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Stocking Stuffer No. 2—The Red Bandanna Travel Book, The Medicine of Traveling

I read this slender memoir/self-help travel book on my train ride back from New York to Boston. When I finished, I wish I had taken the book in sections, working on the assignments the author Joanne Socha had created at the end of most chapters. This is a unique book that’s meant to be savored at a slow pace. Socha is a travel advisor that I know through my affiliation with Virtuoso and Largay Travel. She knows firsthand the anxiety most people have before and during a trip. In fact, no one I know is stress-free when it comes to travel. I have bridge phobia and I’m neurotic about getting to the airport early to catch my flight. But that never stopped me nor does it stop Joanne, who follows her dream as she travels the globe, visiting the destinations on her wish list. What I loved about this book is that Socha shares her vulnerability, overcoming adversity, so when she’s finally snorkeling in the Maldives in a sublime blissful state, you realize she earned it. She deserved to be there and so do you. Just remember to do your homework! 

 

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Abercrombie & Kent Week—The Diverse Terrain in Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia

Having just returned from one on of the most memorable trips I’ve ever experienced, an 8-night journey with Abercrombie & Kent to Botswana, I get the added bonus of reliving cherished moments this week on my blog. Botswana was my 5th safari and by far the most diverse when it comes to terrain. Much of the trip revolved around water, which was a welcome relief to often jarring game drives on rutted roads. As soon as we arrived in the Okavango Delta, we were greeted with roads that were washed-out with water. That wasn’t a problem with our A&K guide, Kebby, who would drive though the streams like he was atop a duck boat, not a Toyota Land Cruiser. The maze of waterways dotted with palm trees on our first two nights at Stanley’s Camp reminded me of the Everglades. That is, until you spot a leopard up a tree or a giraffe in the distance. At the recently renovated Chief’s Camp (which I’ll report on later this week), we enjoyed meals while watching elephants and baboons cool off at the nearby watering hole. 

 
Chief’s Camp was also where we would take our first of many jaunts on the waterways, this time via a mokoro, a traditional form of canoe. A guide poled us through the tall grasses on a leisurely paddle during sunset, Botswana’s version of a gondola ride. The abundance of wildlife at Chobe National Park, our third stop, was mind-blowing, Best known for the largest population of elephants in the world, over 75,000, you peer out and see long parades of elephants, including countless babies. The magical boat ride on the Chobe River, which borders Botswana and Namibia, was so much fun, we asked to go on it two sunsets in a row. We watched as elephants swam across the deep river, joined by large herds of Cape Buffalo, crocodiles as still as sculpture, and all types of antelope. Leaving Botswana, we stopped on the Zimbabwe side of Victoria Falls to watch the waters of the Zambezi River plunge down one of the widest waterfalls in the world, over a mile long. Then it was on to our last stop, Sanctuary Sussi & Chuma, overlooking the Zambezi on the outskirts of Livingstone, Zambia. We would spend our final day canoeing the river near hippos, warthogs, crocs, and impala. All vivid memories I won’t soon forget. 
 
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Spotting Bald Eagles in Red Wing, Minnesota

An hour’s drive south of Minneapolis on the Mississippi River, Red Wing, Minnesota is best known for its restored century-old Sheldon Theatre and the 1875 St. James Hotel.  National Geographic Traveler magazine recently named it the 23rd most historic destination in the world. Come winter, folks come to Red Wing to spot a bald eagle. Hundreds of eagles gather along the riverfront to search for fish and other small prey. Each weekend from February 19th through March 13th, naturalists will be on hand at Red Wing’s Covill Park to provide scopes and binoculars and answer questions about eagle behavior and the recovery of America’s most famous bird.

 

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Hotel Rooms in Manhattan for $79 a Night!

The Jane Hotel, not far from Chelsea Market and the high in the sky High Line Park, is offering $79 rates in January and February for their 50 square-foot rooms. Bring a friend and grab the bunk bed room for $99, further reducing the price for two. The rooms are built like luxury train cabins, featuring a single bed with built-in drawers, flat screen TV, free Wi-Fi, DVD player, iPod dock, and luggage rack. The only problem is the shared bathrooms. If it’s anything like the Pod Hotel on the East Side, the bathroom doors open and close all night, so bring ear plugs. If you really need a private bathroom, opt for Captain’s Cabins at $225 a night. But c’mon, it’s hard to top 79 bucks a night in Manhattan!
 

