Heritage House

The Africatown Heritage House multisensory project is the only exhibit in the world to show artefacts from the Clotilda – the last known slave ship to bring captives from Africa to the United States. The ship arrived at Mobile Bay in 1860,after slavery had already been outlawed, carrying 110 kidnapped African men, women, and children.

They survived enslavement and established an independent community called Africatown, which has become a treasured part of African American history and legacy.

The ship was discovered sunk in Mobile Bay in 2019, and the new exhibit brings to life the story of the 110 captive African men, women and children who were on board.

www.alabama.travel

Tulsa, Oklahoma:

Bob Dylan Center

If you have a fascination with an artist widely thought of as America’s pre-eminent pop culture poet, take a trip to Tulsa. The new Bob Dylan Center is a treasure trove of the artist’s works and memorabilia, from handwritten manuscripts to unreleased concert recordings, and recognition of his place in the American musical lexicon.

The Center boasts an exclusive, 100,000+ piece collection, spanning the entire length of the iconic singer and songwriter’s career. It’s the centerpiece of the three-story museum in Tulsa’s vibrant Arts District, just steps from the city’s renowned Woody Guthrie Center for the folk artist who was one of Dylan’s biggest influences.

Visitors to the Bob Dylan Center can also attend public programs, performances and lectures.

www.bobdylancenter.com

New York, New York:

Museum of Broadway

Amidst the bright lights of Times Square, the Museum of Broadway is the first-ever permanent museum dedicated to Broadway and honoring the legacy of “The Great White Way.'

The multi-story Museum of Broadway blends immersive installations and traditional displays, telling the history of the legendary theater district from its 1735 beginnings to present-day shows like Hamilton. This meshing of art and technology is divided into three sections: a map room of Broadway using immersive video projections; a visual Broadway timeline that lets viewers delve into the stories behind such ground-breaking musicals like Hair and Rent, learning how women led the way in much of Broadway’s early storytelling; and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of a Broadway show, from set design to lighting.

www.themuseumofbroadway.com

Meantime| TNT Traysikel: Our Way, Courtesy of Mike Arcega, Paolo Asuncion, and TNT Traysikel. Photo by RJ Bonifacio

San Francisco, California:

Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco

San Francisco’s the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) is a non-collecting contemporary art museum, focusing on the artists themselves. It’s a 50/50 split between emerging Bay Area artists on-the-verge of national or international attention, and more established local and international artists.

Its 11,000-square-foot warehouse space will dazzle visitors hosting large-scale installations or pieces with atypical proportions. Its shift away from acquisitions aims to create a space that is responsive to the moment, creating programmes with increased relevance and meaning.

www.icasanfrancisco.org

Charleston, South Carolina:

International African American Museum

Nearly half of all African slaves brought to the U.S. came through Charleston’s Gadsden’s Wharf, where the International African American Museum is slated to open in late 2022.

The new museum aims to tell never-before-told stories of the African American journey and themes will include connections across the African diaspora, the spread of African American culture and influence, and the movements for justice and equality.

From digital interactivity to live performances, visitors will learn about historic figures and events dating back to the start of slavery, the role of South Carolina in the development of the international slave trade, and the worldwide impact of African American culture.

www.iaamuseum.org

StartYourTrip!

Get Refreshed at the Most Fabulous Fountains in Europe this Summer

Imagine your ideal European summer escape. Chances are, one of the sounds you hear is the splashing water of a fountain in the town square on a lazy afternoon.

From ancient times, communities were built up around their local source of water. Eventually, many European cities then gave their sources of water sculptural and architectural treatments. That transformed them from watering holes… to wondrous waterworks and focal points of the European lifestyle travelers love.

There’s nothing quite so refreshing as the sound of water on a hot summer’s day. Especially when you’re seated at a café in the town square, a glass of the local tipple in hand, living the good life – European style.

So make the most of a trip to Europe this summer, and re-discover the primal connection we have to the local water hole at one of these famous fountains.

Trevi Fountain – Rome

Of all the magnificent monuments in the Eternal City, almost no one misses a visit to the Trevi Fountain (pictured, top). It’s the largest Baroque fountain in Rome, possibly in the world. And definitely one of the most famous.

Its spectacular scale - 86 feet high and over 160 feet wide – is matched by the splendor of its 18^th century marble sculptures of Greek gods seen by day or lit up by night.

The word Trevi provides a clue to its ancient origins in historic Rome. It’s located at the intersection of three roads (tre vie), and it's the terminus of one of the aqueducts that supplied water for centuries to ancient Rome.

Today, over 20 million gallons of water flow through the Trevi fountain – every day! But it’s recycled and no longer drinkable.

Visiting Tip: For centuries, visitors to the Trevi Fountain have tossed coins into its waters. The tradition is to throw with your right hand over your left shoulder while facing away from the fountain for luck in returning to Rome once more, and for romance and marriage. Over a million euros a year are thrown into the Trevi Fountain. It’s emptied nightly of coins, which are donated to help feed Rome’s hungry.

Manneken Pis, Brussels, Belgium

From one of the biggest… to one of the smallest. Which proves that when it comes to fountains, size isn’t everything.

Belgium’s entry into our list of famous fountains is just two feet tall, and I think you can put together enough of its name in the local language to know what it’s called.

The bronze sculpture of a boy urinating into the fountain’s basin was erected in the early 1600’s and is one of the most famous symbols of both Brussels and Belgium. Just a short walk from Brussels’ ‘Grand Place’ or main square, the misbehaving boy is considered an example of the local folk humor.

From its beginning, long before there was a bronze statue of a naughty boy, the fountain was on the site of lines supplying drinking water to the residents of the city.

Visiting Tip: Taking the quirky humor of the fountain’s design to new levels, the statue is dressed in different costumes several times each week. You can view his entire, thousand-plus wardrobe of costumes in a special-purpose museum Garderobe MannekenPis, and the original, five hundred year old sculpture is in the Brussels City Museum.

Jet d’Eau, Geneva, Switzerland

Compared to the Trevi Fountain or the Manneken Pis, the Jet d’Eau in Lake Geneva is downright modern, dating from the late 1800’s. The present fountain was installed in 1951 and pumps water in Lake Geneva where it meets the Rhone River.

Unlike other fountains that channel water hidden from view, the Jet d’Eau started for the practical purpose of acting as a pressure-release safety valve of a hydraulic plant on Lake Geneva. Its name simply means ‘Water Jet.’

