2012 Gay Vendimia

By Roy Heale

Mendoza is the fourth largest city in Argentina with a population of approximately one million people. It is the acclaimed capital of Agentina's wine industry and famous for the Malbec vintage. Mendoza is nestled in the foothills of the Andes, about 1000 meters above sea level and is also a center…

The good news is that it feels good to be in Thailand, a place I once lived for some ten years or so, depending on how you count it. The incorrigible wackiness and petty racial nuisance of being a “farang” in a foreign land where such things matter is easily overcome by the gentleness of the culture and handsomeness of its people… where such things matter. What I don’t…

Mark Twain cut right to the bone when he said that travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.

Just as importantly, travel has begun seriously to give back to the communities and places it sends its travelers to.



For example, on my recent  round-trip to San Francisco (5,426 miles) my plane and I were responsible for spewing .98 tons of…

Although I'm only getting around to posting this now, during the UK winter our little family spent 2 months in New Zealand visiting friends and family and enjoying the great outdoors in the only way you can truly savour it, camping.  If you are planning to visit the land of the long white cloud during the southern hemisphere summer months, now's a good time to start planning.  Typically the best weather is in late January through February, but you can always expect sudden downpours and…

When one thinks of downtown Los Angeles, the first thought to come to mind probably isn't one of America's oldest and diverse food markets, Grand Central Market. Besides offering some of the freshest produce, meats, fresh fish and more in Los Angeles, the market is a sumptuous walk through "tasty treat heaven."  Living part of the year near downtown L.A., I'll take a bike ride to sample the various food  eateries throughout the small market. Many people may not know that Los Angeles is one…

Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge is the house of thousands of emerald basilisks, giant bear ants, jaguars, caimans, ocelots, green iguanas, river turtles, monkeys, pumas, bats and prehistoric fishes such as the Tropical Gar. This wildlife refuge is also the abode of rare birds like the northern jacanas, ibises, jabiru storks, anhingas, cormorants and roseate spoonbills. Set near the Nicaraguan border in a remote area, reaching this refuge is…

FROM ALICANTE TO MALAGA. The journey starts with a heavy walk. I am in Alicante, the south Spanish city along the Mediterranean, which has an old fortress looming on a hilltop, which I attempt to climb. The fortress is called Castillo Santa Bárbara. And the air is hot.

Being May, summer is already well under way in this part of Europe. But the wind is blowing nicely and the view up here on the hill over sea, city and the mountains beyond is incredible. Down below,…

Fredericton, the capital of New Brunswick, a Canadian Maritime  province, is not the kind of place where you'd expect a savory, colorful, high-energy outdoor farmers’ market.



But while it’s not Marrakesh or Istanbul, it does have a very cool, complete …

Sitting among the bluffs of the Missouri River is the quaint little city of Weston. Now the streets are always bustling with tourists and shoppers making their way to shops such as the Celtic Ranch and the Bella Company. What a lot of people do not know is that the town of Weston has ties to the likes of Buffalo Bill Cody and descendants of Daniel Boone, and was once a major river port that supplied Fort Leavenworth.

Although business is booming in Weston it was not always the…

If you are like a lot of travelers – me included – you generally tend to plan where you are going on any trip, as far as location is concerned, and probably also where you will stay. And unless you are going somewhere for a specific activity, or on a planned itinerary holiday, you tend to leave the “what will I do” part until you get there.


That’s all well and fine, but it also means that you’re often left wondering how to get…

Yes, Bhutan is a happy place. I mentioned before that the government actually does a yearly census to evaluate the level of happiness and look for ways to make people even happier, now THAT is a wonderment.

I also mentioned that there is a US$250 “tariff” you must pay to visit Bhutan. This is actually a good deal because it includes everything except beer and souvenirs. So, it cost us a bit more   . That tariff is actually in place to keep Bhutan from becoming over run with…

The Mongol Run. Photo: The Adventurists

INTERVIEW: The Adventurists' press chief on adventures, 

risks, attitudes – and how to make the world less boring

ADVENTURE TRAVELS. A 15,000…

What do you think the most immediate post vacation activity is?



It’s not paying the bills, but is, in fact, posting photos to a social network: 76% of us do that first thing after we unpack.



Does this matter? Yes, because the travel business has never been better, says…

What Is It: An oblong inflatable travel pillow designed to help you achieve some peace in a cramped coach seat.

Price and Where to Buy: I bought mine on Amazon for $26.95; the product is eligible for…

Pull on your bobby sox, step into your saddle shoes, roll up those jeans and dig out those poodle skirts! It's time for…

Never have I traveled to a place so unprepared.

I barely touched any guidebooks. Nor did I look up information online. Few of my friends had ever been to South Africa, and none that I knew of had been to Botswana. I'd been traveling long enough to not trust the media, or unverified word of mouth.

What little I knew came indirectly. Last summer, in Indonesia, at the sparse, overpriced bookstores, I found several cheap copies of Nelson Mandela's biography,…

Everywhere we went in this expedition across Asia, we felt quite welcome!



Our five weeks in Asia started in Kathmandu

We are lucky enough to be able to refer to this as our return to Kathmandu. Dear readers, you really need to be…

Today’s travel agent is more akin to an advisor or consultant than the booking agent of the past.



Makes sense.



If you wanted to travel say to the mountain village of Chefchaouen, Morocco, in the Riff Mountains (enjoy the blue houses and weavers), then wanted to spend a few nights…

Road trips the perfect travel format as far as I'm concerned. They give you flexibility and a glorious sense of independence and freedom. Whether you're driving across America like someone out of a Kerouac novel or touring Europe, driving is the way to go. But no road trip is ever complete without a matching soundtrack. A mix CD is the heart and soul of any half decent road trip. Here are some songs that need to be in…