The Traveler's Journal

Centuries of development have given us wonderful ways of finding our place on the planet, but to really know where you are it still helps to have a good sense of direction.

The Okavango Delta in the African nation of Botswana is one of the best places on the planet for a walk on the wild side. But always remember, while it's possible to stare down a lion, never, ever look a leopard in the eye.

In the decades since apartheid's end, many millions of foreign travelers have arrived to explore the vast realm of South Africa.  Relatively few find their way to the Dragon Mountains, where the Lord of the Rings was Conceived.

Relatively few Americans find their way to Tunisia, but Europeans come in droves, attracted to its Mediterranean climate, sparkling beach resorts, and fine dining.

Elusive and haunting, Fado is the musical expression of Portuguese "saudade," the soul, heart's break and heart's longing. And Lisbon's old city is the place to find it.

Situated in the Wasatch Mountains 30 miles southeast of Salt Lake, Park City, Utah has certainly seen its ups and downs.  It'll be really up in two weeks, when the 2019 Sundance Film Festival gets started.

Just south of where the Moselle River meets the Rhine at Koblenz is the mouth of another beautiful, but lesser known German river, the Lahn.

One capital of kingdom of Lao, the city of Chiang Mai has become a destination of choice for travelers to Thailand.  But getting out into the mountainous countryside that surrounds it also has its own rewards.

Montreal is often compared to Paris, sort of all things French but with not quite as much attitude.  There are similarities, but Montreal has an ambiance that is all its own.

Though it has been part of Italy for a century, the once international city of Trieste has both a confused past and an idyllic setting.

The Adriatic Sea's northeast coast is among Europe's most beguilingly complex and historically bewildering corners.  Consider the peninsula of Istria.

The Internet can provide access to a myriad of websites offering information about places around the globe.  Here's one way to focus on a useful, reliable few.  Check the newspapers.

Modern equipment makes taking photos easier than ever, but great images that capture the essence of a place in a single image still require something that sparks the viewer's imagination.

In the fall of 1810, a massive royal wedding party was held on a swath of fields on Munich's southwest corner, and the whole city was invited.  The annual tradition continues, but now the whole world comes.

Maastrict, the venerable Dutch city on the banks of the river Meuse, is a hearty dollop of Holland squeezed between Belgium and Germany.

Rather than broad, sweeping vistas, Amsterdam unveils its charms on a more intimate, human scale.  Its easy, down-to-earth ambiance has a way of making complete strangers feel at home.

Few travelers really know their rights when scheduled flights are delayed, diverted, or canceled.  The sad truth is that in most cases, the airline is free to do what it wants.

In the waning days of the Middle-Ages, a tiny piece of Portugal took root on the shores of the Indian Ocean, several hundred miles south of the city of Mumbai. Goa remains an Indian place unto itself.

British Columbia's central coast ranks among earth's most spectacular landscapes.  Cetaceans cruise its ocean inlets, and ghostly ursines paw deep woodland streams for salmon.

When congress set it aside in 1906, Mesa Verde was America's first national park established to preserve the relics of prehistoric peoples.  That was a wise and fortuitous decision.

Founded in 1872, America's first national park is still wild and untamed at heart, offering a palette of unique and striking landscapes.

The US Park Service offers a range of inexpensive passes that provide unlimited access to American's national natural treasure houses.  All even offer a chance to stamp your passport.

The three miles long and half a mile wide, this tiny private island in the British Grenadines is the essence of understated Caribbean elegance.

For travelers in foreign places, more disconcerting than exotic entrees ordered inadvertently is the case of dysentery served on the side.

Automatic Teller Machines are the currency source of choice for people on the go, both in the US and overseas, but smart travelers know it's always wise to have other cash resources as a back-up.

Too often Africa is mis-perceived as a single, vaguely ominous entity.  The reality is that the continent is vast and varied, with more than 50 countries and hundreds of distinct cultures.

As life's pace quickens and the demands of daily schedules get too hectic, a new kind of leisure travel has emerged.  Call them fast-forward getaways.

This time of year, the lines are long at San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf for the ferry rides to Alcatraz and Angel Island.

Though great strides have been made in the decades since the Americans With Disabilities Act was passed, the notion of barrier free travel is still problematic.

"Leave it as you found it," is the basic tenet for the rules of the off-road. Here are some particulars.

Just south of where the Moselle River meets the Rhine at Koblenz is the mouth of another beautiful but less famous river, the Lahn.

When visiting the tropics. a traveler can do everything right and still get sick, or everything wrong and stay well. Still, we offer these thoughts on improving your odds.

News headlines always imply that foreign travel has become particularly dangerous.  State Department statistics suggest a more benign world view.

Be Aware of Hotel Theft Liabilities. Too many travelers are shocked when they discover how little responsibility the accommodations industry assume for theft of guests' valuables.

North Carolina's Piedmont country lies halfway between DC and Atlanta as well as the Atlantic and the Applaichians.  It's also home to three great universities.

Whether you're shooting with pixels or film, a flash can greatly improves the quality of your images, indoors or out, and in any kind of light.

We remember two of the most cataclysmic eruptions, Vesuvius and Krakatoa.

The Fall is usually a great season to find real bargains on Caribbean cruises, but this year, there's a bumper crop of possibilities.

US Highway 55, which carefully winds its way through southwestern Colorado's San Juan Mountains, is a drive to be savored, a gear-shifter's glory.

Moscow has had a major make-over in the decades since Soviet Rule ended, but many modern visitors come to appreciate the remaining and magnificent relics of the old order.

The Easy Rider image and lure of the open road are attractive, but motorcycle touring is much more than a youthful rite of passage

The villages along the Moselle River are among Germany's most ancient.  Viticulture has been a primary activity for 2000 years.

Switzerland's Bernese Oberland is a staggering destination year round, yet the main towns can get very crowded. Here's one place to find a slice of Swiss simplicity.

For fat-tire bikers, Moab Utah ids Mecca.  With training, even novice riders can pedal perpendicularly across smooth and precipitous stony slopes.

The southern coast of Guernsey is lined by steep bluffs that rise from the open Atlantic.  Renoir walked this way and painted.

Though just 12 miles long by 7 wide, Jersey is the largest and most developed of the charming Channel Islands.

Though these five tiny islands that poke up from the English Channel lie closer to France, they've been linked to England since 1066.

Indiana Highway 135 meanders among the colorful hills of Brown County and passes through a panorama of rural Midwest images.

Over the last 12,000 years, the Illinois River and its tributaries have carved 18 surprisingly gorgeous gorges.

Don't Be a No-show. Whenever you make a reservation for a restaurant and your plans change, call and let them know. It's no more than common courtesy, and might spare you a midnight call from an angry restranteur.