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Six Nights in Beijing Including Air from America and 4-Star Lodging, $799

Now and then I get deals that come across my desk that are absurdly low. If I didn’t have the responsibility of being a father of a 15 and 13 year-old, I’d probably be on the next flight. China Spree is offering an 8-day trip to Beijing this winter that costs a mere $799, including nonstop flight on Air China from San Fran, 6 nights lodging at the Huabin International, six breakfast buffets, three lunches, and three guided tours of the city. The price increases to $849 if you’re flying out of LAX, $1129 if you’re flying out of JFK. Add another 100 bucks if you want to split your time between Beijing and Shanghai. Add another $500 for additional meals, transport, and government taxes and you’re spending a total of $1300 to see the Great Wall of China, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and the alleys and courtyard houses of Old Beijing. That’s less than the amount one pays to spend a week at a hotel in Dominican Republic in winter, including flight.
 

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Bird Watching in Costa Rica

Just as divers think of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef as that ultimate diving locale, bird watchers flock to Costa Rica. In a small country the size of West Virginia, you can find more than 850 species of birdlife. Take the entire United States and combine it with Canada and you won’t come up with that many birds. And we’re not talking ordinary birds in Costa Rica like the backyard sparrow, but spectacular toucans, scarlet macaws, quetzals, 50 types of hummingbirds, and tall storks. The great multitude of birdlife in Costa Rica stems from its diverse terrain sandwiched into a sliver of Central American terrain. Within a relatively short driving distance, you can be atop 12,000 foot peaks or down at sea level on the Pacific coast, immersed in the dense rainforest or slicing through the hazy cloud forest. Sendero Tranquillo in the Cloud Forest, La Selva Biological Station, and Carara National Park are great places to start.
 

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Countries on My Wish List for 2014, Panama

The Panama Canal turns 100 in 2014. That alone will garner the country much press. But we like the fact that Copa Airlines, the wonderful Panamanian airline, is now offering direct flights to Panama City from Boston. At this point, there is no direct service to any other Central American country from Logan, including Costa Rica and Belize. What you’ll find is the same rainforest, exquisite coastline, eco-resorts, macaws, and howlers you’ll find in Costa Rica with far less traffic. Upscale lodgings like the Waldorf Astoria are also starting to pop up on the Panamanian map. Go there now before it becomes overbuilt. 

 
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Give Your Grandchild a Gift that Will Last a Lifetime

Guest Post and Photo by Amy Perry Basseches 

 
In March, my family will hold a 90th birthday party for my mother. Her intellectual curiosity about the world remains unchanged from the time in the late 1980s when she and my father dreamed up the idea of a “10-year old trip.” They would take each grandchild to a destination of the young grandchild’s choosing (within reason!) once they turned 10. In the mid 1990s, they took my nephew Alex rafting on the Rogue River in Oregon, then my niece Sarah to Costa Rica, where my father was involved with the local environmental group Organization for Tropical Studies. After my father died, my mother continued the tradition, taking my nephew Ben to Machu Picchu and the Galapagos, my nephew Jason to Alaska, my son Jake to the Peruvian Amazon, and my daughter Sophie to Belize (both to the Mayan ruins in the Cayo District and to the reefs on the coast). 
 
These trips, I’m proud to say, seem ideal for ActiveTravels members. I would strongly encourage anyone reading this blog who may have an interest in multi-generational travel to consider something along similar lines. ActiveTravels would love to help you find the right destination and make the arrangements. I am confident that these many journeys had a tremendous impact on both the grandparents and the grandchildren in my family, often exposing the child to adventures they would not have had otherwise and to special bonds with Grandma and Pop-Pop. For several of these grandchildren, a love of the outdoors, or of exploring the world culturally, remains at the forefront of their lives. As my son Jake wrote in a postcard, recently unearthed, to a friend back in Brookline: "In my trip to the Amazon, I’ve fallen in quicksand, eaten a piranha, been skooled in ‘football’ by the locals, seen a capybara, been blessed by a shaman, and been 65 feet up in the trees on a rope bridge. How are you?"
 
Phote of Jake and My Mom in the Peruvian Amazon Summer 2006 
 
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Enjoy Fondue on the Rooftop Bar of Yotel Boston

Celebrate Winter Solstice by dining on fondue in the Seaport at Yotel Boston’s rooftop Sky Lounge. It’s supposed to hit a balmy 60 degrees in Boston tomorrow, but even if it does get a bit nippy, you’ll be under overhead heaters and sharing big thick blankets. The Quattro Formaggio Cheese Fondue combines Gruyere, Blue, Swiss, and Cheddar Cheeses with cherry brandy, white wine, and secret spices. Order a cocktail and then watch the sun set…at 4 pm. 

 
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The Opening of L’atelier des Lumières in Paris

Paris’ art scene will get a breath of fresh air when L’Atelier des Lumières opens in April to the public. Devoted to immersive art experiences, each year the Atelier will showcase a major exhibition offering a digital perspective on one of art’s biggest names, allowing you to step inside the world’s most famous artworks. Covering a whopping 2000 square meters, L’Atelier des Lumières is set to utterly transform a 19th-century factory, with innovative, 8 meter-high projections cloaking its walls. 

 
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A Mountain Doesn’t Discriminate

Vancouver’s Sarah Doherty, 50, has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, skied competitively, and lit the Olympic torch. All with one leg! At the age of 13, while biking around her neighborhood in eastern Massachusetts, a drunk driver hit her, crushing her right leg. The accident might have altered her life, but it didn’t change her desire to keep active. In fact, she has devoted herself to getting people back on the trail, working as an occupational therapist. Her most recent contribution is SideStix, a shock-absorbent crutch that can withstand any rock-littered, root studded trail. Let’s just call it the mountain bike version of a crutch. Where there’s a will there’s a way, and with Sarah Doherty, there’s a strong desire to picnic on summits.
 

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