As Ireland’s national holiday approaches, visions of all things green will sweep over the island, as well as fill the minds of Irish descendants spread across the globe, many of whom make pilgrimages back to their motherland on the ever-popular St. Patrick’s Day. Green everything in all shades is usually…

Portugal’s capital city, Lisbon, has a wealth of colorful neighborhoods to explore. The city bursts with history, and its narrow-cobbled streets are a delight to lose yourself in. Known as the City of Seven Hills, locals gather in the squares to shoot the breeze, and trams clatter up and down…

One of the fabulous things about traveling is the quirky cast of characters you meet. The rogues and the gentlemen, the heroes and the rascals. But it takes a magical place like Antigua in Guatemala to conjure up a character like Alexander Ferrar. Walk with me through these ancient, cobbled streets…

Brrr, it’s getting cold outside! The temperatures are dropping, the days are getting shorter, and keeping warm inside the house has become a top priority. But fortunately for travelers who are seeking a winter vacation, there are destinations where temperatures are well above freezing.  So, where can you go? Well,…

You’d better watch out. Krampus is an iconic creature of Central and Eastern Alpine folklore in Europe. During the Advent season, he is said to visit children who have misbehaved to scare them into changing their ways. Most commonly, Krampus is depicted as a horned figure with a demonic face,…

If you’ve ever used a Kodak Retina folding camera or a Rolleiflex twin-reflex, you’ve been obsessed with photography for a long time. Retinas were to Eastman Kodak what Cadillac was to General Motors. For 55 years, from 1934 to 1969, these German-made 35mm folding bellows cameras were at the top…

Amsterdam is making a major push to rid the city of its reputation as a hub for excess. The Dutch government’s latest proposals are aimed at curbing bad tourist behavior, particularly around drugs, alcohol, and sex. The measures include limiting the number of river cruises, introducing earlier closing times for…

When traveling, you should never forget to pack the one item that can keep your personal data and online activities safe: a Virtual Private Network (VPN). A VPN is an application that runs on any computer or phone, encrypting your data and hiding your location. That way, it’s much more…

Here’s a fact seldom discussed when the topic of travel agents arises. When the airlines began cutting commissions to travel agents in the mid-90′s, the real problem wasn’t commissions. No, the airlines had another reason for wanting travel agents out of the picture. Travel agents told clients how to obtain…

The Northern Lights are one of Iceland’s top tourist attractions, and for good reason. They’ve fascinated peoples from around the world for thousands of years, from the Inuit of Nunivak Island in the Bering Sea to the Laplanders of northern Scandinavia. In Iceland, Viking lore maintained that the dancing Aurora…

St. Petersburg is a city that has made one of the most remarkable urban turnarounds in American history. I used to travel to St. Petersburg occasionally on business in the late-90’s. Back then, it seemed a somewhat nondescript small city without a bustling business scene…but with an aging infrastructure and…

New York City has The Hamptons. Los Angeles has Palm Springs. Denver has Aspen. For many years, the vacation playground for the rich and famous in Chicago was Lake Geneva.  This Wisconsin resort town, only about an hour from the Windy City, has since evolved as a destination accessible for…