Traveller

One of the coolest things I have done so far is fly in a vintage aircraft high above Sonoma Valley in California. It was a little bit Meryl Streep in Out of Africa , except without Robert Redford, and a little bit Snoopy storming enemy lines across France a la Charles Schultz of Peanuts fame. It would be fun to try and go up in a small plane during every travel excursion, whether in the States or in other countries. Since many other countries still use small planes as an important form of transportation it could be a viable goal. Here are a few ways to explore by aircraft the next time you travel: Savannah Africa - South Africa Discover Ireland - Helicopter Services Air Sahara - Charter Services Exploring our surroundings in a small aircraft is personal and can bring you closer to the true nature of the area. Imagine gliding above fields of olive trees in Greece or the farmland of Ireland. How beautiful would it be to see the land from this perspective. I can only imagine the m...

Sometimes we all need to get away and have a quiet holiday. We want to hang out with like minded people, and maybe pursue a creative outlet like photography, writing or painting in an exotic setting. Tuscany Now If you need this type of holiday my first suggestion would be to consider the Tuscan art retreat being offered by Women's Quest this spring. Over the course of a week, you will paint outdoors at unique historical locations such as the spiritual abbeys of Sant’Anna (the church where the English Patient was filmed). Beside art making, the goal will be to slow down and enjoy life. Savor local customs, drink wine, soak your bones in an ancient spa, enjoy yoga in addition to a week of exploring Tuscany. Throughout the experience you will be creating a personal, illustrated journal with daily guided exercises designed to attune you to your inner heart’s desire, connecting you with the present moment, recording clues, making a personal map of the journey. Go to Women's Quest t...

Mumbai School Girls (Photo credit to Opoponax) Indian Color This past year I worked on a project with a large financial services firm and spent hours with our technology teams everyday. Most of my meetings were in rooms discussing system functionality with dozens of men and women from various parts of India. They lived in the Bay Area with the help of working visas and spent months on projects with firms like mine. I met so many interesting and talented people with first names like Manali, Samatha, Saroja, Preeta, Ali, Lakshmi and Rama. The men and women I worked with gave me such a wonderful impression of the Indian people. They were warm and giving, almost to a fault when it came to deadlines. They did not like disappointing anyone. Many would offer to share some of their food that they had brought from home for lunch. All were ready with a genuine smile that was difficult to resist. They made the time spent there pass by quickly. Oscar Bound In 2008 we saw the amazing success of a...

Caravan.com, the number one tour company is giving away an all-expense paid, 9 day trip for two to Costa Rica. All you have to do is upload a photo of your greatest life adventure so far. This can be a picture of you skydiving, smiling under a waterfall, the birth of your first child, or your wedding day. The winner will be chosen from the Top 5 photos that receive the most votes. The contest ends February 25 so check out the full contest details at IF.net and watch an intro video here : Photo credit to Mape_s' IF.net is a social networking site that connects people by holding contests sponsored by major brands. After IF members submit their entry, their friends and families can vote for them everyday to increase their chances of winning.

Expat Life Living overseas can be a wonderful way to become familiar with not only the country and region you are living in but also a unique way to reacquaint yourself with your home country. If you keep an open mind, the education available to an expatriate is boundless. Living in country such as Japan can be a situation where you live in one of the wealthiest and advanced countries, with some of the most archaic ["backwoods" as they say in the US] standards in their treatment of women, the disabled and the foreign-born. It was a surprise to learn that the country known for teeny tiny electronics, the CD and incredibly energy efficient cars, would give a tax incentive to married couples so that a husband received a tax break if his wife did not earn more than $10,000 a year. Today's women then have an incentive to not marry if they want a career. At the same time, it is very enlightening to watch the "news hour" each night, and notice that the headquarters for...