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Healthy Parks Healthy People US

Last week in San Francisco, the National Park Service brought together more than 100 leaders in health care and the environment to host a forum called Healthy Parks Healthy People US. America is following a successful Australian initiative to promote the positive connection between the health of the natural world and the health of humans. By introducing more people to America’s state and national parks, the National Park Service hopes to instill a healthier lifestyle that leads to reduced health care costs. The NPS is expanding First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move program to create Let’s Move Outside Junior Rangers and is also introducing other health-conscious programs like Food for the Parks and my favorite title, No Child Left Inside. Any program that helps reconnect people with nature is a winner in my eyes, whether it’s for physical or mental health reasons or simply the chance to be lost in a stunning locale.
 

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Maine Windjammer Week, Specialty Cruises

Aboard an historic schooner sailing the Penobscot Bay islands of Maine’s mid-coast, modernity slows to a more languid pace. Cruising amidst the anonymous pine-topped islands, stopping at the occasional seaside village, you can’t help but relax aboard these yachts of yesteryear. Help hoist the sails, read a good thick book, or partake in an increasingly popular activity aboard a windjammer, photography. Lately, these schooners have been offering specialty cruises that cater to one particular passion.

If you’ve followed me on Twitter @ActiveTravels all week, you’ve learned about some of the specialty cruises. I’ll also be writing an upcoming article for The Boston Globe on the subject. Here is a small sampling of this summer’s offerings. For a full listing, visit the Maine Windjammer Association:

 
• Angelique will offer a 3-day cruise in late May that will allow guests to see newly born seal pups. 
• The Isaac H. Evans will night sail during a full moon and the Perseid Meteor Shower with an astronomer on board. 
• The Victory Chimes features an Irish Music Cruise in mid-August. Schooner sailing and foot-stomping fiddling go together like lobster and butter. 
• Captain Barry King aboard the schooner Mary Day is a passionate brewer of beer. You’ll sample Maine’s best microbrews on this mid-June cruise.
• The American Eagle will once again feature professional photographer, Greg Gettens, on their 4-night cruise in June to share his photography tips. 
• Stephen Taber is ideally suited to offer wine tasting cruises throughout the summer. Captain Noah Barnes wife, Jane, worked in the wine industry for many years.
• Captains Doug and Linda Lee of the Heritage share their wealth of knowledge about Maine’s people, islands, and seafaring history on their two Maritime History cruises this summer. 
• Lovers of lighthouses should book the 6-night Lighthouse Cruise on the Lewis R. French. You’ll get close up views of 15-20 historic lighthouses. 
 
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Why We Love Rick Steves European Guidebooks

In a May/June 2000 story for Transitions Abroad magazine entitled “The Best and Worst Of Europe—with Apologies to None,” Rick Steves writes “the area south of Edinburgh is so boring the Romans decided to block it off with Hadrian’s Wall.” In another section of the piece (still found online and worthy of a download), Steves notes, “Oxford pales next to Cambridge, and Stratford is little more than Shakespeare’s house—and it’s as dead as he is.” Then there’s this juicy tidbit: “A hundred years ago, Athens was a sleepy town of 8,000 people with a pile of ruins in its backyard. Today, it’s a giant mix of concrete, smog, noise, tourists, and four million Greeks. See the four major attractions (the Acropolis, Agora, Plaka, and great National Archaeological Museum) and get out to the islands or countryside.”

 
Best known as the host of the PBS series Rick Steves’ Europe, the man is also a prolific guidebook writer, one who is not in the least bit bashful about sharing his opinion. This is what we want in a travel guidebook, someone with an expert opinion we trust who can break down the destination for us. We don’t want a book the size of Anna Karenina detailing every nook and cranny of that country with little or no judgment (the old Lonely Planet guidebooks come to mind). Most of us have a week or two on vacation, if we’re lucky. We simply want someone to tell us you’d be a fool to miss the Sognefjord fjord in Norway or Burg Eltz castle in Germany, according to Steves. 
 
To see my latest column for Men’s Journal on how to pick a trusted guidebook, click here. 
 

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