Summer Vacation Ideas

We’ve all spent countless winter days looking for those perfect summer vacation ideas.  We all need something new, exciting and different to dream about and anticipate while we toil away at our daily grind.  Maybe you are looking for a relaxing escape relaxing in the sun.  Or, do you have something more active in mind that will get you moving around as much as possible? As you plan your next trip, keep the following ideas in mind:

• Learn It There: Catalan Cooking and Wine in Barcelona Barcelona, Spain is one of the true food capitals of the world.  Who wouldn't want to learn to cook in the home of Cava, Paella, Crema Catalana.  Barcelona has repeatedly been ranked as one of the top food cities by Michelin, MSNBC and others. &...
• Belize Family Vacation Often overlooked in favor of better known neighbors like Mexico and Costa Rica, or Caribbean hot spots like Jamaica and Puerto Rico: A Belize Family Vacation could be just the thing that your family is looking for this year. Despite being a tiny country ...
• Vieques, Puerto Rico: Kayaking Mangrove Canals and Glow-In-The-Dark Bay Vieques, also known as Isla Nena is one of the two 'major' islands off the coast of Puerto Rico, and while you could do it as a day trip from the main island, it's really very worthwhile to give yourself at least a couple of days to explore the place. E...
• Learn It There: Scuba Diving If you were born in the 80's and were living in America,  then you might have been as obsessed as I was with 3-2-1 Contact.  Scuba Diving featured prominently in this science program for kids, and I became determined to learn how.  This fascination wit...
• Daechon: Korean Summer Mud Festival By Roxana Wells Adventure travelers looking for a truly unique experience must head to Daecheon Beach in Boryeong, South Korea. Every July, thousands of ex-pats and locals flock to this little-known town to get dirty at its annual Boryeong Mud Festival...
• Sample Travel Itinerary: Watching the World Cup in Amsterdam! So, it's world cup 2010, and the world is focused on South Africa, but not this sample travel itinerary.  Yes, South Africa is a fantastic place to visit, and should be at the top of anyone's must see list.  But, for most of us visiting a country in the...
• Sample Travel Itinerary: West Virginia Road Trip This sample travel itinerary is based on a roadtrip that Yoshi and I took to West Virginia. It was my first visit to the state, and I can honestly say that despite many biases and preconceptions that many people have about the state, it may be the most b...
• Kerala Harvest Festival of Onam — Food, Indian Culture and Snakeboats The Kerala Harvest Festival of Onam is one of the most special events in the Indian state of Kerala (in the s...
• American Gods by Neil Gaiman American Gods by Neil Gaiman was the first book of his that I had ever read, and following the advice of the friend that suggested it to me, I read it while driving across the United States and Canada while making my way to Alaska.  I don't want to g...
• Drives of a Lifetime: 500 of the World's Most Spectacular Trips If you know me at all, you know that I love road trips.  The hardest part about living in Israel for me was that there wasn't anywhere I could get to that took more than a few hours by car—not that I had a car, anyways.  There's just somet...
• Adventure In Rhodes: Cheap Rhodes Holiday By Terrence Aym Why take a cheap Rhodes holiday? It is an island of mythi...
• La Ruta Panoramica Trailer The trailer for our Ruta Panoramica webcast is now available on youtube, and of course here as well.  You'll be able to get a quick glimpse of some the highlights from our recent Puerto Rico road trip along the Ruta Panoramica which crosses the island fr...
• Costa Rica Adventure Activities Are you looking for adventure activities in Costa Rica? Well, then you're in luck.  When it comes to active travel Costa Rica i...
• Gozalandia was Awesome! After a series of fairly disappointing waterfalls, we finally made our way to Gozalandia falls, a fairly secluded waterfall just outside the town of San Sebastian, on the way to Hatillo, in Puerto Rico.  It was a slippery climb down to the river, and I'm...
• Father Son Fishing: Hatchet Lake Lodge The summer after my first year in college, my dad and I finally took the father son fishing trip that we'd been planning for several years.  We bot...
• Montreal and Toronto Roadtrip By Leann Zotis In an effort to strike out on our own, on a vacation of our choosing, my husband and I packed the car, ...
• Worst Vacation Ever: Spain Edition Days 5-6   Yes, this worst vacation ever had finally reached the halfway point.  After 4 days B. and I had only made it as far as Granada (See what I dealt with on days 1 & 2 and 3 & 4) My fever finally broke, and I was able to eat solid food. ...
• A Weekend at the University of Chicago As an alum of the University of Chicago, I always love to tell people why they should visit the south side of Chicago, even for just a weekend.  Hyde Park and the surrounding areas are only a 20-minute drive from downtown, so you can easily stay in a do...
• Vietnam Golf Clubs: Move Over Scotland By Charles Ray Mention taking a vacation in Southeast Asia and it's a good bet that Vietnam golf clubs will not be the first thing that come to mind. The traveling golfer, though, will be elated to know that Vietnam is much more than just visiting the ...
• Worst Camping Trip Ever: Northeast Kingdom 1 Before the Worst Camping Trip Ever, my family used to go camping all the time.  We'd been all over New England, and really loved it.  I remember how much fun I had going with my family and exploring woods, lakes and streams. One year we decided that ...
• Worst Camping Trip Ever: Northeast Kingdom 2 We were already well on our way to the worst camping trip ever.  We'd had our dog decide to destroy the campsite by digging enormous hole after enormous hole.  We'd gotten stuck in a non-stop downpour that left us miserable and cranky.  We'd managed t...
• Worst Vacation Ever: Spain Edition Days 3-4   My miserable holiday in Spain continues when we arrive in Alicante.  Go back to the beginning of my Worst Vacation Ever: Spain edition, or go back to the directory of horrible travel experiences. So far, I've been in Spain about 48 hours.  ...
• Summer in Spain: Fiesta Circuit By Elizabeth Coughlan If your idea of fun is one long party, then following the fiestas in Spain makes the perfect summer holiday. Barcelona kicks off the celebrations in the middle of June with its Sonar Festival, a three-day extravaganza of music and...
• Ireland Vacations Ireland vacations are an incredible opportunity for amazing holidays.  Put aside your preconcept...
• Worst Vacation Ever: Spain, Days 1-2 You'll have to wait here on the side until I can verify with the computer that you do exist" I knew that this worst vacation ever had finally broken me down.  I had been sitting at the Barcelona airport for four hours, waiting to check in to my fl...