Journal

St. Lucia is one of my favorite islands to send people to, and the one I talk people out of most often. Here's who it suits, who should pick Turks and Caicos, and what to know about the transfer and the open-wall rooms.

For ten days in London and Paris, give Paris one more night than London. Here's how I split the time, where my clients stay, and how to plan around the Changing of the Guard.

Most people who call me about Sicily have already picked Taormina. They saw San Domenico Palace on The White Lotus, or a friend came home talking about the Greek theater with Etna smoking behind it. For a lot of first trips, Taormina is the right call. But Sicily is a big island, and the town you pick decides how much of your week you spend in a car. So the base is the first thing I settle with anyone I'm sending there.

The first call came on March 3rd this year. A client in New York wanted Christmas week somewhere warm, oceanfront, with two bedrooms. Then she asked the question I'll hear a few dozen more times before Halloween. Is it too late?

Nine people, eleven nights, and two quotes $150 apart. How I decide between a villa and rooms at a resort when a family travels Italy together.

A resort has a front desk. A villa has a WhatsApp thread with a property manager who may or may not pick up on a Saturday. Where an advisor earns their keep on a Caribbean villa, where they don't on an all-inclusive, and what changes during hurricane season.

Twelve to fourteen months for summer, nine to twelve for spring and fall. But a two-week Italy trip gets booked in pieces, and the pieces open at wildly different times. What to lock first, what you cannot book early, and the three deadlines people miss.

They solve the same problem — no driving, no hotel research, no logistics. Underneath that, they produce two very different trips. Here's how I sort out which format fits.

Two travelers can pay the same suite premium on two different river cruises and get very different things for it. Here's what the upgrade actually buys, and when I tell clients to skip it.

Almost every week, someone tells me they've been thinking about a river cruise. They've usually seen an ad, or a friend came back from the Danube and hasn't stopped talking about it. Then they ask me the question I always get: is it better than what I already do? That's the wrong question. River cruising and ocean cruising are two different kinds of vacations that happen to both involve a ship. Neither one is the upgrade. The right one for you depends on how you actually want

A story out of Costa Rica this week is a sharp reminder of something I talk about with my clients all the time: who you book with matters. In early April, Costa Rican authorities detained 30 people at Volcán Poás National Park after they were caught entering strictly prohibited volcanic zones — areas closed to the public because of toxic gas emissions and eruption risk. The tourists weren't thrill-seekers intentionally breaking rules. Many of them were Americans who had simpl

The countdown is on for a new era of suborbital adventure. Few places on Earth are out of reach for intrepid travelers with the motivation and the means, whether it’s the ice floes of Antarctica or the steppe of Mongolia. But for many, one idea has remained purely a dream: space tourism. If Richard Branson has anything to do with it, that’s all about to change. Virtuoso recently partnered with Branson’s space travel company, Virgin Galactic, to make a limited number of spacef

When it comes to planning a trip where the fun in the sun and beaches you only see on television are concerned, the Caribbean is one of the premier destinations in the world. It is an area that people flock from all over to admire the beauty and fun the Caribbean delivers. Often when people think about going to the Caribbean, they look into visiting St. Kitts, Grand Cayman, Saint Martin, or Antigua. These are amazing places that have so much to offer visitors, but they are no

When many people think of the Caribbean, they think of great resorts, Jamaica, and Cuba. But what they don't realize is that the most popular destination in the Caribbean is the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic is on an island that is shared with Hispaniola and Haiti, and it sees over 6 million visitors a year. This results in 2 million more than Cuba. This Caribbean destination has a lot more to offer visitors than your run-of-the-mill resort. The Dominican Republ

Spanish food is known for being straightforward, comforting but most importantly, fresh. The ingredients are always of premium quality, and each dish is made with love, passion, and cultural pride. Spain’s cuisine reflects a country that was both conquered and has a long history of colonization. When North African Moors arrived in Spain in 711 CE, they shook things up on the culinary scene. Alcohol was banned for well over 345 years, meaning wine production halted.However,

Antigua is situated in the Caribbean east, southeast of St. Kitts and north of Guadeloupe and Dominica. It is a picturesque island that people dream of visiting when they fantasize about a Caribbean getaway. Antigua is categorized by its beautiful ocean views and turquoise blue waters. What most people don't realize is that there is a lot more to this island than just the beaches. There are beautiful beaches like Half Moon Bay, Dickenson Bay, Galley Bay, and Valley Church.

You can expect fresh ingredients and loads of flavors whenever you indulge in some of the Greek foods found throughout the country. Their healthy traditional recipes will leave you wanting more, and fortunately, there are a ton of excellent restaurants, eateries, and cafes all over the city. To help you figure out what Greek dish you're going to order next, here are 12 of the best Greek foods to experience in your lifetime. Greek Meze Greek meze is a blend of bite-sized foods

We just came back from a 10 night sailing on the Celebrity Summit living the suite life in The Retreat(The suite only areas on the ship). We stayed in a Sky Suite and got really lucky to get a suite with an extended balcony. Having a larger, nicer room was actually the least important benefit of staying in a suite. See below for details on why the Celebrity Retreat is a MUST DO experience! The VIP Experience From the moment you arrive at the pier the VIP experience starts.

Thanks to a 2014 New York Times article declaring Naxos, Greece not to be missed, travel heavyweights have been including it year after year on their roundups of must-see destinations within the Cyclades. Unlike its neighbors Santorini and Mykonos, Naxos remains relatively unfazed by the North American hype – despite the fact that the picturesque island continues to surface on Greek island round-ups. Its low-key ambiance and quiet pace provide visitors with an authentic Greek

Northern Italy From the winding canals of Venice to the Dolomites' white-domed peaks, Northern Italy is a magnet for lovers of nature, art, and literature. The city of Verona is even the alleged backdrop for Romeo and Juliet's tragic love story. Besides museums and history galore in the renaissance capital of Florence, northern Italy offers a range of romantic day trips for couples, ranging from vintage car rentals to vineyard tours and cooking courses. For those seeking a lu