The jet fountain quickly became the symbol of the city, and the current version is one of the tallest jet fountains in the world, shooting water 130 gallons (500 liters) per second up to a height of over 450 feet (140 meters.) At any given moment, there are about 1800 gallons (7000 liters) of water in the air.

The Jet d’Eau is visible throughout the city of Geneva and even from the air flying over Geneva.

Visiting Tip: You can also see the Jet d’Eau up close by walking along a jetty from the left bank of Lake Geneva. But if the wind changes suddenly, prepared to get wet!

Aix en Provence, France

The former capital of Provence in the south of France, Aix is also known as the ‘City of Water’ and ‘City of 1000 Fountains.’ That’s because Aix was built over top of natural, underground springs and hot springs, the famous French ‘eau des sources’. Fountains were built throughout town to capture and funnel the water for use. Many of Aix’ fountains today are still fed by these aquifers.

The Romans, famous bathers, discovered the thermal waters and called Aix ‘Aquae Sextiae’, or the ‘Waters of Sextius, and installed baths. The town is still famous as a spa town, using the underground hot springs, and one spa still uses the Roman term in its name: Thermes Sextius.

The fountains you’ll see today visiting Aix en Provence date from the 1600’s, and are a wide variety of structures with sculptures of dolphins, animals, and people shooting water into a basin.

Visiting Tips: Residents of Aix still interact with their many fountains, not just looking at them. Dogs bathe, restaurants cool their wine, and some even have water that’s drinkable.

They say that travel is the fountain of youth, but in these and many other European cities, you can take that concept literally.

Start Your European Trip!

By: Lynn Elmhirst, Producer/Host, BestTrip TV

Images: Getty

This New Cruise Ship Bar Beat Out Restaurants, Hotels and More to Win “Best Beverage Menu” Award

Why just have a drink – when you can have a story, too? That’s the premise behind the cruise ship bar menu that’s won out over competitors throughout the world of hospitality.

“Best Beverage Menu” was awarded to Holland America Line for its newest bar concept onboard its newest ship at the 2022 VIBE (that’s the Very Important Beverage Executives) conference.

That means this bar menu isn’t just the best at sea. The award is open to any venue in the entire beverage space, and Holland America Line went up against other bars in hospitality, including restaurant groups, hotel chains, casinos, and more for the honor.

The “Half Moon Bar” debuted on board Holland America Line’s new flagship, the Rotterdam, which launched in fall, 2021.

I traveled on the Rotterdam in the Caribbean in the fall, and can attest that the new bar concept is one of the great new innovations on Holland America Line’s latest ship. I’m not surprised that Half Moon Bar has – in just months – become “the most popular bar on board,” I’m told.

Half Moon Bar pays homage to Holland America Line in a couple of ways. It’s named after the cruise line’s private island in the Caribbean. And its bar menu tells the history of the line and cruising through the lens of its cocktails.

Each carefully crafted cocktail comes with its own fascinating tale, and simply reading the now award-winning bar menu transports you back in time on a journey though Holland America Line’s history.

Time-traveling tipples on the menu include:

· “The Original,” (pictured above) which celebrates Holland America Line’s first ship, Rotterdam I. It’s crafted from Dutch gin and a hint of single malt Scotch, ingredients inspired by the building of the ship and Holland America Line’s Dutch beginnings.

· “De Halve Moon” ties into the line’s origins as ocean liner travel between Rotterdam and New York (which, you may recall, used to be Dutch and was called “Nieuw Amsterdam” before it was renamed New York City.) De Halve Moon is an ode to the Dutch sense of exploration and the botanical wonderland Henry Hudson found in present-day New York. It’s composed of Old Duff genever (the Dutch precursor to gin), lemon rosewater shrub and DDG Bitters.

· “Three Mile Run” is a prohibition cocktail that tells the story of Holland America Line Prohibition-era ‘cruises to nowhere’ New Yorkers could take to get around no-alcohol rules. Once in open waters (three miles out), cocktail bars on the ship could be legally open, and quenching the thirst of New Yorkers for a strong one. It is made from a combination of lemon, honey and gin for a Bee’s Knees, whiskey for a Gold Rush or rum for a Honey Bee.

· “May She Be Blessed” is an ode to the godmothers who bless the Holland America Line ships. The elegant and feminine cocktail is made with champagne and the guest’s choice of essence.

· “Rotterdam VII” is dedicated to its namesake ship. The current Rotterdam is the seventh vessel to have that name in the nearly 150-year history of the line. Like the ship herself, the cocktail salutes both tradition and innovation, with its combination of smoked gin and maraschino.

If you’re imagining yourself on holiday, sipping an inventive cocktail with new and old friends and sharing a laugh and a good story, Half Moon Bar on Holland America Line’s new Rotterdam might be your best place to be.

Book a Holland American Line cruise on the Rotterdam or any other ship in the Caribbean to visit the Half Moon Bar's namesake, Half Moon Cay (pictured above.) A day at Half Moon Cay - no matter what you're drinking - is the ultimate island beach day.

Start your Cruise Trip!

By: Lynn Elmhirst, TV show producer/ host and cruise expert

Images courtesy of Holland America Line

Caving Meets Wine Tasting on a River Cruise in the South of France

You’ve heard of wine caves - how about wine caving?

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE to learn more about this new, and one-of-a-kind experience on an Avalon Waterways river cruise on the Rhone River in the south of France that combines adventure - with the exquisite wines of the region.

Lynn Elmhirst, producer and host of BestTrip TV, was one of the first guests to experience the new 'Active & Discovery' excursion that meant donning a caving suit, helmet, headlamp and a little bit of bravery to descend into caves near Avignon, France.

At the bottom of literally hundreds of stairsteps – 55 meters / 180 feet down into the earth, unfolds a 60 km / 40 mile network of caves that inhabitants of the region were using even tens of thousands of years ago.

Today, in addition to spectacular spelunking – that’s just a fancy word for caving – sights like sci-fi worthy formations, reflective pools and cathedral-like spaces, local winemakers have an ageing cave, where they are experimenting with how cave-aged wines differ from those aged above ground.

It’s a once-in-a-lifetime wine tasting and caving experience, and the latest in Avalon Waterways’ Active & Discovery river cruise shore excursions.

And after three glasses of wine and a climb up hundreds of stairs back to the surface, you might be grateful for the helmet! :-)

Start your Wine Tasting Adventure River Cruise!

10 Reasons Why Guided Tours are a Top New Family Travel Trend

Even if you’ve never considered taking an escorted or guided tour before, this might be the best time to see why more and more people – and even families – are signing up for an escorted vacation.

