Favorite Destinations
  • Angouleme, France

    A New City for Your Travel List: Angoulême, France

    Last year I had a great chance to explore France, something I am ashamed to say I had never done. Ashamed because Paris is my favorite city in the world and I’ve spent a lot of time there; I even lived there briefly. But until…
  • Kruger National Park, South Africa

    Safari in South Africa: Fact, Fiction and Photos

    There they stood in the lobby of the lodge; dressed in khaki and British pith helmets. I imagined that in a few hours they would be taking tea in the savannah while being attended to by their man-servants. I caught a my reflection in a…
  • Sweden

    Great Drives – Exploring The Villages and Inlets of Sweden’s West Coast

    It was my first time in Sweden and I had an admittedly unusual agenda for a first time visitor. I didn’t visit Stockholm or it famous neighborhoods, instead I was in West Sweden; a beautiful part of the country famous for its coastal getaways. Even…
  • South Africa Lion

    Meet South Africa Instagram Video

    I returned just a few days ago from beautiful South Africa, where I was part of an exciting project designed to promote the country. The campaign included 15 international bloggers following a variety of different routes around the country in order to explore and share…
  • Norden's Ark, Sweden

    Tigers, Leopards and Wolves – Saving Lives at Norden’s Ark in Sweden

    The drive along the E6 from Gothenburg to the small area of Hunnebostrand in Western Sweden was the perfect first introduction to the landscapes of Sweden. Spring had not yet arrived, but it was threatening and the earliest of buds and blades of grass were…
  • Matt South Africa

    Quick Thoughts on South Africa

    As I board a plane back home to Washington, DC today I find myself reflecting on my second experience traveling through South Africa. After my first visit last year to Cape Town and the Cape Peninsula I fell in love, but I wasn’t sure how…
  • Sweden

    42 Things I Love About West Sweden

    I was in Sweden as part of the Car Plus Vacation promotion, highlighting Volvo’s program that allows overseas buyers to receive complimentary tickets to Sweden and to drive their new car around before Volvo ships it home for them. They’re also running a sweepstakes right…
  • Bermuda

    Travel Obsession: Still Thinking About Paradise and the South Pacific

    So a few months ago I wrote about my obsession with the South Pacific and while I’ve never visited, it remains a place I think of often. Well lately it seems as if the universe is conspiring against me and wants to only add fuel…
  • Sunset in Antarctica

    Antarctica in Five Words

    Antarctica isn’t your normal travel experience; it’s extreme in just about every way imaginable from how you get there to what you see during the trip. There are a lot of ways to describe and share this experience, but these five words encapsulate it for…
  • Bermuda flag

    Exploring the Colonial Town of St. George’s in Bermuda

    I didn’t know a lot about Bermuda before I first visited as the guest of Bermuda Tourism, and that’s my fault. I was busy and while I was really excited to visit for the first time, I hadn’t done the normal research I conduct before…
  • Volvo Car Sweden

    How to Buy a Car and Visit Sweden for Free (Plus a Sweepstakes!)

    Last week I was in Sweden as part of an initiative cosponsored by Volvo, Visit Sweden, West Sweden Tourism and Skåne Tourism. The goal was to highlight a sweepstakes they have going on and to bring more attention to a cool program Volvo runs for…
  • Florence Italy

    I Was Supposed to Like Florence, Italy

    So this has happened before. I travel to a destination, sometimes one that is universally loved, but I don’t have a great experience. I’ve written about it before and it happens to everyone, but I was shocked ( and still am) that it happened to…
  • Near Cape Town, South Africa

    Meet South Africa: Adventure Travel Itinerary

    Last week I received an unconventional invitation in my email inbox from South Africa Tourism. It was a video inviting me to return to South Africa and explore more of this wonderful country. In August 2012, I was part of a remarkable campaign to highlight…
  • Malmo Sweden

    Seeing the Two Faces of Malmo, Sweden

    The last stop on my brief but thorough trip through the regions of West Sweden and the Skåne was Malmö, a city I was a little nervous to visit. I was nervous because I made the mistake of listening to what others thought of the…
  • Goslings Rum Bermuda

    Rum Reimagined – The National Cocktails of Bermuda (Including Recipes)

    It seems that every place I visit has a special wine, beer or cocktail for which it is famous. Islands tend to have a higher concentration of liquid refreshments, but few have I enjoyed as much as the official, unofficial national drinks of Bermuda –…