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Wishing You a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous 2012!

2012 proves to be an exciting year for ActiveTravels. My wife, Lisa, is now an accredited travel agent aligned with two pillars of the travel world, Carlson Wagonlit Travel and The Virtuoso Network. As of March 1st, if not earlier, we plan to launch a new version of the website that will feature travel consulting from me and reservations with Lisa. Though you don’t have to wait until that time to book a trip with us. Lisa is already busy helping couples and families plan their next dream trip. So if you need any help with travel plans in 2012, please keep us in mind!

Of course, I’ll continue to do what I do best, write. I’ll be back on January 9th with my favorite trips from 2011. Have a Happy New Year!

Steve 

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Join the Festivities this Summer in Switzerland

Yesterday I talked about the slate of trips now being offered by Run the Alps. While we’re discussing that part of the world, I want to fill you in on what’s happening this summer in Switzerland from a recent luncheon I had in Boston with old friends from Swiss Tourism. The big news is that Fête des Vignerons or the Winegrower’s Festival returns to the glorious Lake Geneva seaside town of Vevey from July 26 to August 11, 2019. This event only occurs once every 20 years! Join singers, dancers, wine experts, and loads of other performers for the extravaganza. Elton John, Sting, Quincy Jones, Slash, and Chick Corea are a just a handful of renowned performers appearing at the Montreux Jazz Festival June 28 to July 13. And from September 20-22, Roger Federer will get to compete in front of the home crowd along with Rafael Nadal, when the Laver Cup comes to Geneva. The Swiss know how to have a good time! 
 
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Steve’s Packing List

Most people stress about packing for a trip, including Lisa who hates the thought of reducing all her possessions into one measly suitcase. I can often pack in less than 15 minutes, thanks to my trusty packing list that’s stored in my computer. Depending on the locale and weather, I adjust the list, but for international travel it will include passport, printed copy of passport page in case passport is stolen, airplane information, Imodium (no travel writer leaves home without it), other bathroom accessories, notebooks, pens, cell phone, cell phone charger, laptop or iPad, laptop or iPad plug and surge protector, headset for Skype, plug converter (incredibly important), iPod and headphones, iPod charger, Canon camera and additional long lens, camera charger, suntan lotion, Carmex, mosquito repellent, file on country included downloaded travel stories, two good books to read, the latest Economist (which takes about five hours to read, perfect for trans-Atlantic flights), baseball cap, two nice pair of pants for dinners, shoes, nice long-sleeve and short-sleeve collared shirts for dinner, cargo shorts with four pockets to hold my notebook and pens during the day, underwear, flip-flops, sneakers, swimsuit, money belt, $300 US cash, one credit card (one that doesn’t charge transaction fees), and business cards. That’s it. I’m ready to roll. Write it down once on your computer and you’ll have it for every trip in the future. 

 
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R&R in the Adirondacks

Even during my honeymoon 20 years ago, I was writing notes, researching for travel stories. Since the tape in my trusty microcassette recorder melted during an assignment backpacking through the Mojave Desert over a decade ago, I’ve always carried notebooks around during my travels. But there’s one trip each year that I don’t bring any notebooks or pens and can truly relax on vacation. That’s my annual jaunt to Bolton Landing on Lake George to see my family over Labor Day Weekend. We each grab a room at the Bonnie View, with exceptional views of the mountains on the opposite shores. Then I head down to the Adirondack chairs on the dock and chill with a copy of my boyhood paper, the Schenectady Gazette, in hand. I’ve written numerous stories on the Adirondacks, but not lately, resulting in much needed down time. 
 
Have a great Labor Day Weekend! I’ll be back next week with my favorite Vermont picks in autumn. 
 
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Bike the Texas Hill Country with Sojourn

Many of the people I meet who founded their active travel company have a genuine passion for the sport. Tom Hale spent over 5,000 miles on a bike the summer of 1979 prior to opening Backroads. When Susan Rand was in college, she would load her panniers witch camping gear and clothes and hit the road. Then she became athletic director at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont, and worked for four years at Vermont Bicycle Tours prior to starting her own company, Sojourn, in 1995. Her fall foliage trips along the shores of Lake Champlain in her native Vermont are still the most popular weeklong jaunts. Yet, it’s the itineraries I don’t normally see in a catalog that I find most intriguing. In the summer, Sojourn heads to the Columbia River Gorge to bike between glorious Mount Hood and Mount Adams. In late fall and mid-winter, Rand takes riders to the Sonoran Desert outside Tucson to bike, hike in Saguaro National Park, and horseback ride in John Wayne country at the Rancho De La Osa Guest Ranch. New this spring is a trip to Texas Hill Country, an overlooked biking region outside of San Antonio that I’ve written about for National Geographic Adventure. Rand personally tries all of the trips she designs and this has quickly become one of her favorites. You’ll be biking under tall cypress trees on lonely backcountry roads past large cattle ranches and fields of bluebonnets that are in bloom in early spring. You’ll also visit the Alamo and LBJ Ranch. So saddle up and get out there on your next sojourn.
 

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Four Seasons Makes Its Debut at Oahu’s Ko Olina Resort

Two summers ago, I had the pleasure of staying at the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort with the family on Oahu’s blossoming leeward coast. Part of the umbrella Ko Olina Resort (which also includes Disney’s Aulani and Marriott’s Ko Olina Beach Club), this is the quiet side of the island. We snorkeled with wild dolphins straight from the Ko Olina marina, saw the ring of Saturn one night stargazing through a powerful telescope, listened to live Hawaiian ukulele music on the beach, and dined at some of the finest restaurants on the island including Roy Yamaguchi and Peter Merriman’s Ko Olina outposts. After a yearlong, $500 million renovation, the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort has now transformed into the Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina. The Four Seasons had a lot to work with including spacious rooms with oversized balconies that offer expansive views of the ocean at night. We left the screen door open to hear the waves rolling ashore. The beachfront locale is also home to a stingray pool and a separate building that houses a large spa and tennis courts. I’m excited to see what the Four Seasons has done with the property. 

 
While we’re on the subject of the Four Seasons, the company just announced that they would take over management of the Viceroy Anguilla, a perennial client favorite. When it reopens in October, the property will be called the Four Seasons Resort and Private Residences Anguilla. It will be the second Four Seasons Resort in the Caribbean, along with Four Seasons Resort Nevis. 
 
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Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival Returns to Fredericton in September

Fredericton, New Brunswick has garnered a reputation as the Festival Capital of the Atlantic Maritimes. Last time I was in town, I caught up with David Seabrook, one of the founders of the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival, over a tasty Picaroons Yippee IPA at King Street Ale House, as he explained to me how he gets some of the bigger names in the music industry to play the festival every year. The line-up for the 28th annual festival (September 11-16) is one of the best yet, with Steve Earle, Mavis Staples, Sturgill Simpson, and The Blind Boys of Alabama among the 150 performers on hand for the 6-day event. When not listening to music, be sure to see the impressive collection of art at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, including works by Turner, Dali and Lucian Freud. Also try to plan your trip to Fredericton around the Fredericton Farmers Market, voted one of the "Top 10 Farmers Markets in the Country" by Canadian Geographic. The Market is open every Saturday from 6am to 1pm with over 200 vendors selling produce, home baked goods, meat, maple syrup, flowers, handcrafts, jewelry and much more.

 

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