5 Favorite Travel Days in 2014, Snorkeling with Wild Dolphins off the Coast of the Big Island

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.
Three of the Berkshires’ top hotels have teamed up with local ski areas to offer ski packages as low as $205 per room, including lodging, two lift tickets, and complimentary breakfast. Stockbridge’s historic Red Lion Inn has teamed up with Butternut Ski Resort, while the new Hotel on the North in Pittsfield and the Porches Inn in North Adams have partnered with Jiminy Peak Ski Resort. Porches is across the street from Mass MoCA, which is staging a yearlong exhibition on artist Nick Cave. The massive installation consists of thousands of found objects and millions of beads, definitely worth checking out on your day off from skiing.
There’s nothing quite like the combination of biking through wine country. It’s not merely the lonely backcountry roads that lead to the wineries, but the chance to dine on a sublime meal at a winery after a day of biking. This week I plan to focus on some of my favorite regions to bike and visit wineries. Yes, I’ll include the obvious choices like Napa and Sonoma, along with the Stellenbosch region in South Africa, the Bordeaux Valley of France, and the exceptional pinot noirs of Oregon wine country, But I’ll start with a destination that may come as a bit of a surprise, Canada.
It’s not enough that Canadian Mountain Holidays runs two lodges in some of the most glorious British Columbia mountain ranges, the Bugaboos and Selkirk, where granite peaks and spires pierce the peak over 7,000 feet high. No, it’s not enough that this well-known heli-ski company uses those same helicopters in the summer time to take hikers to trails traversed by far more bear, elk, and caribou than humans. Now you’ll get to explore those same trails in the company of Dr. Joe MacInnis and Dr. Roberta Bondar. MacInnis led the first team of divers under the North Pole and was one of the first to dive the Titanic. Bondar is Canada’s first woman astronaut and a neurologist to boot. Dates are July 24-27 with MacInnis and August 17-20 with Bondar.
The favorable exchange rate for the American dollar not only extends to Europe. If you haven’t looked lately, $1 US will now fetch $1.25 in Canada. I haven’t seen an exchange rate like that since I was at an Expos game. If the exorbitant flights to Europe limit your options to the continent, especially if you want to travel as a family, head north. I’m already planning to go to Nova Scotia in early June and Montreal and the Eastern Townships in October. I’m also heading to the Canada Media Marketplace next week in New York, where I’ll be learning about all the new travel opportunities in the country. I’ve had the good fortune to travel extensively around Canada, biking around Niagara-on-the-Lake and Prince Edward Island, hiking in Cape Breton and the glorious Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland, savoring the charming town of St. Andrews in New Brunswick and the resplendent beauty of Salt Spring Island in BC, going on such memorable adventures as whitewater rafting down the Klinaklini River in BC, a multi-sport vacation with the family in the Canadian Rockies, or canoeing through Ontario’s remote Wabakimi Wilderness, and loving my time in the cities while vintage shopping in Toronto and eating my way though Vancouver. If you need me to point you in the right direction, I’m happy to help!