There are a lot of myths about guided tours, and images of exclusively older singles and couples on buses.

Read on! Not only does a multi-city guided tour give your family a ‘tasting menu’ of destinations to revisit for a longer duration another time, which is one of the reasons they are such a great introduction to places like Europe for a family.

You may be surprised how many ways any type of escorted tour is your best option for a low-stress, high-reward family vacation.

By: Lynn Elmhirst, producer/ host: BestTrip TV

Let’s start with the ‘return to travel’ reasons why booking your next family vacation with a guided tour company provides you with the easiest and most reassuring travel options.

1. Post-Pandemic Ease: Why navigate the health rules of one or more foreign destinations yourself? Your guided tour company will help you make sure you are well-prepared for all the requirements of your trip.

2. Post-Pandemic Safety: Many people are still cautious about travel and their exposure to many new people. Traveling with the same, (often tested, with vaccines required) people, in the same luxury coach, maximizes your ‘safe’ time, with less time spent in public transit around or between cities.

Now onto the timeless ways that escorted tours tick a lot of boxes for family travel:

3. Leave the Planning to an Expert: As much fun as planning travel can be, a lot has changed in the last couple of years, and anyway, do you have the time for all that research and reviews and planning? Booking a guided tour means someone else is investing in precious planning time – and you benefit from it. And tour companies have direct access to their own sources. That current, most expert local knowledge ensures you get the best experiences – and you know every aspect of your trip has been vetted and someone else is responsible for making sure it all comes together.

4. Focus on Family Time: When someone else is taking care of all the logistical details, you can concentrate on what family travel should be all about: good times with family members. No juggling of reservations and train schedules, or even struggling with a ‘lost in translation’ moment of communication confusion. You’ve downloaded that onto people who do it every single day.

5. Someone Else is the Timekeeper and Box Ticker: No more family travel time spent ‘herding cats’ or worse, being the ‘bad guy.’ Your tour guide is tracking what time you have to leave for the airport, or how long it will take to get to your dinner or show reservations. It’s not left to one member of the family to keep all the balls in the air. You can relax and enjoy.

6. Jump the Line: One of the best things about places like Europe is the landmark museums, historic sites and scenic view points like funiculars and tower tops to enjoy. Many also come with long line ups that can test the patience of not only the youngest, but even the more mature members of the family. The good news is that tour companies book blocks of tickets and can often walk their tour group right past the long line ups of independent travelers. So you don’t have to miss a thing because it creates too much stress to wait in line.

7. Keep Every Family Member Interested: Escorted tours give you a broad overview of the best of the best of a destination, plus often access to unique, in-depth experiences in special interests you might not be able to access yourself. There’s enough of a change of pace, scenery, and activities to keep everyone in the family on their toes.

8. Get Off the Beaten Path: You might think of Paris for a family trip to France. Guided tours will often also take you to smaller, outlying destinations you don’t know about or don’t want the hassle of organizing a side trip to. Often, these smaller, local destinations and activities in these less crowded destinations can be the most memorable of your trip.

9. Local Expert = Better Experiences: Translator, timekeeper, fountain of historic knowledge… and current lifestyles. Your tour guide gives you that ‘friend in town’ experience you can’t get traveling on your own, unless you have an actual friend in town. Furthermore, they are the best sources of advice on ways to spend your unscheduled time, so you can also find experiences to enjoy your family’s special interests or get tickets to a local event.

10. Customize Your Travel Experience: Just because you’re booking a guided tour doesn’t mean you can’t experience a destination in your own way. You can book a top or tail custom extension of your guided tour to remain in the destination you’re now familiar with for an extra couple of days to take in a sports game, event, markets, shops and more. Even without a trip extension, different types of tours give you different amounts of escorted and free time to pursue your family’s interests. Your expert travel advisor can help match your family to the style of guided trip that best suits your interests, attention span, and energy levels.

Bonus: Group Discounts

If you take an extended, or multi-generation family group tour, you may be able to get discounts for the size of your group. In fact, it might even make sense to arrange for a private family group tour, with all the benefits of group travel- customized for your own family. Another way guided group tours may be the perfect way to get together with your extended family group after a couple of years without travel.

Your travel advisor has the expertise of the different types of guided tours, and ways to get the best value guided tour for your family.

Start Your Guided Tour Trip!

New USPS Stamp Collection Salutes Mississippi River Cruising

They don’t call it the “Mighty Mississippi” for nothing. From Lake Itasca’s trickling overspill in Minnesota, the Mississippi travels the length of the continental U.S., growing as it flows for 2,300 miles until it empties into the Gulf of Mexico with waters added from tributaries in 31 U.S. states.

The Mississippi is at the core of American heritage, and is often also referred to as “America’s backbone.” It’s also the country’s heart and soul, and one of the most epic river routes in the world. No wonder the popularity of Mississippi river cruises continues to grow.

In the spring of 2022, the United States Postal Service recognized the continuing allure of America’s greatest waterway and “quintessential highway” in a new stamp collection called the Mighty Mississippi. Each of the 10 photographic stamps in the portfolio represents a state along the course of the river.

And one of them – the Iowa stamp - features American Queen Voyages' American Queen steamboat near the city of Bettendorf. The honor also marks American Queen Voyages' 10th anniversary of sailing the Mississippi River.

At the ceremony dedicating the new stamp collection, the master of ceremonies was the cruise director of American Queen voyages, and John Waggoner, founder and chairman of American Queen Voyages joined USPS chief postal inspector, local mayors from along the river, historians and pastors, were also on hand to inaugurate the collection and note its significance.

“Travelers have been captivated by the Mississippi River — romanticizing the steamboats transporting them from Minnesota to Louisiana — throughout history,” said Waggoner. “Our flagship American Queen is an iconic symbol of those mighty paddle-wheelers, and we are honored to have her grace the collection.”

The American Queen may be the perfect existing river cruise ship to symbolize Mississippi river cruising. At 400 feet long and nearly 90 feet wide, it’s the largest paddlewheel steamboat ever built. Her ornate, historic design, complete with bright red paddlewheel, fluted stacks and curlicue woodwork harkens back to the “romanticized” early days of Mississippi riverboat travel. That’s no accident.

“What we try to do as philosophy is keep things like it was in the 1900s. This is just how it was when Mark Twain was onboard,” Waggoner has said.

“We want you to experience the thump-thump-thump-thump-thump of the paddlewheel. We want you to stand on the stern. We want you to get muddy Mississippi water spraying your face, and we want you to sit in a rocking chair, and watch the river go by and relax.'

