by Chelle Koster Walton



I watched tidily uniformed schoolkids climb aboard as the crew loaded sacks of flour, a boxed microwave, some spare luggage, and various other unidentifiable bundles onto the 50-foot fiberglass ferry boat. Despite the early hour, everyone was cheerful as they made their way to their wood benches, nodding good morning to fellow passengers whether they knew them or not. The captain…

by Susan E. Frost



You may have heard that my hometown (and Oregon's biggest city, with 500,000 people and 1.6 million in the metro area) has more than a whiff of cool about it these days. True enough, but what I like even more -- and what clinches the deal for many visitors -- is its scenery, greenery, and water everywhere, in fountains, rivers, lakes, and ponds. Fall foliage season is, to my taste, the most beautiful time…

Montana is cowboy country, pardner, and cowboys -- and of course cowgirls -- wake up hungry. You, too, will rise and take a shine at breakfast to to these luscious buttermilk flapjacks.



The Resort at Paws Up serves food that will satisfy the Western outlaw in you. Occupying miles of untamed wilderness in Montana's Blackfoot Valley, Paws Up goes way beyond the usual dude ranch, offering modern, spacious lodgings…

by Barbara Ramsay Orr…

by Tripatini staff 

An oldie but goodie from one of the seminal Spanish pop groups of the 1980′s and 1990′s, reunited just about a year ago. Two brothers, Nacho and José María Cano wrote and played the tunes and Ana Torroja sang ‘em, and many were quirky doozies — I Can’t Get Up Today, This Isn’t a Serious Cemetery, I Crashed a Party, Stereosexual. This one, from the 1987 album…

by  J. Thalia Cunningham

In previous installments (see links at bottom), I described visiting North Korea, officially called the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and…

Part 3 of a four-part series by J. Thalia Cunningham

My visit to North Korea centered around the annual Mass Games in the capital, Pyongyang. The Mass Games, or Arirang, were more amazing than anything I saw in the DPRK, and…

Part 2 of a four-part series by J. Thalia Cunningham.

The capital of North Korea has more than its shares of monuments, but presumably, people live here, too. So one day our tour group visited some places beyond the great monuments and memorials that might…

It's that time of year again, when we all resolve to lose a little weight, gain a little muscle, spend more time with friends and family... And this year, we really mean it. Right? Well, regardless of your success rate with past New Year's resolutions, here's a list for the traveler in you that shouldn't be too hard to keep. 

1. Pack light.

2. Travel more.…

by Tripatini staff

Tiny Costa Rica holds a very special place in Latin America — largely literate and completely armyless as well as beautiful and exciting. And Malpaís, a six-dude band named after a remote beach area at the end of the road on the Nicoya Peninsula coast (literally, the word means “badlands”), is an unmistakable product of the Tico culture and ethos, fusing jazz and rock with local musical and folk…

by the World Tourism Organization

International tourism continues to recover from the decline of 4.2% suffered last year under the impact of the economic crisis. In the first eight months of this year, the number of international tourist arrivals exceeded the record achieved during the same period of the pre-crisis year 2008. According to the latest issue of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, worldwide arrivals between January and August 2010 totalled…

(via Hg2) If the words “Dubai resort” make you think of gleaming highrises and artificial islands, then Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa will astound you. This ultra-chic eco-resort is tucked into the billowing dunes of Dubai’s largest nature preserve,…