Most of my friends love to travel and actively get out and about, even those with children which is impressive. Some of my friends are the backpack type of traveler. They like to fly on the cheap, stay in hostels or camps and go to more remote and physically challenging locations. On the other side, there are friends who fly a minimum of business class for any flight over three hours, they have minimum requirements for their lodging needs and their destinations are typically major cities, guided tours or island resorts. Since this year it has been difficult for me to get on a plane for some reason, my personal travel excursions have been from reading the travels of insightful bloggers. Explorers like Cate a caffeinated traveler currently in Malaysia, and Gary who hasn't stopped moving since 2007. I think he is in Egypt now. I also consume lots of books, National Geographic and Rick Steves, besides all things Public Broadcasting (PBS). Amazing Race A guilty pleasure of mine, be...

A couple of months back you might have noticed that I added a very lovely badge on my sidebar, announcing my new travel writer gig with Uptake - a comprehensive travel website. Well now I'm even more excited to share that we have officially launched, and we're telling everyone !! Use UpTake to find information and pricing on all sorts of things to do, places to go and places to stay all over the U.S.A. ...see that rhymes so you know how excited I am. Check out the many sassy and informative blogs that are being written by a very talented crew - including myself , and a few other experienced and intrepid travelers and writers covering the world. In addition to hotels and restaurants , UpTake has smart, fresh blogs about attractions , beaches , lodging , and travel industry news . Come check us out, and definitely get the Restaurants RSS feed . If we've been there before, you'll get an honest take on the dining experience!

Amazing that in spite of the rains and cold temperatures, we have cherry blossoms galore all over the streets of San Francisco. I love this time of year. These trees are a different variety than what can be seen in Japan or Washington DC but beautiful nonetheless. In Japan cherry blossom trees begin to bloom in March, in the southern part of the country. Television stations track their progress on a map, like the weather, and report back as trees begin to blossom further and further north during the months of April and May. Ohanami: Cherry Blossom Viewing I'm not sure about Washington DC but in Japan, people love to get out their blue plastic sheet, and sit below the cherry blossom trees and enjoy them. All during this season, people on the subway and in the office talk around the water cooler about the best places for ohanami . If you come to visit, don't worry about not hearing where the best places are to go. You can easily find directions to the shrines, temples and parks ...

God is the experience of looking at a tree and saying, "Ah!" - Joseph Campbell Apple has a lot of fans for its many products, including me. My first job out of college was for an environmental nonprofit. My second was working for a small firm that had Macs (the original Apple Macintosh). These were the early Apple computers with teeny tiny screens and the entire machine could be picked up with one hand by a little handle in the back. My boss told me that if I wanted to stick around, I would have to learn how to use it by myself, with my own common sense as my teacher. This is when I become a fan. The computer lived up to the hype of being "user friendly". It was so empowering to learn how to use a machine like this from scratch. It was the first time there was an "undo" function! Can you imagine how that felt? Oops, I deleted paragraphs of work that is due in ten minutes. Shit! Oh, hey, look, I can "undo" that accidental deletion and "po...

This week is the birthday of our 16th President of the United States, (POTUS) Abraham Lincoln. In honor of this, and with the recent media interest in all things Lincoln, I thought it would be interesting to take a look around and see what we can find with the name of Lincoln. In the US we have 24 cities in 24 states called Lincoln, with many more with Lincoln in the full name. Not surprising but did you know that there are several places far across the world called Lincoln.... Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, the county town of Lincolnshire. Lincoln, New Zealand Lincoln, a former name for Motu One (Marquesas Islands) Lincoln, New Brunswick, Canada Lincoln, Ontario, Canada Port Lincoln, South Australia Lincoln, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina There are mountains and ships with Lincoln in the name. There are roads and schools too. Interestingly you can also find Lincoln in the entertainment world. Imps and Gore Vidal Lincoln (novel), Gore Vidal's 1984 book on the U.S. President Linc...

In San Francisco it looks like this. ...and it comes with a t-shirt. Gung Hay Fat Choy!