Other stamps in the collection highlight top destinations – and incredible diversity of travel experiences – along the length of the Mississippi.

River cruises tend to break the immense river into sections. Guests can choose northern, middle or southern itineraries – or even full length cruises of the Mighty Mississippi. From the unmistakeable, mid-century ‘gateway to the West’ skyline of St. Louis in the north, through the rich lands, horse, music and bourbon cultures in Kentucky and Tennessee, to the bayous of the South and the magic of the bright lights in birthplace of jazz and Creole culture, New Orleans, a river cruise on the Mississippi can bring travelers closer to the heart of America than they may have ever imagined.

In addition to the historic paddlewheel approach of American Queen Voyages, modern American Cruise Line vessels offer a different river cruising experience on sections of the Mississippi or even full length itineraries. And just this year, a cruise line that started on the rivers of Europe, Viking, introduced its first river ship in the Americas. Set to debut in June 2022, the Viking Mississippi will sail between New Orleans and St. Paul, Minnesota.

Start Your Mississippi River Cruise!

By: Lynn Elmhirst, cruise expert and producer/host of BestTrip TV

Images of stamps courtesy United States Postal Service.

New Ways to Celebrate the Start of Summer at the "World's Most Photogenic Beach"

A recent survey of the most popular hashtags in travel photo posts in social media wasn’t a scientific study. But it did generate a clear winner of the title “World’s Most Photogenic Beach.”

That honor went to the seven miles of shorelines and sparkling waters of South Florida’s legendary Miami Beach. If it’s been a while since you indulged in the surfside views and epic lifestyle of one of America’s most famous beaches and beach towns, here are some experiences that can give you new ways to enjoy Miami Beach.

And just in time for the unofficial start of the summer season – with family-friendly ideas, too.

Seaside

Air & Sea Show: Late May’s unique annual event, dubbed “the Greatest Show Above the Earth,” showcases the men, women, technology and equipment in motion from all five branches of the U.S. military, as well as police and emergency responders. Over two days, you’ll get a rush of adrenaline watching offshore powerboat racing exhibitions, extreme water sports, and more – all with sweeping ocean views from the shores of Miami Beach.

Fishing Charters: Find a little adventure of your own through some of Miami Beach’s world-class offshore, deep sea or wreck fishing just off its shores. Experienced anglers and novice fishers just starting to get a taste for man vs. fish challenges will find an active, educational, and customized day – or half-day – at sea.

Luxury Yacht Charters: Maybe you don’t need your day on the water to have a goal like a big catch. Singles, couples, friends and families can all enjoy a day on the water ‘living the life’ on a luxury yacht. Custom charter itineraries can include a tour of the shore’s gorgeous architecture and celebrity home views, an afternoon learning the ropes on how to operate a water vessel, culinary experiences catered by local private chefs and active water sports like kayaking, paddleboarding and jet skiing.

Salt Float Bath Therapy: You can even get the benefits of salt water while on land. The Carillon Miami Wellness Resort lets you float your stress away in a weightless saltwater bath that incorporates 800 pounds of healthy bath salts. The experience helps release natural endorphins, relieve muscle pain, calm anxieties and stimulate blood flow. Who doesn’t need some of that? Plus the stellar ocean views poolside while you relax following your salt water spa experience.

Open-Air Design 'Museum'

You may already know about Miami Beach’s globally-recognized collection of design genres including art deco, Mediterranean revival, MiMo and the Miami Beach school of architecture. The city keeps adding to its unique design history in its tropical vacation lifestyle.

Signature Lifeguard Stands:

Recently, the reinvented Miami Beach’s signature lifeguard stands by William Lane (pictured, top) have been newly-recognized as iconic landmarks and symbols of the design-centric, urban beach destination.

After Hurricane Andrew destroyed several of the lifeguard stands dotting Miami Beach in the 1990’s, the city called upon designer William Lane to create replacements. Almost immediately, the five lifeguard stands, which the designer said were “influenced not only by Miami’s midcentury and art deco architecture but also by its Caribbean culture and the use of vibrant colors derived from the natural beauty of the tropics” became symbols of the community’s renaissance. Decades later, he was asked to revitalize more of Miami Beach’s seven-miles of sand and sea with new, eye-catching lifeguard towers. You won’t want to miss even one.

Get more of a design fix at some new or newly-renovated Miami Beach hotel properties, and design tours, too.

The Shelbourne South Beach dates back to the 1940's, exuding timeless luxury, elegance and original Art Deco design. As a stylish playground, guests can expect a dose of oceanside glamour with pops of color and interesting angles to enjoy, even from the hotel’s pool and diving platform.

While Miami Beach is known for incredible Art Deco style, Mediterranean Revival is not to be missed. From superstar couture designer Gianni Versace's masterpiece on Ocean Drive to restaurants and storefronts featuring handmade tile and metal intricacies, travelers can get a taste of another of the city’s distinct design flavors during a walking tour curated by The Miami Design Preservation League. It showcases the architecture made popular on Miami Beach in the 1920's and 1930's.

And, no day is complete on Miami Beach without a classic cocktail in stylish surroundings. Design-lovers can check out the new Lapidus Bar at The Ritz-Carlton South Beach. The beachside hotel was built in the 50’s by iconic architect Morris Lapidus, known as the pioneer of Miami Modern style. Evoking the glamorous, Rat-Pack feel of the era, the bar is located in the hotel's lobby and is part of a spectacular $90 million renovation, bringing the design elements of the past together with iconic, Ritz-Carlton five-star service.

Start Your Miami Beach Trip!

North America to Get its 6th MICHELIN Destination Guide to Star-Rated Restaurants

Or… why will foodies flock to Toronto this fall? That’s when Canada’s largest city becomes only the sixth destination in North America – and the first Canadian city – to be ranked among the crème de la crème of the world’s gastronomic locations.

That’s when the first MICHELIN guide for Toronto will be published. It joins just a rarefied handful of destinations on the continent in getting the seal of approval from the ‘high church’ of culinary credentials.

And those of us who already know and love Toronto’s food scene aren’t surprised.

The city on the north shore of Lake Ontario is surrounded by food producers who collaborate with world-class chefs and restaurateurs, providing farm-fresh ingredients and boutique food products to the appreciative and discriminating palates of city dwellers and visitors.

As one of the most culturally and ethnically diverse cities on the continent – and even the world – Toronto also delivers some of the finest international cuisine and chefs who marry their cultural culinary roots with daring new ingredients, preparations, and treatments.

