A Family Travel Blog
I’ve always enjoyed seeing the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner traveling past – a sleek silver train hugging the California coast as it stops at beach towns from San Diego to San Luis Obispo. However, glancing at the southbound Surfliner as I was driving home from the airport, it suddenly seemed uninteresting. Where are the… Read More
I had been to China several times before. I had seen the lights of Shanghai, the pandas in Chengdu and the Terra Cotta Warriors in Xi’an, and I had visited the Great Wall three times. Other than a night spent in a rural fishing village, I had never been far from… Read More
“What’s Your Favorite Place in the World?” Almost every time I tell someone I’m a travel writer, I get asked what my favorite destination is. Now that I’ve traveled to 80 countries (Jamaica last week for spring break was number 80), I’ve started giving some thought to my favorite places… Read More
The Caribbean from Los Angeles I love living near LAX since I can fly to most corners of the earth non-stop. Australia? Easy. Dubai, Hong Kong, and Istanbul? Just one flight. One of the most difficult places to fly to, though, is only five hours away – the Caribbean. There are a lot… Read More
Giraffe Manor Ever since my first trip to Africa in 2000, giraffes have been my favorite animals. No matter what national park you’re in, you see them from miles away, moving slowly through the grass and trees, dining on acacia. I love how they seem to run in slow motion… Read More
A Family Safari in Africa I always tell people to take their kids everywhere, but we hadn’t been everywhere yet – because of the ages of our kids. I had done several safaris through southern and eastern Africa with friends before I got married. I loved going on game drives and spending… Read More
Every year Conde Nast Traveler releases a list of the best islands in the world, based on its annual reader poll. The top non-US island in the world right now? Palawan, Philippines. In second place? Bora Bora. Bora Bora is the standard dream destination for those wanting to stay in an… Read More
A Long Layover in Hong Kong My 8-year-old chose Palawan, Philippines for his annual trip with me. As always, as soon as we had the primary destination, we got to work playing with other fun places to add on to the trip. Why fly all the way to the Asia and only visit one… Read More
Palawan, Philippines When my son chose Palawan for his 8-year-old trip with me, I was excited. It looks amazing in photos – turquoise waters with islands everywhere and beaches surrounded by palm trees. Plus I had never been to the Philippines. I didn’t want to take him out of school… Read More
Such a fun travel year! Starting in Colorado and ending in Thailand, I flew 178,790 miles to 20 countries on 4 continents. I don’t think I had flown more than 150,000 miles in a year before? Five countries were solo – India and Japan for photo expeditions, Germany and Spain for travel conferences… Read More
