Las Vegas New Years Eve As if Las Vegas is not on fire enough it puts on one of the largest New Year’s Eve parties and pyrotechnic firework shows on the planet. The rundown of fun brings an exhaustive list of happenings at Strip hotels hotels and in the downtown Fremont Street corridor. The Strip , itself closes to traffic in the early evening and the mile-long neon byway becomes a pedestrian free-for-all through the early dawn hours. The

  I do not suffer ghosts lightly. So when I walked into the Double Eagle in Mesilla, New Mexico, a 150-year-old great house in the middle of a preserved adobe village that was once defiantly part of Mexico, I paid serious attention. It is now the top steak and gourmet restaurant in a little corner of New Mexico near Las Cruces. And the dining experience, if not the setting itself, is worth every dime. I had been prepared for this

Water. It’s all around me here in Hawaii. Crashing against the sand, stretching to the whites of the sky, giving this island in the middle of nowhere a reason to exist. So why is it that even the thought of wading into that soft blue until my feet are no longer secure in the sand sends me into a spasm of hyper ventilating? I did not even know this was a fear of mine. Until, at the age of 58,

Insomniacs Take Notice: There’s Gold in that Blue Glow I am not an insomniac, except in airplanes. I crave space and open windows and while not sinking into a claustrophobic panic zone as I adjust back of my middle seat (oh those precious three inches!) into the down position, I am still a tensed up wire in a tube counting down the hours to landing. But Glo-to-Sleep may change all that. When going to sleep or flying or breathing in

I blew out my MacBook Pro power cord last week. It would not have been a big deal for me, except it was – and an expensive one that nearly brought me to my knees with panic. I was in Ethiopia, a country where electricity runs, well, according to the will of the saints and my cord, connected to my computer, got stuck in a power surge. Apparently, this is modus operandi in Addis Abeba, and I thought I had

Packing for Africa List 1) Lights: a penlight will do in a pinch. But a LED light you can wear on your head will be a big help when you are trying to read in poorly lit places. 2) Plugs. Don’t skimp on plug sets. You will need all the options you can find, not only for those round plugs for round holes and tri-pronged horizontals (and what about thick round tri-prongs for South Africa?) but you will need connectors

1) Stellenbosch winery, only 30 minutes from Cape Town and a jumping off point for the wine region, is the oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town, founded in 1679 by the governor of the Dutch East India Company. Homes here are well preserved, four of them form the town museum and it’s an easy hop to Frankschoek, 20 minutes away and awash in Huguenot history as well as wineries and cafes. 2) Paarl is slightly north of Stellenbosch

1) Voluntourism: an emerging trend that shows many travelers are interested in their value per dollar as well as satisfying their own values and principals. Voluntourism answers the call for tourism growth in some places as well as travelers’ self growth. 2) Walking Safaris: Guides are abe to share a wealth of knowledge about the fauna and the local tribes while taking people slowly through these natural surroundings.  It is also much easier to understand issues facing people in their

Top 5 Trends in Vacation Types, according to Destination Counsellors International (DCI) Experiences: Consumers in pursuit of the “E Factor” remains a primary driving force in travel, particularly among Baby Boomers. Experiences topping the list include culinary and culture, with interest noted in nature, adventure, photography and golf. Mystery Trips: Within the budget travel category, “Mystery Trips” are projected to be one of the fastest growing trends for 2012. There are so few surprises left in life that travel suppliers

For most of us, spending time in airports generates about as much anticipatory excitement as, maybe, cutting toenails. You have to do it. It’s not fun and often sloppy and uncomfortable, and after hour six you might feel like pulling out those nails instead of enduring another hour watching people shuffle and roll down a crowded industrial corridor. On a recent set of flights that took me from Addis Ababa to Thailand and then to Los Angeles, I had a