Not to mention Toronto’s just over an hour away from the country’s award-winning Niagara wine region.

Apparently, MICHELIN representatives have been casing the city incognito, evaluating the prospects of awarding coveted stars to restaurants in high profile and tucked-away neighborhoods around the city. Recently, it decided to add Toronto to the ranks of MICHELIN-evaluated destinations.

According to MICHELIN, “A new chapter begins in Toronto, which features global eats and charming cafes as well as high-end dining experiences. It’s a city where top chefs want to establish a presence and where emerging chefs nurture their culinary talent – both drawing on locally produced ingredients unique to Ontario.

“This selection will reflect the local flavors and international influences of this gastronomic scene.”

“Toronto’s culinary scene is as diverse as the city itself, and MICHELIN Guide Toronto is the perfect way to celebrate our culinary community,” said Scott Beck, President & CEO of Destination Toronto.

“It will be a powerful way to share our culinary capabilities with new audiences from around the world.”

Anonymous gastronomic inspectors are now investigating Toronto’s culinary scene in earnest and writing their reviews. The City of Toronto notes the coveted ratings in the upcoming guide will involve “complete autonomy regarding the restaurants assessed and the outcome of those assessments.”

MICHELIN guides began in France over a century ago as a way for the tire company – yes! the same company as the rotund, MICHELIN man made out of tires! - to encourage early car-owners to travel on road trips throughout the country and beyond (and buy tires!) Its lists, reviews and famously-starred ratings of dining, accommodation, destinations and attractions set a standard for all guide books that followed.

Just as they expect celebrated restaurants to re-earn their stars, the famous French guide books haven’t rested on their laurels, either.

In some ways, their culinary evaluations have come full circle.

The earliest MICHELIN guides noted not just justifiably famous restaurants along motoring routes that French travellers followed en route to their vacations in the countryside and beaches of France. They also advised which secret jewels of small, mom-and-pop – or should we say, mere-et-pere? eateries in small, off-the-beaten track villages were worth the drive or diverting from your route.

Today, MICHELIN guides award not only stratospherically-pricey fine dining restaurants in France with priceless stars, but also famously, street food in Singapore.

So travellers to Toronto can look forward to a MICHELIN guide to a full range of culinary adventures at different budgets.

In fact, you might not want to wait for the word to get out and all the restaurants to fill up, and instead, beat the crowds to your own gastronomic pilgrimage to the world’s latest MICHELIN destination. Toronto’s favorite foodie festival, Summerlicious, returns this summer in August.

START YOUR CULINARY TRIP!

How to Travel Like ‘Emily in Paris’

The breakout TV series is the stuff of travel fantasy, but you don’t have to be a fictional character to have a dream trip to France.

The good life, Parisian-style, eye-catching fashion center-stage and a thread of romance against a backdrop of one stunning City of Lights setting after another, Emily in Paris on Netflix follows the French adventures of a young American woman living the dream when her luxury marketing job is relocated to Paris.

The pure escapism of the streaming series, as well as the heroic secondary character – Paris itself! – has captivated and inspired audiences.

If Emily in Paris has made you imagine yourself in Paris, read on! Here are just a few locations in the City of Love where Emily’s adventures took place – and your own adventures in France, can too!

Jardin du Palais Royal

Emily first meets her friend Mindy, a nanny living in Paris, in the elegantly landscaped gardens just steps from the Louvre in the heart of Paris.

The Jardin surrounds the 17^th century Palais Royal – once, as the name suggests, a palace, but now, government buildings. It’s a little green haven in this busy part of the city, where locals take five to recharge, and visitors can rest their feet and regroup surrounded by classically French gardens.

Café de Flore

In the late 1800’s and first part of the 20^th century, Saint-Germain-des-Pres was perhaps the most artistic neighborhood in the world, drawing giants and change-makers who transformed their fields and defined an era. Artists, novelists, and philosophers turned Saint-Germain-des-Pres into an incubator for some of the most profound works from the period that we still know and love today.

And many met, exchanged ideas and inspired each other at the picturesque sidewalk tables of the Café de Flore, one of the oldest in the city. It’s still a must-see destination in Paris today, fantastic for people-watching. Of course producers of Emily in Paris had to include this iconic and easily-identifiable setting for the scene where our heroine meets Thomas, a professor.

Opéra National de Paris - Palais Garnier

Emily in Paris is not the first work of fiction to be set in this famous Paris location. Perhaps you’ve heard of “The Phantom of the Opera?”

The setting that inspired one of the most successful musicals of all time, Paris’ magnificent opera house dates from the 19^th century. As impressive as the architectural masterpiece is on the outside, it’s truly breathtaking on the inside, so like Emily visited to see Swan Lake, we recommend you book tickets for one of the operas, orchestral, or ballet performances scheduled.

For her visit to the Palais Garnier, Emily even dresses in a nod to Audrey Hepburn, perhaps the Hollywood actress most associated with her string of classic films set in the City of Light, and as the muse of iconic couturier Hubert de Givenchy.

Pont Alexandre III

Gardens, cafés, architectural marvels… and bridges. Any story located in the city built up from the Seine must include at least one of its famous bridges, and Emily in Paris is no exception.

Emily’s marketing company uses the Alexander III bridge as the set for a commercial shoot for a client’s perfume, and the shoot-within-a-shoot location couldn’t be more ideal.

While the ironically-named Pont Neuf (‘New Bridge’) is the oldest structure spanning the Seine, Pont Alexandre III may have the distinction of being the most beautiful. Not only is it stunning to behold, a walk across it reveals iconic scenes of the city, including the Eiffel Tower.

EMILY BEYOND PARIS

Like many savvy visitors to France, Emily travels beyond the City of Light’s famous Boulevard Périphérique ring-road, to savor the best of French beach life on the famous Cote d’Azur.

In the series, Emily takes a girls’ getaway to the real-life, iconic Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat, an institution on the glamorous French Riviera since the Art Deco era of the 1930’s. On acres of grounds punctuated with local, Mediterranean trees and vegetation with the sea lapping at its secluded pebble beach, this Four Seasons Hotel is the perfect setting for a fictional – or a real life! – escape to the indulgence of one of the world’s most famous seaside lifestyles.

