Quick Escape to Nashville

Bringles BBQ NashvilleLive music, fantastic dining, and an easy city to roam has helped pushed Nashville to the top of the wish list for many of our ActiveTravels members. Drop your bags off at the classic Hermitage or more modern Thompson Nashville, soon to be joined by a new Four Seasons come April, and then make your way to Country Music Hall of Fame or the National Museum of African American Music. Also plan a tour at the historic RCA Studio B or Hatch Show Print, where you can see decades’ worth of woodblock print posters for bands and performers.

We’re excited to check out Drusie & Darr at the Hermitage, opened by celebrated chef and restaurateur Jean-Georges Vongerichten last month. Also new is Bringle’s Smoking Oasis, a serious BBQ joint by legendary pitmaster Carey Bringle. Walk off your meal at one of Nashville’s famed entertainment districts, where neon lights and music spill into the streets. Lower Broadway, SoBro and Printer’s Alley are brimming with bars like the Listening Room Café, where you can enjoy free live music. Round out your trip with an evening show at one of the iconic venues like the Grand Ole Opry House, the celebrated Ryman Auditorium, and the Bluebird Café, the launching pad for many Nashville musical greats.

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Mexican Travel is Safe and on the Rise

The time between America’s Thanksgiving and Christmas is usually slow season for many resorts and travel destinations. For warm-weather locales, the big surge happens from late December through early April. So I was surprised to find that many of the resorts I was visiting on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula were filled to capacity with a mix of Americans, Canadians, Europeans, and South Americans. Destination Weddings are still the big trend in travel, with daily nuptials being held as many as three times a day at some of the resorts I stayed at. American media loves to focus on crime in Mexico, but I found the Yucatan to be incredibly safe. The United Nations Climate Control Conference was being in held in Cancun while I was there, with many heads of state including the Mexican president, staying next door to me. So Federal Police were everywhere. Yet, even away from Cancun, making my south to Tulum, I never felt unsafe. That is, until I made my way to the swim-up bar at Iberostar Paraiso Maya and was surrounded by a group of drunken Saskatchewanians. That’s always dangerous.
 

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Travel Outside the Box, Third Stop, Ghana

From the sky, Ghana is a bundle of green on the west coast of Africa, bordered by golden beaches and the warm blue of the Atlantic. Then you reach the ground and one of the most welcoming people on the continent, the reason it’s often referred to as Africa for beginners. “Akwaaba!” (welcome) is the word you’ll hear most in the country, exemplifying the warmth and hospitality of the Ghanaian people. In a country the size of the UK, the variety of sights on a weeklong trip is remarkable. First see the lions and antelope at Mole National Park, the elephants and buffalo in the tropical rain forest of Kakum National Park. Then check out the 700 or so monkeys at Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary. Find out about Ghana’s place in the slave trade in the historic town of Elmina. Learn about West African drumming and music in lively Kumasi. Relax on the long stretch of beach near Keta, known for its exemplary snorkeling and dance parties on the beach. Then check out Accra, one of the fastest growing cities on the continent and highly regarded for its food and live music scene. In the Osu neighborhood, sushi bars and clubs belt out the latest Afrobeat sounds from Sarkodie and Guru. 
 
We work with one of the best in the travel business in Ghana, Emmanuel Baah-Fenning, CEO of Ghana Tour Consult. Tell us exactly what you want to do and Emmanuel will throw it together into a weeklong or 10-day package, including guides, transfers, and lodging. All it takes is a 10-hour flight from JFK to have a memorable vacation in Africa. 
 
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Savoring the Great Outdoors in the June ActiveTravels Newsletter

It’s the beginning of the big family travel season. If you want to keep your kids happy with as much activity as possible, in some of the most spectacular settings in the world, then try one of the tried and true trips in the latest ActiveTravels newsletter. They all received rave reviews from members or from our own firsthand experience. Also in this month’s issue, we offer you a Quick Escape to Provincetown, Massachusetts, and a wonderful deal in Napa Valley. Please check it out! 

 
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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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The Fall and Rise of the Travel Agent

If you still can’t understand why travel agents are becoming increasingly popular in this do-it-yourself world, let me try and explain. In the past 72 hours, Lisa and I rescheduled numerous flights long before our clients arrived at the airport to find out they were cancelled due to Winter Storm Jonas. Thanks to our friends at Cox & Kings, we rushed an Indian visa to a client just in time for her flight. When a pipe broke at a high-end beachfront villa in the Turks & Caicos and our client received a measly fruit basket for his woes, we called the director of sales at the property and got his room comped. We upped a travel insurance policy to cover all costs when a client who booked a 5-week trip to Australia we designed suddenly blew out his knee. Lastly, we cancelled an upcoming trip to Colombia when a client read a story in The New York Times on how the Zika virus was not only causing birth defects, but was linked to the dreadful Guillain-Barre syndrome. 

We live in a world rocked with climate change, terrorism, a massive refugee crisis, and mosquito-borne illnesses. The question shouldn’t be why you need a travel agent, but why wouldn’t you need a travel agent who always has your back when you leave home in this volatile world? If you’re still not convinced, please read my story in the Boston University School of Hospitality Magazine. Then do yourself a favor and join ActiveTravels. 

 
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Travel Tip: Don’t Forget Your RFID Protected Sleeves

August, September, and October are busy months for travel to Europe. While America is slowly catching on, most of Europe is already using a chip card. In fact, you’re at a great disadvantage if you don’t have one in Europe. Many retail stores and restaurants will only accept a chip card. RFID, or Radio Frequency Identification, is the technology inside the chip that allow credit card holders to simply wave their card in front of a scanner instead of having to slide the magnetic stripe. Unfortunately, RFID signals can also be electronically pick-pocketed. That’s why we always advise clients to purchase an inexpensive ($3-$8) chip card protected sleeve. These holders block RFID signals so your card can’t be electronically pick-pocketed. A wide variety of RFID blocking credit card sleeves can be found on Amazon. Moseeg is the brand we recommend. Also remember to please only use credit cards that have no foreign transaction fees and to clean out your wallet before you leave. All you need is two good credit cards and a small amount of cash. To withdraw money, use a bank accredited ATM machine. Not only will you receive a better rate of exchange, but this lessens the chance of fraud. If your debit card password is in letters, like mine, be sure to convert on scrap paper to the corresponding numbers. Many foreign ATM machine only use numbers. 

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