Fall vacation: two words that usually conjure images of crisp air, vibrant foliage, or a last-ditch effort to soak up some sun before winter sets in. But let’s be real, the gap between the flawless trip you see on Instagram and the logistical reality on the ground can be massive, especially this autumn. As the …
Thinking of finally acting on that last-minute sunny getaway to Europe? It may be too late for oceanfront villas on the French Riviera and rooftop cocktails in Barcelona, unless you’ve got thousands of dollars sitting somewhere in a bank account. Europe’s top tourism hotspots are either completely out of reach for budget-savvy travelers or already …
Right now, the travel industry is completely obsessed with the idea that you have to suffer to find a genuine, untouched paradise. I constantly see people booking grueling, 24-hour multi-leg flights to Southeast Asia, losing two entire days of their precious PTO to devastating jet lag, just to sit on a beach where they have …
Not Paris and its hordes of Eiffel Tower scammers. Not Rome with the jam-packed Historic Center and ornate fountains behind paywalls. Definitely not Barcelona. If their menacing graffiti is anything to go by, Catalans don’t even want you in their city, to begin with. Europe’s fastest-growing destination right now is a picture-perfect capital that never …
Trust me, I love the zero-stress appeal of a massive all-inclusive resort just as much as anyone when I desperately need a break from the daily grind stateside. When the winter chill starts creeping in across the country, there is nothing quite like trading the daily commute for a stretch of white sand south of …
Right now, whenever my wife Liz and I are trying to map out a quick trip out West, the conversation almost inevitably loops back to the classic heavyweights. For decades, the Grand Canyon has been the undisputed king of the American Southwest road trip, practically required reading for anyone with a hiking boot or a …
Trust me, I love the zero-stress appeal of a great mega-resort just as much as anyone else when I desperately need a break. But while Cancun, Cabo, and Puerto Vallarta tend to hog the spotlight for US travelers, my 20 years of flying south from LAX have taught me one thing: real authenticity is found …
The first time I visited Playa del Carmen, I was absolutely hyped to finally check out the world-famous Mexican Caribbean beaches. But when I walked down to the water, the sand was totally covered in massive, rotting piles of sargassum seaweed. The smell was intense, the water was dark brown, and it completely ruined the …
Flying to Europe last minute and got stuck between a rock and a hard place with the crazy prices? Unless you’ve got a fixed itinerary set in stone, and seeing the Eiffel Tower sparkle at midnight or exploring the ancient ruins of Rome are absolute non-negotiables, maybe you should give Europe’s usual tourism hotspots a …
There is a specific kind of exhaustion that comes with modern mega-resort travel. You fly thousands of miles just to wake up at 6:00 AM to “reserve” a pool chair with a towel, pay $25 for a watered-down margarita, and fight through shoulder-to-shoulder crowds just to see the ocean. It completely drains the vacation energy …
I have spent the last 10 years traveling to Mexico and I completely understand the magnetic pull of a tropical beach vacation. But after years of and exploring this incredible country, I can confidently tell you that some of Mexico’s most jaw-dropping destinations are completely landlocked. If you are willing to trade the sand for …
There is a highly addictive feeling that hits you the very first time you take a massive Zoom meeting from a balcony overlooking the Andaman Sea, or while drinking a perfectly pulled espresso in a centuries-old European plaza. Your background isn’t blurred. You aren’t freezing under the fluorescent lights of a sterile corporate office. You …