In fact, the hotel has even created an experience, inspired by its starring role in Emily in Paris, for any guest. Its ‘Girls’ Trip on the French Riviera’ experience echoes Emily’s fictional trip: transfers from the airport in a Bentley; a stay in a Sea-View suite with elegant French windows opening up onto a patio with an infinity pool or, on higher floors, with views high over the sea; bespoke cocktails; Mediterranean-based spa treatments; and private cabanas at the hotel’s famous pool-side Club Dauphin where the hotel also arranges for a photo shoot to memorialize your own, Emily in Paris-inspired dream vacation.

Start your Trip!

By: Lynn Elmhirst producer/ host BestTrip TV

Top Image: courtesy Netflix

Middle Image: Getty

Bottom Image: courtesy Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat, a Four Seasons Hotel

Top Trends for a New Era of Wellness Travel

Global Wellness Day this year is June 11^th, just as we are getting back into travel. Wellness travel has been a growing trend for several years, and the pandemic has given a whole new perspective to what we think about wellness, self-care, and good living.

Travel plays a big part in a balanced lifestyle. As the Wellness Tourism Association explains, small changes and good new habits can have an impact on our health. And that’s where wellness travel can come in. More than 100 countries mark Global Wellness Day, and many have their own cultural contributions to self-care practices. Travellers looking for new inspiration can combine the spiritual lift of travel with new mental, physical, and spiritual practices at their sources.

Gone are the days when ‘wellness’ travel meant just a massage and yoga at your resort. Travel can be the first step towards an overall – and long term – healthier and overall improved life.

In the decade since the origins of Global Wellness Day, the World Tourism Association says new wellness travel have taken root. Here are some to think about when you’re planning your next trip – and want to include elements that will ensure you return home better than when you left.

The Return to Travel Prioritizes Wellness

Wellness and self-care are among the top interests of people as we get back into travel. The pandemic has reminded us of how important it is to take care of ourselves and to be well enough to face physical and mental challenges.

Wellness experiences are in high demand as travelers begin planning trips again.

You Can Skip the Spa

Some people live for a day – or longer – at the spa. But others may have avoided so-called ‘Wellness’ retreats because spas are not their thing.

Fear not. While spa treatments and established wellness center practices like yoga and massages remain popular and standard offerings, the wellness experience is expanding rapidly.

In particular, authentically-local practices drawn from historical, natural, or spiritual roots are ever-more in demand.

Embracing Nature

Increasingly, spending time in the natural world is being recognized as a major contributor to overall wellness. From international interest in the Japanese practice of ‘forest bathing’ to simply the tremendous growth in interest in hiking nature trails, the world is returning to its natural roots in pursuit of physical and spiritual wellness.

The World Tourism Association says spending time in nature is the practice most cited by wellness travelers in its surveys.

Small is Big

People have been getting more pro-active about their health, educating themselves about the science behind living well and staying well. According to the Wellness Tourism Association, that means they’re leaning into the learning’s that show how making small changes – and sticking with them- can lead to better health over the long term.

Those people are creating a demand for more wellness options, practices and training they can continue at home, and wellness-for-a-lifetime experiences they can begin on holiday and continue in their daily routines in real life.

Wellness is not a Luxury

In the past, wellness travel options have had the gloss of luxury – and luxury wellness isn’t going anywhere.

But if you thought of wellness travel as something for ‘ladies who lunch,’ you may be happy to learn that’s changing fast.

Many of today’s wellness travelers are looking for experiences and options that are inclusive and accessible to all fitness, and body types and budget levels.

That’s great news for everyone who wants to look towards a future where your travel dreams come true – and you’re exploring the world as your very best self.

Start Your Wellness Trip!

By: Lynn Elmhirst, Producer and Host, BestTrip TV

The ‘Mega-Moon’ and More Romance Travel Trends Every Couple Needs to Know

With so many celebrations put on ‘hold’ over the last couple of years, we knew when people started getting together to mark life’s great milestones again, it was going to be big.

How big?

Well, according to a new survey conducted by an online travel company, destination weddings and honeymoons are going ‘mega.’

The survey of American couples found that a whopping 97% - nearly all – honeymoon plans over the last two-plus years were affected by the pandemic. Plans were either downsized, or canceled altogether.

And those couples are having a celebration comeback! Almost 5 million weddings are expected to be celebrated in 2022 -2023, and happy couples are revisiting their plans - upwards.

You may be surprised at some of the latest destination wedding / honeymoon trends shaped by two years without travel! And it’s not just newlyweds. Some of these trends spill over to couples who are already together, and looking to rekindle that spark on a romantic trip together.

Trips, Not Toasters

More than ever before, couples are prizing experiences over an excess of stuff. Now, a big majority – 65% - of couples are adding a honeymoon fund to their wedding registries. Instead of a complete table service at home, they want to dine in exotic locales together.

‘Double-Moons’

Why stop at one honeymoon? An incredible 83% of couples now say they are planning multiple honeymoons. That could mean a mini-escape immediately after saying ‘I do,’ followed by a longer, more lavish trip later.

‘Redo-Moons’

Then there’s the clear pandemic trend – the do-over. Over half of couples revealed they were not completely satisfied by a honeymoon they did take during the pandemic. A lot of couples took shorter trips, closer to home, rather than their dream, celebratory trips, and now they want the chance to make their honeymoon travel dreams come true.

‘Mega-Moons’

Go big, or stay home. Well, most couples did the ‘staying home’ part during the pandemic. Now they’re going big. Over half - 53% - of couples say they’re going to splash out on their honeymoons, spending more than they had originally budgeted. That’s because now, almost two-thirds say they now want their honeymoon to be a bucket-list trip in luxurious surroundings.

The epic honeymoon today can take different shapes for different couples. Beach and tropical destinations are no longer the first choice of today’s couples. About the same amount of couples are also interested in multi-destination trips, urban escapes or even national park trips. Less than half say they’re interested in an all-inclusive resort – but the majority are looking for ‘pampering’ and romantic activities together like hot air balloon rides, sunset boat trips, and soft adventures.

Top Ten Honeymoon Destinations for 2022 - 2023

Move over, traditional island beach destinations! Today’s couples are all over the map when it comes to planning the ultimate honeymoon.

Only one Caribbean island and one exotic tropical island destination made the top ten list of honeymoon destinations this year. St. Lucia and its twin Pitons are number 7 on the list, and the legendary coral islands of the Maldives in the Indian Ocean made the list at number 10.

Two hot-weather U.S. destinations made the list, including the tropical appeal of Florida, and the mystique of Los Angeles, at numbers 4 and 5 respectively.

The exotic, high-end urban destination of Dubai was the surprising second-most popular honeymoon destination this year.

Europe is made for romance, and honeymooning couples still favor the City of Love, Paris, the number 3 most popular honeymooning destination in the first post-pandemic travel year, as well as the Mediterranean pleasures of Spain (6) and Italy (7). But the Nordic island of Iceland, with its surreal volcanoes, glaciers, and hotsprings, is an unexpected number 9 on the top ten list.

And the English-speaking U.K. – coming off the Queen’s history-making Platinum Jubilee celebrations, full of fun pubs, castles and stately homes, picturesque tiny villages and familiar cultural appeal, tops the list of 2022-23 honeymoon destinations.

Start Your Romantic Trip!

First-Ever, Statewide Waterfall Trail in the U.S. Opens Just in Time for Summer

Kick off summer on a quest. For the very first time, a statewide trail helps active travelers get off the beaten path, connecting them to over two dozen waterfalls across the most scenic parts of West Viriginia.

The 29 waterfalls of the official West Virginia Waterfall Trail are just a ‘drop in the bucket’ of the more than 200 waterfalls found in picturesque places around the state.

Chasing Waterfalls in America’s Newest National Park

Included on the trail are six waterfalls in America's 63rd – and newest - national park, the New River Gorge National Park & Preserve. These breathtaking cascades can be found within secluded coves, such as Turkey Creek Falls, or can be enjoyed at the end of a scenic trail, such as Glade Creek Falls, or hidden gems like Finn's falls. As travelers continue to flock to the national park, the falls along the West Virginia Waterfall Trail highlight must-visit spots to add to an East Coast summer nature trip.

The novelty of the new park and its falls is in addition to well-known cascades along the West Virginia Waterfall Tails like Blackwater (pictured) and Sandstone, as well as lesser-known waterfalls like Drawdy in Boone County. Some, like Cathedral, tower above the valley floor, while others span wide rivers.

As more and more of us show an interest in spending our leisure and travel time outdoors, the launch of the first-ever waterfall trail couldn’t come at a better time – in addition to its debut at the beginning of the summer and along with the state’s landmark new national park and nature preserve.

'Breathtaking waterfalls are everywhere in our 1.5 million acres of parks and public lands, making this trail a must-experience activity for adventure-seekers this summer,' said West Virginia’s Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby on the occasion of the waterfall trail inauguration in June, 2022.

The state dubs itself ‘an outdoor oasis in the heart of the East Coast,’ and just in 2022, the state has been recognized by a number of prestigious publications for its magnificent scenic beauty and outdoor recreation. Among its natural wonders, the rushing waterfalls found across the state create the perfect backdrop for soft adventure that’s accessible to almost everyone, young and young at heart, and at multiple levels of fitness.

West Virginia’s connecting its natural wonders via new technology. Travelers on a waterfall quest in the state can go to WVtourism.com/waterfalls and register to have the West Virginia Waterfall Trail passport delivered straight to your smartphone. As travelers explore each of the more than two dozen waterfalls featured on the trail, they can stamp their passports by checking in at each location.

The state’s Department of Tourism is even rewarding waterfall chasers with exclusive gear along the way in the trail’s inaugural season:

Check in at three or more waterfalls and receive a custom sticker.
Check in at 10 or more waterfalls and receive an aluminum water bottle.
Check in at 20 or more waterfalls and receive a waterfall wanderer t-shirt.

'From simple boardwalks to hilly treks, we want to make your efforts to experience our falls worth every mile,' said Ruby. 'While out and about on the West Virginia Waterfall Trail, be sure to post photos of your explorations on social media using #AlmostHeaven.'

Go for the falls, stay for West Virginia’s other stunning attractions. In addition to its majestic mountains and rolling hills, West Virginia is full of rich historic sites, enchanting art galleries, charming towns and what state officials call “an immense sense of belonging found only in these heaven-like landscapes.”

Start Your Nature Trip!

Image courtesy of the West Virginia Department of Tourism

Top Souvenirs from a Trip to England

2022 is a great year to be an anglophile! Queen Elizabeth II’s history-making Platinum Jubilee, marking her remarkable 70 years of service, plus a new Downton Abbey film, have brought all things British to the forefront of popular culture.

Interest in travel to Britain is at an all-time high to experience Britain’s storied pomp and circumstance, English culture and quirk, and immerse yourself in one of the world’s most adored and copied lifestyles, from cricket to rowing, afternoon tea to a round at the pub, stately homes and quaint cottages, gardens to skyscrapers, exquisite tailoring to hand-written invitations: the good life, British-style.

You’ll want to bring some of it home to re-live your vacation and share your love of all things English.

Lynn Elmhirst, producer and host of BestTrip TV, just returned from a transatlantic crossing on the British luxury line Cunard’s Queen Mary 2, with a few days post-cruise in London during the Queen’s Jubilee year. Here are the souvenirs that made it into her bag:

Books

English authors have made their mark on the world, from Shakespeare up to the present day, and London remains one of the publishing centers of the planet. And even most modest homes today still retain that very British tradition of having a library to be proud of.

Indulge in some time in an English bookstore. “High street” or mainstream bookstores have so many books you’ll never see at home – even though they’re both written in English! That includes books by experts sharing tips and information about traveling around London or Britain through the lens of their special interests that can help inform and shape your travels.

Then there are still treasure troves of independent, specialty bookstores – if you love books, you could get lost forever and love it!

Tea Service

If someone visits England and doesn't have afternoon tea, have they actually been to England at all?

That very civilized tradition of taking a load off one’s feet in the middle of the afternoon and partaking in a restorative cup of your favorite tea, along with light finger sandwiches, a perfect scone, clotted cream and jam and a sweet delicacy or two… simply makes your day. And tides you over til a late dinner after taking in a performance in one of London’s West End theaters, for example.

You may find you can’t live without afternoon tea, in which case, you’ll need a tea service. From impossibly elegant versions made by top names in British fine bone china, including patterns available in England only, to quirky versions that speak to your own personal sense of style, a tea service will allow you to reminisce about your time in England for years to come.

Start with just a tea pot you can mix and match with your own china at home, or go all the way with tea pot, milk and sugar, teacups and saucers, even sandwich plates! Many fine stores even arrange shipping.

Consumables

When it comes to family, friends and colleagues, I’ve found the most-appreciated souvenirs are the ones that disappear – down your throat!

And England does consumables up right. From teas to biscuits (or as we’d call them: cookies) jams to chutneys, sweets to chocolates and more – all in high-designed tins and packages and parcels and baskets that are essential English style.

There’s no end of shops to stock up on edible souvenirs, but you won’t want to miss the grand-daddies of them all: Harrod’s and Fortnum and Mason.

Anything from Liberty’s

The luxury department store in the unmistakeable historic building – erected in Tudor style using ship timbers symbolic of the exotic emporium of its vision - in the heart of London’s Regent Street shopping area, has become synonymous with the truly unique designs of late 19^th century creator, William Morris.

A keen anglophile can always spot a Liberty pattern, whether it’s on a shirt, scarf, man’s tie, or woman’s bag.

Those would be for you. To share with loved ones back home: edibles packaged in those unmistakeable Liberty designs.

Gin

While its earliest origins stem from the Netherlands just a short sail across the Channel, hundreds of years ago the English made gin very much their own. Today, a gin and tonic – or G&T, remains the essential English cocktail.

Forget everything about gins you’ve tasted at home, and start sipping unfamiliar, small-batch gins on your trip to Britain. There’s a lot more to gin today than distilled juniper berries! Combinations of botanicals, florals, and herbal ingredients have resulted in intriguing new flavors of gin, that are just as delicious sipped straight up as they are mixed with a high-quality tonic.

Image Courtesy Royal Collection Trust

Buckingham Palace now has its own gin that you can buy at its gift shop in support of the Royal Collection Trust that maintains one of the largest art collections in the world.

So does British cruise line Cunard. In fact, Cunard partnered with the well-known distillery Pickering's to create three gins with different flavor profiles: one for each of its ‘Three Queens’ ships.

Umbrella

If you were asked to draw an Englishman, chances are, he’d be sporting a tailcoat, a hat… and an umbrella. The quintessential dapper Englishman flourishes his umbrella, which isn’t just an affectation, but protects him or the lady accompanying him, from the English weather.

If quality apparel and accessories mean something to you, England is the place to acquire an umbrella with character. Check out the fine department stores, some specialty stores, and find yourself the perfect bespoke umbrella that will be a conversation-starter back at home – like this one above, kindly provided for the use of guests at our hotel, The Londoner (below), a stunning new luxury hotel in Leicester Square in the heart of the capital's theater district.

Globe

In addition to books, of course, every stately home’s library comes equipped with a splendid globe. Every world traveller should have one, too. Flat maps or – the horror! Apps! – fail to evoke the sense of scale of our planet, the distances between destinations, across seas and oceans… or the magic of travel in the way a globe does. Tactile by its very nature, a globe engages our wonder with travel.

And there’s one person in England making bespoke globes by hand in a studio in London. My camera team and I visited the studios of Bellerby & Co. to learn the secrets of putting a map on a sphere you can touch.

The studio isn’t open to the public, but you can order a globe online – even personalized in any way you can imagine! To have a little piece of bespoke English artisanship - and keep your travel dreams alive as you spin it at home.

Start your England Trip!

All images copyright BestTrip TV / Lynn Elmhirst unless otherwise stated.

Take Your Romance from Book to the Beach: This Resort Chain’s Partnered with a Romance Novel Publisher

This chain of couples-only Caribbean resorts is serious about helping guests ‘get in the groove’ while on vacation. To celebrate its 40^th anniversary, Sandals Resorts has launched an ‘Institute of Romance’ to research trends in couples’ relationships with a goal of helping keep the sparks a’ flying.

The new trend-house delves into data about modern love, relationships and intimacy… And how they relate to holidays.

Through global surveys of paired-up travelers and its past guests, Sandals’ Institute of Romance’s findings will help the resort chain develop activities and experiences in its resorts, and even relationship guidance for couples before, during and after their all-inclusive beach resort vacation.

One of their most stand-out discoveries: More than half (55%) of North American women wish their relationships mirrored the couples of their favorite romance novels.

Sandals is so serious about love, it has a ‘Director of Romance,’ who explains: “With 49% of women preferring to read on vacation – from the initial plane ride to beachside – and romance novel sales skyrocketing over the last two years, this felt like a natural place for us to lend our 40 years of expertise in the romance space.'

So Sandals decided the perfect next step: to partner with romance novel publisher, Avon Books.

Sandals Resorts is creating a 'romance library' of titles curated by the experts at Avon Books for guests to borrow while on vacation. Beginning at the Sandals resort in Grenada (pictured), the initial library will include a selection from the 'Michelangelo of dirty talk,' Tessa Bailey, as well as popular titles from Julia Quinn's “Bridgerton” series and authors Talia Hibbert, Olivia Dade and more.

Sandals’ Director of Romance says, 'With this partnership, we are helping bring to life the sometimes swoonworthy, but nearly always attainable relationships our guests read about in their favorite books, creating a meaningful and lasting connection on and off vacation.'

Do any of these stats that Sandals has discovered through its first survey of 1500 North American women sound like you?

· 81% say they read romance novels and

· 45% say they've increased their consumption of the genre over the last two years, citing the comfort of happily ever after (44%), the flirty banter (36%) and steamy scenes (30%) as the primary reasons!

They’ve even been able to narrow down the elements in romances between the pages of novels that are missing from many women’s relationships in real life, including:

· better communication (55%),

· spontaneous romantic gestures (54%), and

· and more satisfying sex life (34%).

Do any of those complaints sound familiar? Take ‘heart,’ Sandals is taking those cues and translating them into even better romantic beach getaways.

The resort company will be developing ways to prompt spontaneous romantic moments of connection throughout guests' stays – such as reminders to hold hands, ask a meaningful question or share a compliment.

Getting Steamy

Fantasy. Connection. Fulfillment. Romance novels and couples’ aspirations for their vacations have some things in common. The survey found that:

· Over a third (36%) of Sandals’ survey respondents shared that they fantasize about fictional characters more than their significant others,

· 55% say reading romance novels makes them more likely to want to connect with their partner and

· 38% say reading romance novels have made them feel more fulfilled in their relationships.

Nearly half (49%) of women surveyed say they've learned something from reading a romance novel that they've brought to their real-life relationships, with

· 53% engaging in more meaningful communication,

· 48% spicing up their love life and

· 35% setting time aside for romantic getaways.

Sharing a fictional fantasy can help make romance a reality.

'There's something inherently attractive when a partner takes an interest in something you're excited about – whether it be reading a new book from one of your favorite authors or trying a new activity together,” says Sandals’ Director of Romance.

“It's why we encourage couples to experience adventures together on vacation – from learning to scuba dive to taking in a round of golf. We always tell couples to be intentional about the time they share with each other; make it meaningful.”